Can't open a pdf using iTextSharp

Question

I am trying to convert a pdf file to a text one, using the c# iTextSharp library. My code is the one below :

private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            string FosPdf = @"D:\Public\temp\FOS.pdf";
            if (System.IO.File.Exists(FosPdf))
            {
                try
                {
                    StringBuilder text = new StringBuilder();
                    PdfReader pdfReader = new PdfReader(FosPdf);

                    for (int page = 1; page <= pdfReader.NumberOfPages; page++)
                    {
                        ITextExtractionStrategy strategy = new SimpleTextExtractionStrategy();
                        string currentText = PdfTextExtractor.GetTextFromPage(pdfReader, page, strategy);
                        text.Append(System.Environment.NewLine);
                        text.Append("\n Page Number:" + page);
                        text.Append(System.Environment.NewLine);
                        currentText = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(ASCIIEncoding.Convert(Encoding.Default, Encoding.UTF8, Encoding.Default.GetBytes(currentText)));
                        text.Append(currentText);
                        pdfReader.Close();
                    }
                    string path = @"D:\Public\temp\FOSEtest.txt";
                    if (!System.IO.File.Exists(path))
                    {
                        // Create a file to write to. 
                        using (System.IO.StreamWriter sw = System.IO.File.CreateText(path))
                        {
                            sw.WriteLine("Test :");
                        }
                    }

                    pdftext.Text += text.ToString();
                }
                catch (Exception ex)
                {
                    MessageBox.Show("Error: " + ex.Message, "Error");
                }
            }
        }   

However, the program stops at the beginning of the "for", when the extraction starts. The error is that it is "Impossible to access a closed file".

So my guess is that PdfReader is supposed to open the pdf reader but doesn't : any idea why ?

I've also tried to leave the pdf open before launching the program, the error stays the same.

Thanks in advance for any kind of help

Answer 1

in your for loop, your closing it

     pdfReader.Close();