Extract text option in the JavaScript PDF Viewer

13 Feb 20266 minutes to read

The extractText method extracts text from one or more pages and can return plain text or text with bounds for each element.

extractText method

Retrieves text data from one page or a range of pages based on the specified options.

Parameters:

startIndex: The starting page index for text extraction (0-based index).
endIndex or isOptions: Either the ending page index (for multiple pages) or an option specifying extraction criteria for a single page.
options (optional): Additional options, such as TextOnly for plain text or TextAndBounds for detailed text data with bounds.

Available Options

None — Do not extract or return any text or layout data. Use this option to minimize memory usage when textual information is not required.
TextOnly — Return plain text only; layout and bounds are omitted. Note: using TextOnly may disable some viewer text features such as synchronous findText; use findTextAsync when asynchronous search is required.
BoundsOnly — Return layout and positional data (bounds) without the plain text content.
TextAndBounds — Return both plain text and its positional information (bounds). This is the default and is useful when both content and layout are required.

Returns

Returns a Promise with:

textData: An array of TextDataSettingsModel with details including bounds and page text.
pageText: A concatenated string of plain text from the specified page(s).

Usage of extractText in Syncfusion PDF Viewer Control

Here is an example that demonstrates how to use the extractText method along with event handling:

 <button id="extractText">Extract Text</button>
 <button id="extractTexts">Extract Texts</button>

// Initialize the PdfViewer

var viewer = new ej.pdfviewer.PdfViewer({
  documentPath: 'https://cdn.syncfusion.com/content/pdf/pdf-succinctly.pdf',
  resourceUrl: "https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/31.2.2/dist/ej2-pdfviewer-lib",
});
viewer.appendTo("#pdfViewer");

// Event Listener for Extract Text from Single Page
document.getElementById('extractText').addEventListener('click', function () {
    viewer.extractText(1, 'TextOnly').then((val) => {
        console.log('Extracted Text from Page 1:');
        console.log(val);  // Logs the extracted text from page 1
    });
});

// Event Listener for Extract Text from Multiple Pages
document.getElementById('extractTexts').addEventListener('click', function () {
    viewer.extractText(0, 2, 'TextOnly').then((val) => {
        console.log('Extracted Text from Pages 0 to 2:');
        console.log(val);  // Logs the extracted text from pages 0 to 2
    });
});

Explanation

Single page: Extracts text from page 1 (startIndex = 1) using TextOnly.
Multiple pages: Extracts text from pages 0–2 (startIndex = 0, endIndex = 2) using TextOnly.

Programmatic Examples for Extract Text Option API

Here is an example that demonstrates how to use the extractText Option along with event handling:

<button id="extractNoneRange">None (Pages 0–2)</button>
<button id="extractTextOnlyRange">TextOnly (Pages 0–2)</button>
<button id="extractBoundsOnlyRange">BoundsOnly (Pages 0–2)</button>
<button id="extractTextAndBoundsRange">TextAndBounds (Pages 0–2)</button>

import { PdfViewer, TextSelection, TextSearch, Print, Navigation, Toolbar, Magnification, Annotation, FormDesigner, FormFields, PageInfoModel, ExtractTextOption } from '@syncfusion/ej2-pdfviewer';

// Inject required modules
PdfViewer.Inject(TextSelection, TextSearch, Print, Navigation, Toolbar, Magnification, Annotation, FormDesigner, FormFields);

const viewer = new PdfViewer({
  documentPath: 'https://cdn.syncfusion.com/content/pdf/pdf-succinctly.pdf',
  resourceUrl: 'https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/31.1.23/dist/ej2-pdfviewer-lib'
});
viewer.appendTo('#PdfViewer');

// None (no text info)
const btnNone = document.getElementById('extractNoneRange');
if (btnNone) {
  btnNone.addEventListener('click', function () {
    viewer.extractText(0, 2, ExtractTextOption.None).then((val) => {
      console.log('None (Pages 0–2):', val);
    });
  });
}

// TextOnly
const btnTextOnly = document.getElementById('extractTextOnlyRange');
if (btnTextOnly) {
  btnTextOnly.addEventListener('click', function () {
    viewer.extractText(0, 2, ExtractTextOption.TextOnly).then((val: any) => {
      console.log('TextOnly (Pages 0–2):');
      console.log(val);
    });
  });
}

// BoundsOnly
const btnBoundsOnly = document.getElementById('extractBoundsOnlyRange');
if (btnBoundsOnly) {
  btnBoundsOnly.addEventListener('click', function () {
    viewer.extractText(0, 2, ExtractTextOption.BoundsOnly).then((val: any) => {
      // Typically returns val.textData with bounds per page
      console.log('BoundsOnly (Pages 0–2):');
      console.log(val);
    });
  });
}

// TextAndBounds
const btnTextAndBounds = document.getElementById('extractTextAndBoundsRange');
if (btnTextAndBounds) {
  btnTextAndBounds.addEventListener('click', function () {
    viewer.extractText(0, 2, ExtractTextOption.TextAndBounds).then((val: any) => {
      console.log('TextAndBounds (Pages 0–2):');
      console.log(val);
    });
  });
}

View sample in GitHub

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