RE: [Swftools-common] PDF2SWF and getTextSnapShot()

[Mark A. Lowe]

Many thanks Fabio,
I've managed to get somewhere with your actionscript.
I also had a problem with how I was creating my swf from pdf2swf.

For everyone else make sure you follow these steps:

1. Use Flash 8 or previous version (I used 6) with the -T command : pdf2swf -T 6
2. Use the -f command for full fonts : pdf2swf -f
3. Test your outputted swf with: swfdump -t filename.swf , you should see a 
list of DEFINETEXT statements and the corresponding text. Due to a font 
conflict I was seeing DEFINETEXT followed by jumbled up text on my first pdf.
4. Test your outputted swf with: swfstrings filename.swf, you should see your 
text and a LOT of ???????s. Again, I had garbage text when trying to convert my 
original PDF.

If the swfdump and swfstrings tests are working, load your pdf2swf.swf into 
Flash. Publish it for 8.
I loaded it into a movieclip on my root timeline called 'loader' : 
loader.loadMovie("pdf2swf_files/6new.swf");
I have a movieclip called 'searchText_mc' and have the following code for it:

searchText_mc.onRelease = function() {
        hltext ("wonderful");
}

And then the hltext is as Fabio provided. This will yellow-highlight all the 
occurrences of the search string:

function hltext ( txt )
{
        trace("hltext");
        var mc = _root.loader;
        var my_snap:TextSnapshot = mc.getTextSnapshot();
        var start_pos:Number = 0;
        
        start_pos = my_snap.findText ( start_pos, txt, false );
        trace("start_pos : " + start_pos);
        while ( start_pos > 0 )
        {
                        trace ( start_pos );
                        my_snap.setSelected( start_pos, start_pos + txt.length, 
true );
                        start_pos += txt.length;
                        start_pos = my_snap.findText ( start_pos, txt, false );
        }

}

If anyone would like some sample files give me a shout,



mark lowe
senior multimedia developer
multimedia resource australia
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+61 3 9602 4750 
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www.mmr.com.au
level 2, 351 elizabeth st, melbourne vic 3000  [ courier correspondence ]
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-----Original Message-----
From: address@hidden [mailto:address@hidden On Behalf Of Fabio Rotondo
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 8:39 PM
To: address@hidden
Subject: Re: [Swftools-common] PDF2SWF and getTextSnapShot()

Mark A. Lowe wrote:

Hi Mark,

> > I’m still learning it and the answer may be obvious, but where would I
> > find some documentation/examples on how to search the text once I have
> > loaded my (pdf2swf) .swf file into my Flash application?

this is a common question. You should have had a look to the mailing
list archives before asking  ;-)

that said, here there is my ActionScript code to highlight the text
inside a PDF page. It works with Flash 8 or previous ONLY because the
new Flash 9 has a different AVM interpreter (AVM2) and many things have
changed.

Please note:

- ``txt`` is the text to search and highlight inside your page
- ``mc`` points to _root.text that's where I was keeping my swf/pdf page
         you should change that so it references yours.

Here is the code:

function hltext ( txt )
{
        var mc = _root.text;
        var my_snap:TextSnapshot = mc.getTextSnapshot();
        var start_pos:Number = 0;
        
        start_pos = my_snap.findText ( start_pos, txt, false );

        while ( start_pos > 0 )
        {
                        trace ( start_pos );
                        my_snap.setSelected( start_pos, start_pos + txt.length, 
true );
                        start_pos += txt.length;
                        start_pos = my_snap.findText ( start_pos, txt, false );
        }

}


Have fun!

Ciao,
Fabio