Summary: Ctors | Methods | Inherited Methods | [Expand All]
public class

# ElementReader

extends Object
implements __Delete AutoCloseable

java.lang.Object
↳ | com.pdftron.pdf.ElementReader

## Class Overview

ElementReader can be used to parse and process content streams. ElementReader provides a convenient interface used to traverse the Element display list of a page. The display list representing graphical elements (such as text-runs, paths, images, shadings, forms, etc) is accessed using the intrinsic iterator. ElementReader automatically concatenates page contents spanning multiple streams and provides a mechanism to parse contents of sub-display lists (e.g. forms XObjects and Type3 fonts). A sample use case for ElementReader is given below: `... ElementReader reader=new ElementReader(); reader.Begin(page); for (Element element=reader.next(); element!=null;element=reader.next()) { Rect bbox; if((bbox=element.getBBox())!=null) System.out.println("Bounding Box: " + bbox.getRectangle()); switch (element.getType()) { case Element.e_path: { // Process path data... double[] data = element.getPathPoints();` break; case Element.e_text: // ... break; } } reader.End(); } For a full sample, please refer to ElementReader and ElementReaderAdv sample projects.

## Summary

Public Constructors
| ElementReader() Instantiates a new element reader.

Public Methods
void | begin(Obj content_stream, Obj resource_dict) Begin processing given content stream.
void | begin(Obj content_stream) Begin processing given content stream.
void | begin(Page page) Begin processing a page.
void | begin(Obj content_stream, Obj resource_dict, Context ctx) Begin processing given content stream.
void | begin(Page page, Context ctx) Begin processing a page.
void | clearChangeList() Clear the list containing identifiers of modified graphics state attributes.
void | close() Frees the native memory of the object.
Element | current() get current page element Note: Every call to ElementReader::Next() destroys the current Element.
void | destroy() Frees the native memory of the object.
boolean | end() Close the current display list.
void | formBegin() When the current element is a form XObject you have the option to skip form processing (by not calling FormBegin()) or to open the form stream and continue Element traversal into the form.
GSChangesIterator | getChangesIterator() Get the changes iterator.
Obj | getColorSpace(String name) Get the color space.
Obj | getExtGState(String name) Get the ext GState.
Obj | getFont(String name) Get the specified font.
Obj | getPattern(String name) Get the pattern.
Obj | getShading(String name) Get the specified shading object.
Obj | getXObject(String name) Get the specified XObject.
boolean | isChanged(int gstate_attrib) Checks if given GState attribute is changed.
Element | next() Get next page element Note: Every call to ElementReader::Next() destroys the current Element.
void | patternBegin(boolean fill_pattern, boolean reset_ctm_tfm) A method used to spawn the sub-display list representing the tiling pattern of the current element in the ElementReader.
void | patternBegin(boolean fill_pattern) Pattern begin.
void | type3FontBegin(CharData char_data, Obj resource_dict) A method used to spawn a sub-display list representing a Type3 Font glyph.
void | type3FontBegin(CharData char_data) pawn a sub-display list representing a Type3 Font glyph.

[Expand] Inherited Methods
From class java.lang.Object
boolean | equals(Object arg0)
final Class<?> | getClass()
int | hashCode()
final void | notify()
final void | notifyAll()
String | toString()
final void | wait(long arg0, int arg1)
final void | wait(long arg0)
final void | wait()
From interface com.pdftron.pdf.__Delete
abstract void | destroy()
From interface java.lang.AutoCloseable
abstract void | close()

## Public Constructors

#### public ElementReader ()

Instantiates a new element reader.

##### Throws

PDFNetException |

## Public Methods

#### public void begin (Obj content_stream, Obj resource_dict)

Begin processing given content stream. The content stream may be a Form XObject, Type3 glyph stream, pattern stream or any other content stream.

Note: When page processing is completed, make sure to call ElementReader.End().

##### Parameters

content_stream | - A stream object representing the content stream (usually a Form XObject).
resource_dict | - An optional '/Resource' dictionary parameter. If content stream refers to named resources that are not present in the local Resource dictionary, the names are looked up in the supplied resource dictionary.

##### Throws

PDFNetException |

#### public void begin (Obj content_stream)

Begin processing given content stream. The content stream may be a Form XObject, Type3 glyph stream, pattern stream or any other content stream.

Note: When page processing is completed, make sure to call ElementReader.End().

##### Parameters

content_stream | - A stream object representing the content stream (usually a Form XObject).

##### Throws

PDFNetException |

#### public void begin (Page page)

Begin processing a page.

Note: When page processing is completed, make sure to call ElementReader.End().

##### Parameters

page | the page to start processing.

##### Throws

PDFNetException |

#### public void begin (Obj content_stream, Obj resource_dict, Context ctx)

Begin processing given content stream. The content stream may be a Form XObject, Type3 glyph stream, pattern stream or any other content stream.

Note: When page processing is completed, make sure to call ElementReader.End().

##### Parameters

content_stream | - A stream object representing the content stream (usually a Form XObject).
resource_dict | - An optional '/Resource' dictionary parameter. If content stream refers to named resources that are not present in the local Resource dictionary, the names are looked up in the supplied resource dictionary.
ctx | The Optional Content (OC) Context that should be used when processing the page. Element::IsOCVisible() will return 'true' or 'false' depending on the visibility of the current Optional Content Group (OCG) and the states of flags in the given context.

##### Throws

PDFNetException |

#### public void begin (Page page, Context ctx)

Begin processing a page.

Note: When page processing is completed, make sure to call ElementReader.End().

##### Parameters

page | the page to start processing.
ctx | the Optional Content (OC) Context that should be used when processing the page. Element::IsOCVisible() will return 'true' or 'false' depending on the visibility of the current Optional Content Group (OCG) and the states of flags in the given context

##### Throws

PDFNetException |

#### public void clearChangeList ()

Clear the list containing identifiers of modified graphics state attributes. The list of modified attributes is then accumulated during a subsequent call(s) to ElementReader.Next().

##### Throws

PDFNetException |

#### public void close ()

Frees the native memory of the object. This can be explicity called to control the deallocation of native memory and avoid situations where the garbage collector does not free the object in a timely manner.

##### Throws

PDFNetException |

#### public Element current ()

get current page element

Note: Every call to ElementReader::Next() destroys the current Element. Therefore, an Element becomes invalid after subsequent ElementReader::Next() operation.

##### Returns

- the current Element or a 'NULL' Element. The current element is the one returned in the last call to Next().

##### Throws

PDFNetException |

#### public void destroy ()

Frees the native memory of the object. This can be explicity called to control the deallocation of native memory and avoid situations where the garbage collector does not free the object in a timely manner.

##### Throws

PDFNetException |

#### public boolean end ()

Close the current display list. If the current display list is a sub-list created using FormBegin(), PatternBegin(), or Type3FontBegin() methods, the function will end the sub-list and will return processing to the parent display list at the point where it left off before entering the sub-list.

##### Returns

- true if the closed display list is a sub-list or false if it is a root display list.

##### Throws

PDFNetException |

#### public void formBegin ()

When the current element is a form XObject you have the option to skip form processing (by not calling FormBegin()) or to open the form stream and continue Element traversal into the form. To open a form XObject display list use FormBegin() method. The Next() returned Element will be the first Element in the form XObject display list. Subsequent calls to Next() will traverse form's display list until NULL is returned. At any point you can close the form sub-list using ElementReader::End() method. After the form display list is closed (using End()) the processing will return to the parent display list at the point where it left off before entering the form XObject.

##### Throws

PDFNetException |

#### public GSChangesIterator getChangesIterator ()

Get the changes iterator.

##### Returns

- an iterator to the beginning of the list containing identifiers of modified graphics state attributes since the last call to ClearChangeList(). The list can be consulted to determine which graphics states were modified between two Elements. Attributes are ordered in the same way as they are set in the content stream. Duplicate attributes are eliminated.

##### Throws

PDFNetException |

#### public Obj getColorSpace (String name)

Get the color space.

##### Parameters

name | the name of the color space

##### Returns

- the specified color space

##### See Also

- `getFont(String)`

#### public Obj getExtGState (String name)

Get the ext GState.

##### Parameters

name | the GState name

##### Returns

- the ext GState

##### See Also

- `getFont(String)`

#### public Obj getFont (String name)

Get the specified font.

##### Parameters

name | the font name

##### Returns

- SDF/Cos object matching the specified name in the current resource dictionary. For 'Page' the name is looked up in the page's /Resources/<Class> dictionary. For Form XObjects, Patterns, and Type3 fonts that have a content stream within page content stream the specified resource is first looked-up in the resource dictionary of the inner stream. If the resource is not found, the name is looked up in the outer content stream's resource dictionary. The function returns NULL if the resource was not found.

##### Throws

PDFNetException |

#### public Obj getPattern (String name)

Get the pattern.

##### Parameters

name | the pattern name

##### Returns

- the specified pattern

##### See Also

- `getFont(String)`

#### public Obj getShading (String name)

Get the specified shading object.

##### Parameters

name | the name of the shading object

##### Returns

- the shading object

##### See Also

- `getFont(String)`

#### public Obj getXObject (String name)

Get the specified XObject.

##### Parameters

name | the name of the XObject

##### Returns

- the specified XObject

##### See Also

- `getFont(String)`

#### public boolean isChanged (int gstate_attrib)

Checks if given GState attribute is changed.

##### Parameters

gstate_attrib | the given GState attribute

##### Returns

- true if given GState attribute was changed since the last call to ClearChangeList().

##### Throws

PDFNetException |

#### public Element next ()

Get next page element

Note: Every call to ElementReader::Next() destroys the current Element. Therefore, an Element becomes invalid after subsequent ElementReader::Next() operation.

##### Returns

- a page Element or a 'NULL' element if the end of current-display list was reached. You may use GetType() to determine the type of the returned Element.

##### Throws

PDFNetException |

#### public void patternBegin (boolean fill_pattern, boolean reset_ctm_tfm)

A method used to spawn the sub-display list representing the tiling pattern of the current element in the ElementReader. You can call this method at any point as long as the current element is valid.

##### Parameters

fill_pattern | If true, the filling pattern of the current element will be spawned; otherwise, the stroking pattern of the current element will be spawned. Note that the graphics state will be inherited from the parent content stream (the content stream in which the pattern is defined as a resource) automatically.
reset_ctm_tfm | An optional parameter used to indicate whether the pattern's display list should set its initial CTM and transformation matrices to identity matrix. In general, we should leave it to be false. To open a tiling pattern sub-display list use PatternBegin() method. The Next() returned Element will be the first Element in the pattern display list. Subsequent calls to Next() will traverse pattern's display list until NULL is encountered. At any point you can close the pattern sub-list using ElementReader::End() method. After the pattern display list is closed, the processing will return to the parent display list at the point where pattern display list was spawned.

##### Throws

PDFNetException |

#### public void patternBegin (boolean fill_pattern)

Pattern begin.

##### Parameters

fill_pattern | If true, the filling pattern of the current element will be spawned; otherwise, the stroking pattern of the current element will be spawned. Note that the graphics state will be inherited from the parent content stream (the content stream in which the pattern is defined as a resource) automatically.

##### Throws

PDFNetException |

#### public void type3FontBegin (CharData char_data, Obj resource_dict)

A method used to spawn a sub-display list representing a Type3 Font glyph. You can call this method at any point as long as the current element in the ElementReader is a text element whose font type is type 3.

##### Parameters

char_data | The information about the glyph to process. You can get this information by dereferencing a CharIterator.
resource_dict | - An optional '/Resource' dictionary parameter. If any glyph descriptions refer to named resources but Font Resource dictionary is absent, the names are looked up in the supplied resource dictionary. To open a Type3 font sub-display list use Type3FontBegin() method. The Next() returned Element will be the first Element in the glyph's display list. Subsequent calls to Next() will traverse glyph's display list until NULL is returned. At any point you can close the glyph sub-list using ElementReader::End() method. After the glyph display list is closed, the processing will return to the parent display list at the point where glyph display list was spawned.

##### Throws

PDFNetException |

#### public void type3FontBegin (CharData char_data)

pawn a sub-display list representing a Type3 Font glyph.

##### Throws

PDFNetException |