PDF comparison

Introduction

In this mode, Bluage CompareTool offers the ability to compare PDF files. This relies on an intermediary conversion to text. To do so we will use the "Textfile" mode and add the field "enablePdfConversion" to true, check Advanced properties for more details. 
A first simple configuration file for a PDF comparison looks like the following

{
	"comparisonType": "Textfile",
	"textFile": {
    	"folders": {
     		"leftFolder": "files\\output",
		  	"rightFolder": "files\\expected"
		},
    	"folderFileFilterName": "filter.properties",
    	"enablePdfConversion": true,
    	"keepConvertedTextFiles": false,
   	"convertedTextFilesFolder": "report"
	},
	"comparaisonDataStorage": "InRam"
}

Third-Party

While the Bluage CompareTool itself has this capability, it proves to be limited in some cases, leading to blank lines or alignment issues. In order to have a more accurate conversion you may use a third-party found at http://www.xpdfreader.com. Use this download link: https://xpdfreader-dl.s3.amazonaws.com/xpdf-tools-win-4.02.zip 
Then extract 'pdftotext.exe' from the downloaded archive and place it in the Compare Tool installation folder, just beside the CompareTool.exe. The optional third-party will be automatically detected and used at runtime, otherwise the inner capability will be used.