PDF to XML API in VB.NET with PDF.co Web API

Learn to code PDF to XML API in VB.NET: How-To tutorial

Writing of the code to PDF to XML API in VB.NET can be done by developers of any level using PDF.co Web API. PDF to XML API in VB.NET can be applied 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.

If you want to quickly learn then these fast application programming interfaces of PDF.co Web API for VB.NET plus the guideline and the VB.NET code below will help you quickly learn PDF to XML API. If you want to know how it works, then this VB.NET sample code should be copied and pasted into your application’s code editor. Then just compile and run it. Check these VB.NET sample code examples to see if they acknowledge to your needs and requirements for the project.

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ByteScoutWebApiExample.sln

      
Microsoft Visual Studio Solution File, Format Version 12.00 # Visual Studio 15 VisualStudioVersion = 15.0.26730.10 MinimumVisualStudioVersion = 10.0.40219.1 Project("{F184B08F-C81C-45F6-A57F-5ABD9991F28F}") = "ByteScoutWebApiExample", "ByteScoutWebApiExample.vbproj", "{9B91124C-66C3-4BD9-B29E-168C1ABB15AC}" EndProject Global GlobalSection(SolutionConfigurationPlatforms) = preSolution Debug|Any CPU = Debug|Any CPU Release|Any CPU = Release|Any CPU EndGlobalSection GlobalSection(ProjectConfigurationPlatforms) = postSolution {9B91124C-66C3-4BD9-B29E-168C1ABB15AC}.Debug|Any CPU.ActiveCfg = Debug|Any CPU {9B91124C-66C3-4BD9-B29E-168C1ABB15AC}.Debug|Any CPU.Build.0 = Debug|Any CPU {9B91124C-66C3-4BD9-B29E-168C1ABB15AC}.Release|Any CPU.ActiveCfg = Release|Any CPU {9B91124C-66C3-4BD9-B29E-168C1ABB15AC}.Release|Any CPU.Build.0 = Release|Any CPU EndGlobalSection GlobalSection(SolutionProperties) = preSolution HideSolutionNode = FALSE EndGlobalSection GlobalSection(ExtensibilityGlobals) = postSolution SolutionGuid = {4576C9BB-A42D-46A8-9198-7E2982E122FA} EndGlobalSection EndGlobal

ByteScoutWebApiExample.vbproj

      
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <Project ToolsVersion="15.0" 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>{9B91124C-66C3-4BD9-B29E-168C1ABB15AC}</ProjectGuid> <OutputType>Exe</OutputType> <StartupObject>ByteScoutWebApiExample.Module1</StartupObject> <RootNamespace>ByteScoutWebApiExample</RootNamespace> <AssemblyName>ByteScoutWebApiExample</AssemblyName> <FileAlignment>512</FileAlignment> <MyType>Console</MyType> <TargetFrameworkVersion>v4.0</TargetFrameworkVersion> </PropertyGroup> <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Debug|AnyCPU' "> <PlatformTarget>AnyCPU</PlatformTarget> <DebugSymbols>true</DebugSymbols> <DebugType>full</DebugType> <DefineDebug>true</DefineDebug> <DefineTrace>true</DefineTrace> <OutputPath>bin\Debug\</OutputPath> <DocumentationFile>ByteScoutWebApiExample.xml</DocumentationFile> <NoWarn>42016,41999,42017,42018,42019,42032,42036,42020,42021,42022</NoWarn> </PropertyGroup> <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Release|AnyCPU' "> <PlatformTarget>AnyCPU</PlatformTarget> <DebugType>pdbonly</DebugType> <DefineDebug>false</DefineDebug> <DefineTrace>true</DefineTrace> <Optimize>true</Optimize> <OutputPath>bin\Release\</OutputPath> <DocumentationFile>ByteScoutWebApiExample.xml</DocumentationFile> <NoWarn>42016,41999,42017,42018,42019,42032,42036,42020,42021,42022</NoWarn> </PropertyGroup> <PropertyGroup> <OptionExplicit>On</OptionExplicit> </PropertyGroup> <PropertyGroup> <OptionCompare>Binary</OptionCompare> </PropertyGroup> <PropertyGroup> <OptionStrict>Off</OptionStrict> </PropertyGroup> <PropertyGroup> <OptionInfer>On</OptionInfer> </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> </Reference> <Reference Include="System" /> <Reference Include="System.Data" /> <Reference Include="System.Deployment" /> <Reference Include="System.Xml" /> <Reference Include="System.Core" /> <Reference Include="System.Xml.Linq" /> <Reference Include="System.Data.DataSetExtensions" /> </ItemGroup> <ItemGroup> <Import Include="Microsoft.VisualBasic" /> <Import Include="System" /> <Import Include="System.Collections" /> <Import Include="System.Collections.Generic" /> <Import Include="System.Data" /> <Import Include="System.Diagnostics" /> <Import Include="System.Linq" /> <Import Include="System.Xml.Linq" /> </ItemGroup> <ItemGroup> <Compile Include="Module1.vb" /> <Compile Include="My Project\AssemblyInfo.vb" /> <Compile Include="My Project\Application.Designer.vb"> <AutoGen>True</AutoGen> <DependentUpon>Application.myapp</DependentUpon> </Compile> <Compile Include="My Project\Resources.Designer.vb"> <AutoGen>True</AutoGen> <DesignTime>True</DesignTime> <DependentUpon>Resources.resx</DependentUpon> </Compile> <Compile Include="My Project\Settings.Designer.vb"> <AutoGen>True</AutoGen> <DependentUpon>Settings.settings</DependentUpon> <DesignTimeSharedInput>True</DesignTimeSharedInput> </Compile> </ItemGroup> <ItemGroup> <EmbeddedResource Include="My Project\Resources.resx"> <Generator>VbMyResourcesResXFileCodeGenerator</Generator> <LastGenOutput>Resources.Designer.vb</LastGenOutput> <CustomToolNamespace>My.Resources</CustomToolNamespace> <SubType>Designer</SubType> </EmbeddedResource> </ItemGroup> <ItemGroup> <None Include="My Project\Application.myapp"> <Generator>MyApplicationCodeGenerator</Generator> <LastGenOutput>Application.Designer.vb</LastGenOutput> </None> <None Include="My Project\Settings.settings"> <Generator>SettingsSingleFileGenerator</Generator> <CustomToolNamespace>My</CustomToolNamespace> <LastGenOutput>Settings.Designer.vb</LastGenOutput> </None> <None Include="packages.config" /> <Content Include="sample-rotated.pdf"> <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory> </Content> <Content Include="profile.json"> <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory> </Content> </ItemGroup> <Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.VisualBasic.targets" /> </Project>

Module1.vb

      
Imports System.IO Imports System.Net Imports Newtonsoft.Json Imports Newtonsoft.Json.Linq Module Module1 ' The authentication key (API Key). ' Get your own by registering at https://app.pdf.co/documentation/api Const API_KEY As String = "******************************" ' Source PDF file Const SourceFile As String = ".\sample-rotated.pdf" ' Comma-separated list of page indices (or ranges) to process. Leave empty for all pages. Example: '0,2-5,7-'. Const Pages As String = "" ' PDF document password. Leave empty for unprotected documents. Const Password As String = "" ' Destination XML file name Const DestinationFile As String = ".\result.xml" ' Some of advanced options available through profiles: ' (it can be single/double-quoted and contain comments.) ' { ' "profiles": [ ' { ' "profile1": { ' "SaveImages": "None", // Whether to extract images. Values: "None", "Embed". ' "ImageFormat": "PNG", // Image format for extracted images. Values: "PNG", "JPEG", "GIF", "BMP". ' "SaveVectors": false, // Whether to extract vector objects (vertical and horizontal lines). Values: true / false ' "ExtractInvisibleText": true, // Invisible text extraction. Values: true / false ' "ExtractShadowLikeText": true, // Shadow-like text extraction. Values: true / false ' "LineGroupingMode": "None", // Values: "None", "GroupByRows", "GroupByColumns", "JoinOrphanedRows" ' "ColumnDetectionMode": "ContentGroupsAndBorders", // Values: "ContentGroupsAndBorders", "ContentGroups", "Borders", "BorderedTables" ' "Unwrap": false, // Unwrap grouped text in table cells. Values: true / false ' "ShrinkMultipleSpaces": false, // Shrink multiple spaces in table cells that affect column detection. Values: true / false ' "DetectNewColumnBySpacesRatio": 1, // Spacing ratio that affects column detection. ' "CustomExtractionColumns": [ 0, 50, 150, 200, 250, 300 ], // Explicitly specify columns coordinates for table extraction. ' "CheckPermissions": true, // Ignore document permissions. Values: true / false ' } ' } ' ] ' } ' Sample profile that sets advanced conversion options. ' Advanced options are properties of XMLExtractor class from ByteScout PDF Extractor SDK used in the back-end: ' https://cdn.bytescout.com/help/BytescoutPDFExtractorSDK/html/87ce5fa6-3143-167d-abbd-bc7b5e160fe5.htm 'Valid RotationAngle values '0 - no rotation '1 - 90 degrees '2 - 180 degrees '3 - 270 degrees ReadOnly Profiles As String = File.ReadAllText("profile.json") Sub Main() ' Create standard .NET web client instance Dim webClient As WebClient = New WebClient() ' Set API Key webClient.Headers.Add("x-api-key", API_KEY) ' 1. RETRIEVE THE PRESIGNED URL TO UPLOAD THE FILE. ' * If you already have a direct file URL, skip to the step 3. ' Prepare URL for `Get Presigned URL` API call Dim query As String = Uri.EscapeUriString(String.Format( "https://api.pdf.co/v1/file/upload/get-presigned-url?contenttype=application/octet-stream&name={0}", Path.GetFileName(SourceFile))) Try ' Execute request Dim response As String = webClient.DownloadString(query) ' Parse JSON response Dim json As JObject = JObject.Parse(response) If json("error").ToObject(Of Boolean) = False Then ' Get URL to use for the file upload Dim uploadUrl As String = json("presignedUrl").ToString() ' Get URL of uploaded file to use with later API calls Dim uploadedFileUrl As String = json("url").ToString() ' 2. UPLOAD THE FILE TO CLOUD. webClient.Headers.Add("content-type", "application/octet-stream") webClient.UploadFile(uploadUrl, "PUT", SourceFile) ' You can use UploadData() instead if your file is byte array or Stream ' Set JSON content type webClient.Headers.Add("Content-Type", "application/json") ' 3. CONVERT UPLOADED PDF FILE TO XML ' Prepare URL for `PDF To XML` API call Dim url As String = "https://api.pdf.co/v1/pdf/convert/to/xml" ' Prepare requests params as JSON ' See documentation: https : //apidocs.pdf.co Dim parameters As New Dictionary(Of String, Object) parameters.Add("name", Path.GetFileName(DestinationFile)) parameters.Add("password", Password) parameters.Add("pages", Pages) parameters.Add("url", uploadedFileUrl) parameters.Add("profiles", Profiles) ' Convert dictionary of params to JSON Dim jsonPayload As String = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(parameters) ' Execute POST request with JSON payload response = webClient.UploadString(url, jsonPayload) ' Parse JSON response json = JObject.Parse(response) If json("error").ToObject(Of Boolean) = False Then ' Get URL of generated XML file Dim resultFileUrl As String = json("url").ToString() ' Download XML file webClient.DownloadFile(resultFileUrl, DestinationFile) Console.WriteLine("Generated XML file saved as ""{0}"" file.", DestinationFile) Else Console.WriteLine(json("message").ToString()) End If End If Catch ex As WebException Console.WriteLine(ex.ToString()) End Try webClient.Dispose() Console.WriteLine() Console.WriteLine("Press any key...") Console.ReadKey() End Sub End Module

packages.config

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

profile.json

      
{ "profiles": [ { "profile1": { "RotationAngle": 1 } } ] }

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