pdfsearch/README.md

# pdfsearch #

**pdfsearch** finds text strings inside a pdf. It relies on `pdftotext` from the [Poppler](https://poppler.freedesktop.org/) library.

## Installation ##

You must install Poppler, and add it to your search path.

**Windows**: http://blog.alivate.com.au/poppler-windows

**Linux**: `sudo apt install poppler-utils`

**Mac**: `brew install poppler`

Then

```
pip install tqdm
```

Then

```
git clone http://git.wrl.unsw.edu.au:3000/danh/pdfsearch.git
cd pdfsearch
python setup.py install
```

Or put a copy of `pdfsearch.py` in your working directory.

## Usage ##

```python
>>> from pdfsearch import search_pdf

>>> pdf_name = 'animal-farm.pdf'
>>> search_patterns = ['horse', 'pig']
>>> context_length = 2
>>> results = search_pdf(pdf_name, search_patterns, context_length)

>>> import pandas as pd
>>> pd.DataFrame(results)

document         page   pattern  word          context
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
animal-farm.pdf     1   horse    cart-horses,  The two cart-horses, Boxer
animal-farm.pdf     1   horse    horses        two ordinary horses put together.
animal-farm.pdf     1   horse    horses        the horses came
animal-farm.pdf     1   pig      pig,          a majestic-looking pig, with a
animal-farm.pdf     1   pig      pigs,         the pigs, who
animal-farm.pdf     1   pig      pigeons       window-sills, the pigeons fluttered up
animal-farm.pdf     1   pig      pigs          the pigs and began
animal-farm.pdf     2   horse    horses        The two horses had just
```

Search patterns should be lowercase, unless case-sensitivity is important. For example:

`'ph'` will match:
   - `'photograph'`
   - `'PHANTOM'`
   - `'pH'`

`'pH'` will match:
   - `'pH'`