Extracting Text from Uploaded Files in Node.js (Part 2: Beyond PDFs)

In our previous article, we explored how to upload files in a Node.js application and showcased methods to access and manipulate the uploaded data. But what if the uploaded file isn't plain text? Many document formats, like PDFs, Word documents, and Excel spreadsheets, require additional processing to extract their textual content.

This article dives into a powerful library called officeparser that allows you to extract text from various office document formats, including PDFs, DOCX, and XLSX files.

Introducing officeparser

The officeparser library offers a robust solution for parsing and extracting text content from various office documents. It's asynchronous, making it well-suited for server-side processing within Node.js API routes.

Extracting Text with officeparser

Here's a code snippet demonstrating how to use officeparser to extract text from an uploaded file:

JavaScript

import { parseOfficeAsync } from "officeparser";

async function extractTextFromFile(path) {
  try {
    const data = await parseOfficeAsync(path);
    return data.toString();
  } catch (error) {
    return error;
  }
}

const fileText = await extractTextFromFile('files/Luqman-resume.pdf');
console.log(fileText);
        

Explanation:

1. We import the parseOfficeAsync function from the officeparser library.
2. The extractTextFromFile function takes the path to the uploaded file as input.
3. Inside the try...catch block, we use parseOfficeAsync to asynchronously parse the file and extract its content.
4. If successful, the extracted text data is converted to a string and returned.
5. In case of errors during parsing, the caught error is returned.

Integration with Node.js API Routes

By integrating this functionality within a Node.js API route, you can handle uploaded files on the server-side, extract text content using officeparser, and potentially process or store the extracted information for further use in your application.

Conclusion

This article expands our file handling capabilities in Node.js, allowing us to extract text from a wider range of document formats. With officeparser, we can unlock valuable information hidden within uploaded office documents, enhancing the functionality of our applications.

Remember: This is just a basic example. officeparser offers more advanced functionalities for handling different document elements (paragraphs, tables, etc.) Be sure to explore the library's documentation for a comprehensive understanding.

Stay ahead of the curve! Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest advancements in Node.js development and discover new techniques to elevate your applications.