How To Convert PDF to Excel in .NET Framework

When dealing with digital documents, you may notice that PDF data and Excel spreadsheets often go hand in hand. Although not as easily as we’d like. The PDF format is perfect format for preservation of your content layout - whether it be an invoice, a statement or a database. Thus, even though the format can display data perfectly, it can also make it difficult to reuse, edit or analyze in Microsoft Excel. Users have no choice but to turn to PDF converter solutions.

For developers, this presents a perfect opportunity: you can provide a solution within your own applications. In fact, one developer tool, PDF2Excel SDK, will allow you to integrate PDF to Excel conversion technology into your existing software applications and projects.

Developed by Investintech.com, PDF2Excel SDK contains everything a developer needs to leverage the same conversion algorithm behind their desktop PDF converter via DLL or COM API. This introduction guide to PDF2Excel SDK will give you a closer look at their PDF to Excel 2007 conversion technology.

General Information

The PDF2Excel SDK console consists of:

Able2Extract Command Line. This CLI interface is the console for converting PDF files to Excel.
Investintech’s PDF Viewer Control. Our SDK provides the ActiveX control which is used to access and view PDF files.
Investintech Dynamic-Link Library (DLL). Developers get access to Investintech’s DLL for converting PDF to Excel.

To work with PDF2Excel SDK, You’ll need the following minimum system requirements:

Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP - x32 or x64 editions
Intel Pentium processor or equivalent
512+ MB of free memory available
100MB of hard-disk space for program installation

Programming Environments supported:

Microsoft Visual C/C++/C#
Borland Delphi
VB.NET /VB6

Implementation Methods

You can implement the PDF2Excel SDK from the different programming languages listed above. In this overview, we show you how to use the PDF2Excel SDK from C# and VB.NET.

Using PDF-to-Excel SDK with C#

For those who are programming with C#, use the following methods to convert PDF to Excel.

1. Using the Function Library

Prior to using the PDF-To-Excel function library, you must declare the functions in a class:


[DllImport("PDF2ExcelDLL.dll", EntryPoint = "PDF_to_Excel_VB6", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode, ExactSpelling = false, SetLastError = true)] 

public static extern uint PDF2Excel( 
   [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.BStr)] string inputFile, 
   [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.BStr)] string outputFile, 
   [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.BStr)] string templateFile, 
   [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.BStr)] string password);

Note: if the full path is not specified, the location of the DLL file has to be defined within the system variable named PATH. Alternatively the file should be placed in the same location as the .exe file which is using it.

2. Using the COM Server

Prior to using the PDF-To-Excel COM Server, you must define a project reference to the PDF2ExcelCom 1.0 COM Component.
The .NET COM Interop layer generates a wrapper class you may call in your code.

   
CPDF2ExcelClass pdf2Excel = new CPDF2ExcelClass(); 
IPDF2Excel iPDF2Excel = pdf2Excel; 
iPDF2Excel.PDF2Excel(sourceFileName.get_Text(), 
destinationFileName.get_Text()); 

iPDF2Excel.PDF2Excel("C:\\test.pdf","C:\\test.xls");

Using PDF-to-Excel SDK with VB.NET

Now, for with VB.Net, use the following methods..

1. Using the PDF-To-Excel Function Library:

Prior to using the PDF-To-Excel function library, you must declare the functions in a code module.


 <Runtime.InteropServices.DllImport("PDF2ExcelDLL.dll", _
        EntryPoint:="PDF_to_Excel_VB6", CharSet:=Runtime.InteropServices.CharSet.Unicode, ExactSpelling:=False, SetLastError:=True)> _
    Sub PDF_to_Excel_VB6(ByVal inFile As String, ByVal outFile As String, ByVal templateFile As String, ByVal password As String)

    End Sub

2. Using the PDF-To-Excel COM Server

Prior to using the PDF-To-Excel COM Server, you must define a project reference to the PDF2ExcelCom 1.0 COM Component. The .NET COM Interop layer generates a wrapper class you may call in your code


Dim pdf2Excel As New CPDF2ExcelClass
Dim iPDF2Excel As IPDF2Excel = pdf2Excel
Dim isConverted As Boolean = iPDF2Excel.PDF2Excel("C:\\test.pdf", "C:\\test.xls", "C:\\template.ta2e", "your_password")

The PDF2Excel SDK makes it easy to integrate the Able2Extract PDF conversion technology and algorithm into your software. Moreover, full documentation and technical support is available.

If you’re interested in taking a look at all this SDK has to offer, you can download a free 7-day evaluation trial from Investintech.com: http://www.investintech.com/downloads/developer/developertools/pdftoexcel/

by Reena Cruz

Reena writes for the Investintech.com blog, where she shares tips about PDF converter technology and software in general. As a tech-geek, she enjoys learning about new tech trends and sharing productivity tool tips online.

Tags: Tutorials , VB.Net