[SOLVED] Find string inside pdf with shell

Issue

I'd like to know if there is any way to check if there is a string inside a pdf file using a shell script? I was looking for something like:

if [search(string,pdf_file)] > 0 then  
   echo "exist"
fi

Solution

As nicely pointed by Simon, you can simply convert the pdf to plain text using pdftotext, and then, just search for what you're looking for.

After conversion, you may use grep, bash regex, or any variation you want:

while read line; do

    if [[ ${line} =~ [0-9]{4}(-[0-9]{2}){2} ]]; then
        echo ">>> Found date;";
    fi

done < <(pdftotext infile.pdf -)

Answered By - Rubens

Answer Checked By - Senaida (WPSolving Volunteer)