How to convert PDF to HTML from URL asynchronously for PDF to HTML API in C# with PDF.co Web API

How to convert PDF to HTML from URL asynchronously in C# with easy ByteScout code samples to make PDF to HTML API. Step-by-step tutorial

On this page you will learn from code samples for programming in C#. PDF to HTML API in C# can be implemented with PDF.co Web API. PDF.co Web API is the Rest API that provides set of data extraction functions, tools for documents manipulation, splitting and merging of pdf files. Includes built-in OCR, images recognition, can generate and read barcodes from images, scans and pdf.

You will save a lot of time on writing and testing code as you may just take the code below and use it in your application. For implimentation of this functionality, please copy and paste code below into your app using code editor. Then compile and run your app. Code testing will allow the function to be tested and work properly with your data.

PDF.co Web API – free trial version is on available our website. Also, there are other code samples to help you with your C# application included into trial version.

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ByteScoutWebApiExample.csproj

      
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="12.0" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
  <Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\$(MSBuildToolsVersion)\Microsoft.Common.props" Condition="Exists('$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\$(MSBuildToolsVersion)\Microsoft.Common.props')" />
  <PropertyGroup>
    <Configuration Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == '' ">Debug</Configuration>
    <Platform Condition=" '$(Platform)' == '' ">AnyCPU</Platform>
    <ProjectGuid>{1E1C2C34-017E-4605-AE2B-55EA3313BE51}</ProjectGuid>
    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <AppDesignerFolder>Properties</AppDesignerFolder>
    <RootNamespace>ByteScoutWebApiExample</RootNamespace>
    <AssemblyName>ByteScoutWebApiExample</AssemblyName>
    <TargetFrameworkVersion>v4.0</TargetFrameworkVersion>
    <FileAlignment>512</FileAlignment>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Debug|AnyCPU' ">
    <PlatformTarget>AnyCPU</PlatformTarget>
    <DebugSymbols>true</DebugSymbols>
    <DebugType>full</DebugType>
    <Optimize>false</Optimize>
    <OutputPath>bin\Debug\</OutputPath>
    <DefineConstants>DEBUG;TRACE</DefineConstants>
    <ErrorReport>prompt</ErrorReport>
    <WarningLevel>4</WarningLevel>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Release|AnyCPU' ">
    <PlatformTarget>AnyCPU</PlatformTarget>
    <DebugType>pdbonly</DebugType>
    <Optimize>true</Optimize>
    <OutputPath>bin\Release\</OutputPath>
    <DefineConstants>TRACE</DefineConstants>
    <ErrorReport>prompt</ErrorReport>
    <WarningLevel>4</WarningLevel>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Reference Include="Newtonsoft.Json, Version=10.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=30ad4fe6b2a6aeed, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
      <HintPath>packages\Newtonsoft.Json.10.0.3\lib\net40\Newtonsoft.Json.dll</HintPath>
      <Private>True</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System" />
    <Reference Include="System.Core" />
    <Reference Include="System.Xml.Linq" />
    <Reference Include="System.Data" />
    <Reference Include="System.Xml" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Compile Include="Program.cs" />
    <Compile Include="Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <None Include="packages.config" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
  <!-- To modify your build process, add your task inside one of the targets below and uncomment it. 
       Other similar extension points exist, see Microsoft.Common.targets.
  <Target Name="BeforeBuild">
  </Target>
  <Target Name="AfterBuild">
  </Target>
  -->
</Project>

ByteScoutWebApiExample.sln

      

Microsoft Visual Studio Solution File, Format Version 12.00
# Visual Studio 2013
VisualStudioVersion = 12.0.40629.0
MinimumVisualStudioVersion = 10.0.40219.1
Project("{FAE04EC0-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}") = "ByteScoutWebApiExample", "ByteScoutWebApiExample.csproj", "{1E1C2C34-017E-4605-AE2B-55EA3313BE51}"
EndProject
Global
	GlobalSection(SolutionConfigurationPlatforms) = preSolution
		Debug|Any CPU = Debug|Any CPU
		Release|Any CPU = Release|Any CPU
	EndGlobalSection
	GlobalSection(ProjectConfigurationPlatforms) = postSolution
		{1E1C2C34-017E-4605-AE2B-55EA3313BE51}.Debug|Any CPU.ActiveCfg = Debug|Any CPU
		{1E1C2C34-017E-4605-AE2B-55EA3313BE51}.Debug|Any CPU.Build.0 = Debug|Any CPU
		{1E1C2C34-017E-4605-AE2B-55EA3313BE51}.Release|Any CPU.ActiveCfg = Release|Any CPU
		{1E1C2C34-017E-4605-AE2B-55EA3313BE51}.Release|Any CPU.Build.0 = Release|Any CPU
	EndGlobalSection
	GlobalSection(SolutionProperties) = preSolution
		HideSolutionNode = FALSE
	EndGlobalSection
EndGlobal

Program.cs

      
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
using System.Threading;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using Newtonsoft.Json;


// Cloud API asynchronous "PDF To HTML" job example.
// Allows to avoid timeout errors when processing huge or scanned PDF documents.

namespace ByteScoutWebApiExample
{
	class Program
	{
		// The authentication key (API Key).
		// Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co/documentation/api
		const String API_KEY = "***********************************";

		// Direct URL of source PDF file.
		const string SourceFileUrl = "https://bytescout-com.s3.amazonaws.com/files/demo-files/cloud-api/pdf-to-html/sample.pdf";
		// Comma-separated list of page indices (or ranges) to process. Leave empty for all pages. Example: '0,2-5,7-'.
		const string Pages = "";
		// PDF document password. Leave empty for unprotected documents.
		const string Password = "";
		// Destination HTML file name
		const string DestinationFile = @".\result.html";
		// Set to `true` to get simplified HTML without CSS. Default is the rich HTML keeping the document design.
		const bool PlainHtml = false;
		// Set to `true` if your document has the column layout like a newspaper.
		const bool ColumnLayout = false;
		// (!) Make asynchronous job
		const bool Async = true;


		static void Main(string[] args)
		{
			// Create standard .NET web client instance
			WebClient webClient = new WebClient();

			// Set API Key
			webClient.Headers.Add("x-api-key", API_KEY);

			try
			{
				// URL for `PDF To HTML` API call
				String url = "https://api.pdf.co/v1/pdf/convert/to/html";

				// Prepare requests params as JSON
				Dictionary<string, object> parameters = new Dictionary<string, object>();
				parameters.Add("name", Path.GetFileName(DestinationFile));
				parameters.Add("password", Password);
				parameters.Add("pages", Pages);
				parameters.Add("simple", PlainHtml);
				parameters.Add("columns", ColumnLayout);
				parameters.Add("url", SourceFileUrl);
				parameters.Add("async", Async);

				// Convert dictionary of params to JSON
				string jsonPayload = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(parameters);

				// Execute POST request with JSON payload
				string response = webClient.UploadString(url, jsonPayload);

				// Parse JSON response
				JObject json = JObject.Parse(response);

				if (json["error"].ToObject<bool>() == false)
				{
					// Asynchronous job ID
					string jobId = json["jobId"].ToString();
					// URL of generated HTML file that will available after the job completion
					string resultFileUrl = json["url"].ToString();

					// Check the job status in a loop. 
					// If you don't want to pause the main thread you can rework the code 
					// to use a separate thread for the status checking and completion.
					do
					{
						string status = CheckJobStatus(jobId); // Possible statuses: "working", "failed", "aborted", "success".

						// Display timestamp and status (for demo purposes)
						Console.WriteLine(DateTime.Now.ToLongTimeString() + ": " + status);

						if (status == "success")
						{
							// Download HTML file
							webClient.DownloadFile(resultFileUrl, DestinationFile);

							Console.WriteLine("Generated HTML file saved as \"{0}\" file.", DestinationFile);
							break;
						}
						else if (status == "working")
						{
							// Pause for a few seconds
							Thread.Sleep(3000);
						}
						else
						{
							Console.WriteLine(status);
							break;
						}
					}
					while (true);
				}
				else
				{
					Console.WriteLine(json["message"].ToString());
				}
			}
			catch (WebException e)
			{
				Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());
			}

			webClient.Dispose();

			Console.WriteLine();
			Console.WriteLine("Press any key...");
			Console.ReadKey();
		}

		static string CheckJobStatus(string jobId)
		{
			using (WebClient webClient = new WebClient())
			{
				// Set API Key
                webClient.Headers.Add("x-api-key", API_KEY);
				
				string url = "https://api.pdf.co/v1/job/check?jobid=" + jobId;

				string response = webClient.DownloadString(url);
				JObject json = JObject.Parse(response);

				return Convert.ToString(json["status"]);
			}
		}
	}
}

packages.config

      
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<packages>
  <package id="Newtonsoft.Json" version="10.0.3" targetFramework="net40" />
</packages>

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