Search PDF contents for ISBN number and save to text file

It is part of the text of the file. Generally on one line as ISBN 1234567890123 and may have dashes between numbers or periods between letters.

Do you have any examples of how to incorporate the two options you mention?

Not sure if it would help any I do have a javascript that is used in Acrobat(batch/document processing) itself that typically finds the ISBN. Although I do not want to point to Acrobat to do this. It needs to be able to run without the presence of Acrobat. Below is this javascript for what it is worth.

/* Extract ISBN numbers From the Document */

// This script will scan all pages of the input document

// and extract valid ISBN numbers into new PDF document.

// Output PDF document will be placed in the same folder

// as input. The name of the output document will be:

// Original filename + "_Extracted_ISBN"

// Visit www.evermap.com for more useful JavaScript samples.

// This is a combination of strict and relaxed versions of ISBN number format

var reISBN=/(ISBN[\:\=\s][\s]*(?=[-0-9xX ]{13})(?:[0-9]+[- ]){3}[0-9]*[xX0-9])|(ISBN[\:\=\s][ ]*\d{9,10}[\d|x])/g;

var strExt = "_Extracted_ISBN.pdf";

var strIntro = "ISBN numbers extracted from document: ";

var strFinal = "Total number of ISBN numbers extracted: " ;

ExtractFromDocument(reISBN,strExt,strIntro,strFinal);

function ExtractFromDocument(reMatch, strFileExt, strMessage1, strMessage2)

{

var chWord, numWords;

// construct filename for output document

var filename = this.path.replace(/\.pdf$/, strFileExt);

// create a report document

try {

var ReportDoc = new Report();

var Out = new Object(); // array where we will collect all our emails before outputing them

ReportDoc.writeText(strMessage1 + this.path);

ReportDoc.divide(1); // draw a horizontal divider

ReportDoc.writeText(" "); // write a blank line to output

for (var i = 0; i < this.numPages; i++)

{

numWords = this.getPageNumWords(i);

var PageText = "";

for (var j = 0; j < numWords; j++) {

var word = this.getPageNthWord(i,j,false);

PageText += word;

}

var strMatches = PageText.match(reMatch);

if (strMatches == null) continue;

// now output matches into report document

for (j = 0; j < strMatches.length; j++) {

Out[strMatches[j]] = true; // store email as a property name

}

}

var nTotal = 0;

for (var prop in Out)

{

ReportDoc.writeText(prop);

nTotal++;

}

ReportDoc.writeText(" "); // output extra blank line

ReportDoc.divide(1); // draw a horizontal divider

ReportDoc.writeText(strMessage2 + nTotal);

// save report to a document

ReportDoc.save(

{

cDIPath: filename

});

}

catch(e)

{

app.alert("Processing error: "+e)

}

} // end of the function

Take a look at these:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/27242073/sample1.pdf

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/27242073/sample2.pdf

Although other styles exist this is a good start.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks

Frank,

Thanks for taking to time to look at this. The automator action you uploaded will work on both the files I have here. The sample files you looked at were "stripped" down to make them smaller and I must have done something to them that changed it to where the isbn is not seen. Your automator app will see the isbn on the original but only if I extract the page with the isbn on it to a single page. If I leave it as a multiple page file it will crash during the processing.

I really like how easy this, and the javascript I uploaded, appear to work. The java does not crash as the file is processed. If it would only write the found value to a simple text file then it would be wonderful.

Can a javascript be incorporated into an applescript?

Thanks for your help,

John

OK, Fianlly getting back.

It is the automator processing that crashes. On a longer file it will just close shop during the process.

I've uploaded a file that will crash the isbngrep workflow to:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/27242073/Binder1.pdf

As to Acrobat running java:

In Advanced/Document Processing/Batch Processing/New Sequence/Select Command

You go to the Execute JavaScript, add this then click edit. In this window you can add your javascript. Then run this internal batch processing to get the script to go into gear.

I'm hoping to add this function to an existing applescript. This other AS already gathers other basic info about a PDF and saves to a text file. If it would just find the ISBN an include that on the report it would be such a big help.

Thanks,

John

hubionmac,

The ghostscript sounds almost doable. Although the bulk of what you describe makes sense it is over my head. Thanks for the suggestions.

John