Count Characters And Words In PDF Files Using Python In Linux

This Python script efficiently counts words and characters in PDF files, offering flexibility in handling newline characters. Let's explore its functionality and usage.

Analyzing PDF Content with Python

Extracting textual data from PDFs and performing word/character counts is easily achieved using Python's PyPDF2 library. This script leverages PyPDF2 to process PDF files, providing a comprehensive analysis report.

Script Breakdown:

The script, pdfcwcount.py, comprises three core functions:

1. extract_text_from_pdf(file_path): This function reads the specified PDF file, extracts text from each page, and concatenates it into a single string. It gracefully handles FileNotFoundError exceptions.

2. count_words_in_text(text): This function simply splits the input text string into words (using spaces as delimiters) and returns the word count.

3. count_characters_in_text(text, include_newlines=True): This function counts characters. The include_newlines parameter offers control over whether newline characters (\n) are included in the count.

The main section of the script uses the argparse module to handle command-line arguments, allowing users to specify the PDF file path. After extracting text, it calculates word and character counts (with and without newlines) and presents a formatted report.

Installation and Usage:

1. Install PyPDF2: Use pip: pip install PyPDF2

2. Run the Script: Execute the script from your terminal, providing the PDF file path as an argument:

   python pdfcwcount.py /path/to/your/file.pdf 

   Replace /path/to/your/file.pdf with the actual path to your PDF file.

Example Output:

The script generates a report similar to this:

<code>--- PDF File Analysis Report ---
File: /path/to/your/file.pdf
Total Words: 123
Total Characters (including newlines): 789
Total Characters (excluding newlines): 750
-----------------------------</code>

Conclusion:

This Python script provides a robust and efficient solution for analyzing the textual content of PDF files. Its clear structure and command-line interface make it user-friendly and adaptable to various needs. The option to include or exclude newline characters adds valuable flexibility for different analytical requirements.

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