PDF.co Web API – PDF To Text API – JavaScript – Convert PDF To Text From URL (Node.js)

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Let’s review the source code and it’s output first, then we’ll analyze the code a bit.

app.js

      
var https = require("https");
var path = require("path");
var fs = require("fs");


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


// Direct URL of source PDF file.
const SourceFileUrl = "https://bytescout-com.s3.amazonaws.com/files/demo-files/cloud-api/pdf-to-text/sample.pdf";
// Comma-separated list of page indices (or ranges) to process. Leave empty for all pages. Example: '0,2-5,7-'.
const Pages = "";
// PDF document password. Leave empty for unprotected documents.
const Password = "";
// Destination TXT file name
const DestinationFile = "./result.txt";

// Prepare request to `PDF To Text` API endpoint
var queryPath = `/v1/pdf/convert/to/text`;

// JSON payload for api request
var jsonPayload = JSON.stringify({
    name: path.basename(DestinationFile), password: Password, pages: Pages, url: SourceFileUrl
});

var reqOptions = {
    host: "api.pdf.co",
    method: "POST",
    path: queryPath,
    headers: {
        "x-api-key": API_KEY,
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
        "Content-Length": Buffer.byteLength(jsonPayload, 'utf8')
    }
};
// Send request
var postRequest = https.request(reqOptions, (response) => {
    response.on("data", (d) => {
        // Parse JSON response
        var data = JSON.parse(d);        
        if (data.error == false) {
            // Download TXT file
            var file = fs.createWriteStream(DestinationFile);
            https.get(data.url, (response2) => {
                response2.pipe(file)
                .on("close", () => {
                    console.log(`Generated TXT file saved as "${DestinationFile}" file.`);
                });
            });
        }
        else {
            // Service reported error
            console.log(data.message);
        }
    });
}).on("error", (e) => {
    // Request error
    console.log(e);
});

// Write request data
postRequest.write(jsonPayload);
postRequest.end();
    

package.json

      
{
  "name": "test",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "PDF.co",
  "main": "app.js",
  "scripts": {
  },
  "keywords": [
    "pdf.co",
    "web",
    "api",
    "bytescout",
    "api"
  ],
  "author": "ByteScout & PDF.co",
  "license": "ISC",
  "dependencies": {
    "request": "^2.88.2"
  }
}

    

Output

Initially, we’re referencing the libraries useful for executing this NodeJs program. Libraries being referenced in this program are https, path and fs.

var https = require("https");
var path = require("path");
var fs = require("fs");

Next, we’re declaring and assigning variables that are to be used in this program. The following table summarizes it.

PDF.co endpoint /v1/pdf/convert/to/text is used to perform PDF to Text conversion. The data is provided into the JSON format. We’re also building request headers with the API key (x-api-key) and other content related header parameters such as Content-Type and Content-Length.

// JSON payload for api request
var jsonPayload = JSON.stringify({
    name: path.basename(DestinationFile), password: Password, pages: Pages, url: SourceFileUrl
});

var reqOptions = {
    host: "api.pdf.co",
    method: "POST",
    path: queryPath,
    headers: {
        "x-api-key": API_KEY,
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
        "Content-Length": Buffer.byteLength(jsonPayload, 'utf8')
    }
};

With all request input data ready, we’re all ready to execute the request and consume the output; which we’re doing in the following code snippet.

// Send request
var postRequest = https.request(reqOptions, (response) => {
    response.on("data", (d) => {
        // Parse JSON response
        var data = JSON.parse(d);        
        if (data.error == false) {
            // Download TXT file
            var file = fs.createWriteStream(DestinationFile);
            https.get(data.url, (response2) => {
                response2.pipe(file)
                .on("close", () => {
                    console.log(`Generated TXT file saved as "${DestinationFile}" file.`);
                });
            });
        }
        else {
            // Service reported error
            console.log(data.message);
        }
    });
}).on("error", (e) => {
    // Request error
    console.log(e);
});

// Write request data
postRequest.write(jsonPayload);
postRequest.end();

In this sample we’ve demonstrated a very basic example. PDF.co has in-built support for OCR. Hence, if we have scanned the input PDF then also we’ll have text extracted without any extra effort. Cool 😎!, isn’t it?

We can further customize the output as per our needs with the help of the additional input parameters. Some of the additional input parameters are shown in the table below. Please visit PDF.co API documentation for more information.

That’s all guys! With PDF.co it’s that easy to extract the textual information from PDF. Please try this sample in your machine to get more out of this article.

Thank you for reading!

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