PHP Extension Requires Chilkat v11.7.0+

Search a PDF with a Regular Expression

See more PDF Text Extraction Examples

Demonstrates searching a PDF with a regular expression (regex: true), limiting the number of results (maxResults), and matching whole words only (wholeWord). PHP Extension

<?php

include("chilkat.php");

$success = false;

//  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 order_records.pdf

$pdf = new CkPdf();
$success = $pdf->LoadFile('qa_data/pdf/order_records.pdf');
if ($success == false) {
    print $pdf->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

$json = new CkJsonObject();
$jsonOut = new CkJsonObject();

//  Find every order number.  With regex set to true, the query is a regular expression.
$json->UpdateString('query','ORD-[0-9]{4}-[0-9]{4}');
$json->UpdateBool('regex',true);
//  We only want the matched text, so no context is needed.
$json->UpdateInt('context',0);

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

print 'Order numbers found: ' . $jsonOut->IntOf('count') . "\n";
$i = 0;
$count_i = $jsonOut->SizeOfArray('matches');
while ($i < $count_i) {
    $jsonOut->put_I($i);
    print $jsonOut->stringOf('matches[i].text') . "\n";
    $i = $i + 1;
}

//  Find the e-mail addresses, but stop after the first three.
$json->UpdateString('query','[a-z0-9._]+@[a-z]+[.][a-z]+');
$json->UpdateInt('maxResults',3);
$success = $pdf->ExtractText('search',$json,$jsonOut);
if ($success == false) {
    print $pdf->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

print 'First three e-mail addresses:' . "\n";
$i = 0;
$count_i = $jsonOut->SizeOfArray('matches');
while ($i < $count_i) {
    $jsonOut->put_I($i);
    print $jsonOut->stringOf('matches[i].text') . "\n";
    $i = $i + 1;
}

//  wholeWord: true matches only whole words.  The word "cat" appears once in the PDF,
//  but it is also inside "catalog" and "category".
$json->Delete('maxResults');
$json->UpdateBool('regex',false);
$json->UpdateString('query','cat');
$success = $pdf->ExtractText('search',$json,$jsonOut);
if ($success == false) {
    print $pdf->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

print 'Occurrences of cat (any): ' . $jsonOut->IntOf('count') . "\n";

$json->UpdateBool('wholeWord',true);
$success = $pdf->ExtractText('search',$json,$jsonOut);
if ($success == false) {
    print $pdf->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

print 'Occurrences of cat (whole word): ' . $jsonOut->IntOf('count') . "\n";

//  Sample output:

//  Order numbers found: 9
//  ORD-2026-0301
//  ORD-2026-0302
//  ORD-2026-0303
//  ORD-2026-0304
//  ORD-2026-0305
//  ORD-2026-0306
//  ORD-2026-0307
//  ORD-2026-0308
//  ORD-2026-0307
//  First three e-mail addresses:
//  alice.moore@example.com
//  bkumar@example.org
//  carla@example.net
//  Occurrences of cat (any): 3
//  Occurrences of cat (whole word): 1

?>