Add return_chars=True kwarg to Page.extract_words

h/t @cmdlineluser in #1173

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file. The format
 ### Added
 
 - Add `Table.columns`, analogous to `Table.rows` (h/t @Pk13055). ([#1050](https://github.com/jsvine/pdfplumber/issues/1050))
+- Add `Page.extract_words(return_chars=True)`, mirroring `Page.search(..., return_chars=True)`; if this argument is passed, each word dictionary will include an additional key-value pair: `"chars": [char_object, ...]` (h/t @cmdlineluser). ([#1173](https://github.com/jsvine/pdfplumber/issues/1173))
 
 ### Changed
 

README.md

@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ Note: The methods above are built on Pillow's [`ImageDraw` methods](http://pillo
 |--------|-------------|
 |`.extract_text(x_tolerance=3, x_tolerance_ratio=None, y_tolerance=3, layout=False, x_density=7.25, y_density=13, line_dir_render=None, char_dir_render=None, **kwargs)`| Collates all of the page's character objects into a single string.<ul><li><p>When `layout=False`: Adds spaces where the difference between the `x1` of one character and the `x0` of the next is greater than `x_tolerance`. (If `x_tolerance_ratio` is not `None`, the extractor uses a dynamic `x_tolerance` equal to `x_tolerance_ratio * previous_character["size"]`.) Adds newline characters where the difference between the `doctop` of one character and the `doctop` of the next is greater than `y_tolerance`.</p></li><li><p>When `layout=True` (*experimental feature*): Attempts to mimic the structural layout of the text on the page(s), using `x_density` and `y_density` to determine the minimum number of characters/newlines per "point," the PDF unit of measurement. Passing `line_dir_render="ttb"/"btt"/"ltr"/"rtl"` and/or `char_dir_render="ttb"/"btt"/"ltr"/"rtl"` will output the the lines/characters in a different direction than the default. All remaining `**kwargs` are passed to `.extract_words(...)` (see below), the first step in calculating the layout.</p></li></ul>|
 |`.extract_text_simple(x_tolerance=3, y_tolerance=3)`| A slightly faster but less flexible version of `.extract_text(...)`, using a simpler logic.|
-|`.extract_words(x_tolerance=3, x_tolerance_ratio=None, y_tolerance=3, keep_blank_chars=False, use_text_flow=False, line_dir="ttb", char_dir="ltr", line_dir_rotated="ttb", char_dir_rotated="ltr", extra_attrs=[], split_at_punctuation=False, expand_ligatures=True)`| Returns a list of all word-looking things and their bounding boxes. Words are considered to be sequences of characters where (for "upright" characters) the difference between the `x1` of one character and the `x0` of the next is less than or equal to `x_tolerance` *and* where the `doctop` of one character and the `doctop` of the next is less than or equal to `y_tolerance`. (If `x_tolerance_ratio` is not `None`, the extractor uses a dynamic `x_tolerance` equal to `x_tolerance_ratio * previous_character["size"]`.) A similar approach is taken for non-upright characters, but instead measuring the vertical, rather than horizontal, distances between them. Changing `keep_blank_chars` to `True` will mean that blank characters are treated as part of a word, not as a space between words. Changing `use_text_flow` to `True` will use the PDF's underlying flow of characters as a guide for ordering and segmenting the words, rather than presorting the characters by x/y position. (This mimics how dragging a cursor highlights text in a PDF; as with that, the order does not always appear to be logical.) The arguments `line_dir` and `char_dir` tell this method the direction in which lines/characters are expected to be read; valid options are "ttb" (top-to-bottom), "btt" (bottom-to-top), "ltr" (left-to-right), and "rtl" (right-to-left). The `line_dir_rotated` and `char_dir_rotated` arguments are similar, but for text that has been rotated. Passing a list of `extra_attrs`  (e.g., `["fontname", "size"]` will restrict each words to characters that share exactly the same value for each of those [attributes](#char-properties), and the resulting word dicts will indicate those attributes. Setting `split_at_punctuation` to `True` will enforce breaking tokens at punctuations specified by `string.punctuation`; or you can specify the list of separating punctuation by pass a string, e.g., <code>split_at_punctuation='!"&\'()*+,.:;<=>?@[\]^\`\{\|\}~'</code>. Unless you set `expand_ligatures=False`, ligatures such as `fi` will be expanded into their constituent letters (e.g., `fi`).|
+|`.extract_words(x_tolerance=3, x_tolerance_ratio=None, y_tolerance=3, keep_blank_chars=False, use_text_flow=False, line_dir="ttb", char_dir="ltr", line_dir_rotated="ttb", char_dir_rotated="ltr", extra_attrs=[], split_at_punctuation=False, expand_ligatures=True, return_chars=False)`| Returns a list of all word-looking things and their bounding boxes. Words are considered to be sequences of characters where (for "upright" characters) the difference between the `x1` of one character and the `x0` of the next is less than or equal to `x_tolerance` *and* where the `doctop` of one character and the `doctop` of the next is less than or equal to `y_tolerance`. (If `x_tolerance_ratio` is not `None`, the extractor uses a dynamic `x_tolerance` equal to `x_tolerance_ratio * previous_character["size"]`.) A similar approach is taken for non-upright characters, but instead measuring the vertical, rather than horizontal, distances between them. Changing `keep_blank_chars` to `True` will mean that blank characters are treated as part of a word, not as a space between words. Changing `use_text_flow` to `True` will use the PDF's underlying flow of characters as a guide for ordering and segmenting the words, rather than presorting the characters by x/y position. (This mimics how dragging a cursor highlights text in a PDF; as with that, the order does not always appear to be logical.) The arguments `line_dir` and `char_dir` tell this method the direction in which lines/characters are expected to be read; valid options are "ttb" (top-to-bottom), "btt" (bottom-to-top), "ltr" (left-to-right), and "rtl" (right-to-left). The `line_dir_rotated` and `char_dir_rotated` arguments are similar, but for text that has been rotated. Passing a list of `extra_attrs`  (e.g., `["fontname", "size"]` will restrict each words to characters that share exactly the same value for each of those [attributes](#char-properties), and the resulting word dicts will indicate those attributes. Setting `split_at_punctuation` to `True` will enforce breaking tokens at punctuations specified by `string.punctuation`; or you can specify the list of separating punctuation by pass a string, e.g., <code>split_at_punctuation='!"&\'()*+,.:;<=>?@[\]^\`\{\|\}~'</code>. Unless you set `expand_ligatures=False`, ligatures such as `fi` will be expanded into their constituent letters (e.g., `fi`). Passing `return_chars=True` will add, to each word dictionary, a list of its constituent characters, as a list in the `"chars"` field.|
 |`.extract_text_lines(layout=False, strip=True, return_chars=True, **kwargs)`|*Experimental feature* that returns a list of dictionaries representing the lines of text on the page. The `strip` parameter works analogously to Python's `str.strip()` method, and returns `text` attributes without their surrounding whitespace. (Only relevant when `layout = True`.) Setting `return_chars` to `False` will exclude the individual character objects from the returned text-line dicts. The remaining `**kwargs` are those you would pass to `.extract_text(layout=True, ...)`.|
 |`.search(pattern, regex=True, case=True, main_group=0, return_groups=True, return_chars=True, layout=False, **kwargs)`|*Experimental feature* that allows you to search a page's text, returning a list of all instances that match the query. For each instance, the response dictionary object contains the matching text, any regex group matches, the bounding box coordinates, and the char objects themselves. `pattern` can be a compiled regular expression, an uncompiled regular expression, or a non-regex string. If `regex` is `False`, the pattern is treated as a non-regex string. If `case` is `False`, the search is performed in a case-insensitive manner. Setting `main_group` restricts the results to a specific regex group within the `pattern` (default of `0` means the entire match). Setting `return_groups` and/or `return_chars` to `False` will exclude the lists of the matched regex groups and/or characters from being added (as `"groups"` and `"chars"` to the return dicts). The `layout` parameter operates as it does for `.extract_text(...)`. The remaining `**kwargs` are those you would pass to `.extract_text(layout=True, ...)`. __Note__: Zero-width and all-whitespace matches are discarded, because they (generally) have no explicit position on the page. |
 |`.dedupe_chars(tolerance=1, extra_attrs=("fontname", "size"))`| Returns a version of the page with duplicate chars — those sharing the same text, positioning (within `tolerance` x/y), and `extra_attrs` as other characters — removed. (See [Issue #71](https://github.com/jsvine/pdfplumber/issues/71) to understand the motivation.)|

pdfplumber/utils/text.py

@@ -680,12 +680,22 @@ def iter_extract_tuples(
     def extract_wordmap(self, chars: T_obj_iter) -> WordMap:
         return WordMap(list(self.iter_extract_tuples(chars)))
 
-    def extract_words(self, chars: T_obj_list) -> T_obj_list:
-        return list(word for word, word_chars in self.iter_extract_tuples(chars))
+    def extract_words(
+        self, chars: T_obj_list, return_chars: bool = False
+    ) -> T_obj_list:
+        if return_chars:
+            return list(
+                {**word, "chars": word_chars}
+                for word, word_chars in self.iter_extract_tuples(chars)
+            )
+        else:
+            return list(word for word, word_chars in self.iter_extract_tuples(chars))
 
 
-def extract_words(chars: T_obj_list, **kwargs: Any) -> T_obj_list:
-    return WordExtractor(**kwargs).extract_words(chars)
+def extract_words(
+    chars: T_obj_list, return_chars: bool = False, **kwargs: Any
+) -> T_obj_list:
+    return WordExtractor(**kwargs).extract_words(chars, return_chars)
 
 
 TEXTMAP_KWARGS = inspect.signature(WordMap.to_textmap).parameters.keys()

tests/test_utils.py

@@ -99,6 +99,18 @@ def test_extract_words(self):
         assert words_rtl[1]["text"] == "baaabaaA/AAA"
         assert words_rtl[1]["direction"] == "rtl"
 
+    def test_extract_words_return_chars(self):
+        path = os.path.join(HERE, "pdfs/extra-attrs-example.pdf")
+        with pdfplumber.open(path) as pdf:
+            page = pdf.pages[0]
+
+            words = page.extract_words()
+            assert "chars" not in words[0]
+
+            words = page.extract_words(return_chars=True)
+            assert "chars" in words[0]
+            assert "".join(c["text"] for c in words[0]["chars"]) == words[0]["text"]
+
     def test_text_rotation(self):
         rotations = {
             "0": ("ltr", "ttb"),