Get started with C

This guide walks you through the steps to use a sample project, and then explains how to integrate the Toolbox add-on into your application with the C programming language.

Request trial or full license

Unlike the Pdftools SDK or the Pdftools SDK Shell Tool, the Toolbox add-on requires a license key for both evaluation and full use. To request a license key, follow these steps:

1. Reach out to the sales team through the Contact page and mark the Toolbox add-on as the product of your interest for a trial license.

If you already have a license key and you need to copy it, review Find the license key.

Getting started with a sample project

Learn how to use the Toolbox add-on using a C sample project and extract all images and image masks from a PDF document.

Prerequisites

This sample project uses GCC toolset 4.8+ and CMake version 3.16 or higher.

Compile and run the sample

1. Download a sample project, and then unzip the file.

2. Copy your license key. For more information, review Find the license key.

3. In the toolboximageextraction.c file, replace the string "insert-license-key-here" with your license key:

   GOTO_CLEANUP_IF_FALSE_PRINT_ERROR(Ptx_Sdk_Initialize(_T("insert-license-key-here"), NULL),
                                     _T("Failed to set license key. %s (ErrorCode: 0x%08x).\n"), szErrorBuff,
                                     Ptx_GetLastError());

   Use the license key in the same format as you copied it. Include the less-than (<) and greater-than (>) signs.

4. In the command line, navigate to the root directory of the unzipped sample project, and then run the following command:

   cmake .

5. Build the sample:

   cmake --build .

6. To extract all images and image masks from the sample PDF file ImageCollection.pdf to the output directory /tmp/images, run:

   ./toolboximageextraction ImageCollection.pdf /tmp/images

The code sample takes:

• The input and output files represented as a file name, a file path with the file name, or the output directory.
• Both file paths (input and output) can be relative or absolute.

Review the following snippet with a placeholder and compare it to the last step of the previous procedure:

./toolboximageextraction INPUT_FILE OUTPUT_FILE

note

You can apply a similar procedure as described in this tutorial for other code samples. For more information, see Code samples page.

Integrate the Toolbox add-on into your application

Integrate and initialize the Toolbox add-on into your application by following the instructions in the next sections.

Add the Toolbox add-on to your project

1. Click the download link to get the latest version of the Toolbox add-on for C in a zip archive.

2. Unzip the file on your machine into a local directory recommended for your operating system. For example:

   Windows

   C:\Program Files\PDF Tools AG\

   Included subdirectories are:

   Subdirectory	Description
   lib	Runtime executable binaries and runtime import libraries: win-x86\PdfTools_Toolbox.dll and win-x86\PdfTools_Toolbox.lib for 32-bit Windows win-x64\PdfTools_Toolbox.dll and win-x64\PdfTools_Toolbox.lib for 64-bit Windows
   include	Header files to include in your C or C++ project. The main header PdfTools_Toolbox.h includes all the other headers.

   Linux

   /opt/pdftools.com/

   Included subdirectories are:

   Subdirectory	Description
   lib	Runtime executable binaries for all supported platforms: linux-x64/libPdfTools_Toolbox.so for 64-bit Linux
   include	Header files to include in your C or C++ project. The main header PdfTools_Toolbox.h includes all the other headers.

   macOS

   /opt/pdftools.com/

   Included subdirectories are:

   Subdirectory	Description
   lib	Runtime executable binaries: osx-x64/libPdfTools_Toolbox.dylib for 64-bit (Intel) macOS osx-arm64/libPdfTools_Toolbox.dylib for ARM (Apple Silicon) macOS
   include	Header files to include in your C or C++ project. The main header PdfTools_Toolbox.h includes all the other headers.

3. Optional: The native libraries must be available in your compiler's library path. This step is only required if your build process doesn't resolve it automatically:

   Windows

   Add the lib\win-x64 or lib\win-x86 subdirectory to the %PATH% environment variable.

   Linux

   Create a link to the shared library from one of the standard library directories, e.g:

   ln -s /opt/pdf-tools.com/lib/linux-x64/libPdfTools_Toolbox.so /usr/lib

   macOS

   Create a link to the shared library from one of the standard library directories. For example (for an Intel processor Mac):

   ln -s /opt/pdf-tools.com/lib/osx-x64/libPdfTools_Toolbox.dylib /usr/lib

Initialize the SDK

The Toolbox add-on requires a license key even in a trial version (unlike the Pdftools SDK which you can try without a license key). To initialize the Toolbox add-on with your license key, follow these steps:

1. Copy your license key. For more information, review Find the license key.

2. Find the following code, and then replace the insert-license-key-here with the value of your license key:

   GOTO_CLEANUP_IF_FALSE_PRINT_ERROR(Ptx_Sdk_Initialize(_T("insert-license-key-here"), NULL),
                                     _T("Failed to set license key. %s (ErrorCode: 0x%08x).\n"), szErrorBuff,
                                     Ptx_GetLastError());

   Use the license key in the same format as you copied it. Include the less-than (<) and greater-than (>) signs.

tip

Without a valid license key the Toolbox add-on returns an error. Get in touch with the Pdftools sales team through the Contact page to get a full license.

Uninitialize the SDK

After processing files with the Toolbox add-on, call the Uninitialize function to unload the library correctly:

// Uninitialize library
Ptx_Uninitialize();

Implement your use case

• Find more use cases and sample projects at the Toolbox add-on Code samples page.
• For more technical information about the Toolbox add-on for C, consult the C technical notes.