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Search PDF files for text in C#

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Sample C# code for using Apryse SDK to search text on PDF pages using regular expressions. The TextSearch utility class builds on functionality available in TextExtractor to simplify most common search operations. Learn more about our C# PDF Library and PDF Indexed Search Library.

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//
// Copyright (c) 2001-2023 by Apryse Software Inc. All Rights Reserved.
//

using System;
using pdftron;
using pdftron.Common;
using pdftron.Filters;
using pdftron.SDF;
using pdftron.PDF;


namespace TextSearchTestCS
{
	// This sample illustrates various text search capabilities of PDFNet.

	class Class1
	{		
		private static pdftron.PDFNetLoader pdfNetLoader = pdftron.PDFNetLoader.Instance();
		static Class1() {}
		
		static void Main(string[] args)
		{
			PDFNet.Initialize(PDFTronLicense.Key);

			// Relative path to the folder containing test files.
			string input_path =  "../../../../TestFiles/";

			// Sample code showing how to use high-level text extraction APIs.
			try	
			{
				using (PDFDoc doc = new PDFDoc(input_path + "credit card numbers.pdf"))
				{
					doc.InitSecurityHandler();

					Int32 page_num = 0;
					String result_str = "", ambient_string = "";
					Highlights hlts = new Highlights();

					TextSearch txt_search = new TextSearch();
					Int32 mode = (Int32)(TextSearch.SearchMode.e_whole_word | TextSearch.SearchMode.e_page_stop | TextSearch.SearchMode.e_highlight);
					String pattern = "joHn sMiTh";

					//call Begin() method to initialize the text search.
					txt_search.Begin( doc, pattern, mode, -1, -1 );

					int step = 0;
			
					//call Run() method iteratively to find all matching instances.
					while ( true )
					{
						TextSearch.ResultCode code = txt_search.Run(ref page_num, ref result_str, ref ambient_string, hlts );

						if ( code == TextSearch.ResultCode.e_found )
						{
							if ( step == 0 )
							{	//step 0: found "John Smith"
								//note that, here, 'ambient_string' and 'hlts' are not written to, 
								//as 'e_ambient_string' and 'e_highlight' are not set.
								Console.WriteLine(result_str + "'s credit card number is: ");

								//now switch to using regular expressions to find John's credit card number
								mode = txt_search.GetMode();
								mode |= (Int32)(TextSearch.SearchMode.e_reg_expression | TextSearch.SearchMode.e_highlight);
								txt_search.SetMode(mode);
								pattern = "\\d{4}-\\d{4}-\\d{4}-\\d{4}"; //or "(\\d{4}-){3}\\d{4}"
								txt_search.SetPattern(pattern);

								++step;
							}
							else if ( step == 1 )
							{
								//step 1: found John's credit card number
								//result_str.ConvertToAscii(char_buf, 32, true);
								//cout << "  " << char_buf << endl;
								Console.WriteLine("  " + result_str);

								//note that, here, 'hlts' is written to, as 'e_highlight' has been set.
								//output the highlight info of the credit card number
								hlts.Begin(doc);
								while (hlts.HasNext())
								{
									Console.WriteLine("The current highlight is from page: " + hlts.GetCurrentPageNumber());
									hlts.Next();
								}

								//see if there is an AMEX card number
								pattern = "\\d{4}-\\d{6}-\\d{5}";
								txt_search.SetPattern(pattern);

								++step;
							}
							else if ( step == 2 )
							{
								//found an AMEX card number
								Console.WriteLine("\nThere is an AMEX card number:\n  " + result_str);

								//change mode to find the owner of the credit card; supposedly, the owner's
								//name proceeds the number
								mode = txt_search.GetMode();
								mode |= (Int32)(TextSearch.SearchMode.e_search_up);
								txt_search.SetMode(mode);
								pattern = "[A-z]++ [A-z]++";
								txt_search.SetPattern(pattern);

								++step;
							}
							else if ( step == 3 )
							{
								//found the owner's name of the AMEX card
								Console.WriteLine("Is the owner's name:\n  " + result_str + "?");

								//add a link annotation based on the location of the found instance
								hlts.Begin(doc);
								while (hlts.HasNext())
								{
									Page cur_page = doc.GetPage(hlts.GetCurrentPageNumber());
									double[] quads = hlts.GetCurrentQuads();
									int quad_count = quads.Length / 8;
									for (int i = 0; i < quad_count; ++i)
									{
										//assume each quad is an axis-aligned rectangle
										int offset = 8 * i;
										double x1 = Math.Min(Math.Min(Math.Min(quads[offset + 0], quads[offset + 2]), quads[offset + 4]), quads[offset + 6]);
										double x2 = Math.Max(Math.Max(Math.Max(quads[offset + 0], quads[offset + 2]), quads[offset + 4]), quads[offset + 6]);
										double y1 = Math.Min(Math.Min(Math.Min(quads[offset + 1], quads[offset + 3]), quads[offset + 5]), quads[offset + 7]);
										double y2 = Math.Max(Math.Max(Math.Max(quads[offset + 1], quads[offset + 3]), quads[offset + 5]), quads[offset + 7]);

										pdftron.PDF.Annots.Link hyper_link = pdftron.PDF.Annots.Link.Create(doc, new Rect(x1, y1, x2, y2), pdftron.PDF.Action.CreateURI(doc, "http://www.pdftron.com"));
										hyper_link.RefreshAppearance();
										cur_page.AnnotPushBack(hyper_link);
									}
									hlts.Next();
								}
								string output_path = "../../../../TestFiles/Output/";
								doc.Save(output_path + "credit card numbers_linked.pdf", SDFDoc.SaveOptions.e_linearized);

								break;
							}
						}
						else if ( code == TextSearch.ResultCode.e_page )
						{
							//you can update your UI here, if needed
						}
						else
						{
							break;
						}
					}
				}
			}

			catch (PDFNetException e)
			{
				Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
			}
			PDFNet.Terminate();
		}
	}
}