Read Barcodes and Convert to Searchable PDF with C++ using Apryse SDK

Apryse

pdf

barcode

conversion

C++

Barcodes are a ubiquitous tool for handling data in many industries, and Apryse SDK provides the tools you need to work with them. In this sample code, check out how to read barcodes and convert to searchable PDF for use in other workflows.

For this article we have used C++, but Apryse can be used with many other programming languages. OCR is provided by an add-on module that runs on Linux, Windows and macOS, and Barcode is provided by a separate add-on module and is available for Linux and Windows only.

Sample code

Copied to clipboard

The sample code detects barcodes within a PDF and extracts them into a JSON file. Next, it converts a *.TIFF into a PDF with a searchable text layer. OCR can also work with many other image types.

For full sample code check out the "Barcode Extraction sample" and "OCR sample" in the Apryse documentation.

PDFNet needs to be initialized with a license key before it is used, and should be terminated when you have finished with it.

Keep your license key confidential
License keys are uniquely generated and strictly confidential. Don't publish or store them in any public location, including public GitHub repositories.
You can get a trial license key for testing purposes, but you will need a commercial license in a production environment.

#include <iostream> 
#include <PDF/PDFNet.h> 
#include <PDF/PDFDoc.h> 
#include <PDF/OCRModule.h> 
#include <PDF/OCROptions.h> 
#include <PDF/BarcodeModule.h> 
#include <PDF/BarcodeOptions.h> 
#include <SDF/Obj.h> 

using namespace pdftron; 
using namespace std; 
using namespace PDF; 
using namespace SDF; 

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { 
    // Initialize the PDFNet library 
    PDFNet::Initialize(APRYSE_LICENSE_KEY); 

    try { 
       // Add resource search paths for OCR and Barcode modules 
       PDFNet::AddResourceSearchPath("path_to_your_OCR_module"); 
       PDFNet::AddResourceSearchPath("path_to_your_barcode_module"); 
  
       // Read barcodes from an input pdf 
       string input_path = "path_to_input.pdf"; 
       string output_path = "path_to_output.json"; 
       PDFDoc bcDoc(input_path); 
       BarcodeModule::ExtractBarcodes(bcDoc, output_path); 
       cout << "Barcodes extracted and saved to " << output_path << endl; 

       // Perform OCR on an input image and convert it to a searchable PDF 
       string ocr_input_image_path = "path_to_input.tif"; 
       string searchable_pdf_path = "path_to_output.pdf"; 
       PDFDoc doc; 
       OCROptions opts; 
       OCRModule::ImageToPDF(doc, ocr_input_image_path, &opts); 
       doc.Save(searchable_pdf_path, SDFDoc::e_linearized, 0); 
       cout << "Searchable PDF created and saved to " << searchable_pdf_path << endl; 
    } catch (const Common::Exception& e) { 
        cerr << "Error: " << e.what() << endl; 
        PDFNet::Terminate();
        return 1; 
    } 
    PDFNet::Terminate();
    return 0; 
}