read pdf

[janim]

Hi All,

any one have an idea how to read PDF files using php

let's say i'll upload pdf file, then i need to see what text inside this file, and search it ... etc

 

thanks for any suggestion !

[premiso]

If the pdf is unencrypted and not an image, you should be able to read it like a normal text file.

 

If it is an image, you need to use OCR technology to read it.

[Psycho]

I'll have to disagree with you permiso. Strictly speaking you can read the PDF file contents, but it will consist of human unreadable code. Such as this:

©?}!&ŠÞáQS—×=K$ÀpF½ÁñξaG_Äßý#ÎþQ{ÿCÄî‹8û¢®txÇ ½ÑNoÔåqÑ

 

There's no strait-forward way to read the displayed words in a PFD file. You would probably want to get a 3rd party application that you can run on the server (assuming you have the rights to do so) which PHP can utilize.

 

Here is one possibility where a person stated that you could use it to get the text from a PFD without any formatting: xpdf: http://www.foolabs.com/xpdf/

Or PDFTOTEXT: http://www.pdf2text.com/ConvertPDFToText-server-edition.htm