PHP ActiveX Requires Chilkat v11.7.0+

Search for Text in a PDF

See more PDF Text Extraction Examples

Demonstrates the "search" operation, which finds every occurrence of a string in a PDF and returns each match with its page number and the text around it. Matching ignores case unless caseSensitive is true. PHP ActiveX

<?php

$success = 0;

//  This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
//  See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

//  The three-page PDF used in this example is available at search_context.pdf

$pdf = new COM("Chilkat.Pdf");
$success = $pdf->LoadFile('qa_data/pdf/search_context.pdf');
if ($success == 0) {
    print $pdf->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

$json = new COM("Chilkat.JsonObject");
$jsonOut = new COM("Chilkat.JsonObject");

//  The string to find.
$json->UpdateString('query','chilkat');

//  The number of characters returned before and after each match.  The default is 40.
$json->UpdateInt('context',30);

$success = $pdf->ExtractText('search',$json,$jsonOut);
if ($success == 0) {
    print $pdf->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

//  "count" is the number of matches.  Each match has the page, the matched text as it appears
//  in the PDF, and the text before and after it.
print 'Matches: ' . $jsonOut->IntOf('count') . "\n";

$i = 0;
$count_i = $jsonOut->SizeOfArray('matches');
while ($i < $count_i) {
    $jsonOut->I = $i;
    print 'page ' . $jsonOut->IntOf('matches[i].page') . ': ...' . $jsonOut->stringOf('matches[i].before') . '[' . $jsonOut->stringOf('matches[i].text') . ']' . $jsonOut->stringOf('matches[i].after')
         . '...' . "\n";
    $i = $i + 1;
}

//  The search ignores case by default.  Set caseSensitive to find only the exact spelling.
$json->UpdateBool('caseSensitive',1);
$json->UpdateString('query','Chilkat');
$success = $pdf->ExtractText('search',$json,$jsonOut);
if ($success == 0) {
    print $pdf->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

print 'Case-sensitive matches for Chilkat: ' . $jsonOut->IntOf('count') . "\n";

//  Sample output:

//  Matches: 5
//  page 1: ...[Chilkat] River Field Notes The Chilkat...
//  page 1: ...Chilkat River Field Notes The [Chilkat] River runs for about fifty mi...
//  page 2: ...DAY ONE: UPPER [CHILKAT] FLATS Clear and cold, minus e...
//  page 2: ...he river is sometimes spelled [chilkat] in older records, and the val...
//  page 3: ...y because the fish run on the [Chilkat] was thinning. Two tagged bird...
//  Case-sensitive matches for Chilkat: 3

?>