PHP ActiveX Requires Chilkat v11.7.0+

Extract a PDF Table with Merged Cells

See more PDF Text Extraction Examples

Demonstrates how merged cells are reported by the "tables" operation: a header cell that spans several columns has colSpan greater than 1, and a row label that spans several rows has rowSpan greater than 1. Also shows the minRows and minColumns options. PHP ActiveX

<?php

$success = 0;

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

//  The PDF used in this example is available at spans_table.pdf

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

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

//  Grids smaller than minRows x minColumns are not reported as tables.  The defaults are 2 and 2.
//  Setting them higher skips small boxes that are not really tables.
$json->UpdateInt('minRows',3);
$json->UpdateInt('minColumns',3);

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

print 'Tables found: ' . $jsonOut->IntOf('count') . "\n";
print $jsonOut->IntOf('tables[0].rows') . ' rows x ' . $jsonOut->IntOf('tables[0].columns') . ' columns' . "\n";

//  A merged cell is reported once, at its top-left position, with its spans.
//  The positions it covers have no cell of their own.

$j = 0;
$count_j = $jsonOut->SizeOfArray('tables[0].cells');
while ($j < $count_j) {
    $jsonOut->J = $j;
    $rowSpan = $jsonOut->IntOf('tables[0].cells[j].rowSpan');
    $colSpan = $jsonOut->IntOf('tables[0].cells[j].colSpan');
    if (($rowSpan > 1) or ($colSpan > 1)) {
        print 'row ' . $jsonOut->IntOf('tables[0].cells[j].row') . ', col ' . $jsonOut->IntOf('tables[0].cells[j].col') . ': \'' . $jsonOut->stringOf('tables[0].cells[j].text')
             . '\' spans ' . $rowSpan . ' row(s) and ' . $colSpan . ' column(s)' . "\n";
    }

    $j = $j + 1;
}

//  Sample output:

//  Tables found: 1
//  6 rows x 6 columns
//  row 0, col 0: "Area" spans 2 row(s) and 1 column(s)
//  row 0, col 1: "City" spans 2 row(s) and 1 column(s)
//  row 0, col 2: "First Half" spans 1 row(s) and 2 column(s)
//  row 0, col 4: "Second Half" spans 1 row(s) and 2 column(s)
//  row 2, col 0: "East" spans 2 row(s) and 1 column(s)
//  row 4, col 0: "West" spans 2 row(s) and 1 column(s)

?>