Download Bank Statement Almost Working

Questions & Suggestions
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Moderator's Note 2022/11/19 14:09 CST:

Carsten Blüm's version of pdftotext is no longer available, but you can find a working version here.

See this section:

  • Download the Xpdf command line tools:
    • Mac 64-bit: download (GPG signature)

Hey John,

If you were on 10.10.x it would be fairly easy with ASObjC.

Since you're on 10.9.x I'd install this little Unix executable:

http://www.bluem.net/files/pdftotext.dmg?rev=0

The package installs it here:

/usr/local/bin/pdftotext

Invoke it in an Execute Shell Script action like this:

/usr/local/bin/pdftotext -layout -

Note the dash at the end — this is vital, because it caused the output to to go StdOUT instead of a file.

A working example on my system:

export PATH=/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:$PATH;
pdftotext -layout "/Users/chris/test_directory/pdf_test_files/test.pdf" -

Turning it into an AppleScript that works on the selected file:

tell application "Finder" to set finderSelectionList to selection as alias list

if finderSelectionList ≠ {} then
	set posixFilePath to POSIX path of (first item of finderSelectionList)

	set shCMD to text 2 thru -2 of ("
		export PATH=/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:$PATH;
		pdftotext -layout " & (quoted form of posixFilePath) & " - 
	")
	
	set pdfText to do shell script shCMD
	
end if

You can see what the output looks like by running this in the Terminal:

pdftotext -layout -

Make sure the trailing dash is on the end of the command, and run it.

-Chris

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