> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.workflowgen.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.workflowgen.com/admin/9.6/workflow-applications/extractttext.md). # EXTRACTTTEXT ## Overview The **EXTRACTTEXT** workflow application extracts text content from an input file (`.pdf`, `.docx`, `.txt`, `.xml`, `.htm`, `.html,` or `.md`) and returns the extracted text and its length. It supports optional parameters for maximum file size, trimming, and text normalization (Unix-style line breaks). ## Parameters ### Required parameters

Parameter	Type	Direction	Description
`FILE`	FILE	IN	The file from which to extract the text (must be `.pdf`, `.docx`, `.txt`, `.xml, .htm`, `.html`, or `.md`)
`TEXT`	TEXT	OUT	The extracted (and possibly normalized/trimmed) text
`LENGTH`	NUMERIC	OUT	The length (number of characters) of the extracted text

### Optional parameters

Parameter Type Direction Description

MAX_FILE_SIZE NUMERIC IN Maximum allowed file size in MB

TRIM_SIZE NUMERIC IN Maximum number of characters to keep from the extracted text

Parameter	Type	Direction	Description
`MAX_FILE_SIZE`	NUMERIC	IN	Maximum allowed file size in MB
`TRIM_SIZE`	NUMERIC	IN	Maximum number of characters to keep from the extracted text
`NORMALIZE`	TEXT	IN	Whether to normalize line endings Possible values: `Y` `N` `true` `false`

NORMALIZE

TEXT

Whether to normalize line endings
Possible values:

Y
N
true
false

## Supported file types Documents must be provided in one of the following formats. The system validates file format before processing extraction.

Format	Extension	Description
PDF	`.pdf`	Portable Document Format Text is extracted from all pages, including form fields.
Word	`.docx`	Microsoft Word documents (Office Open XML) Text is extracted from paragraphs, tables, headers, footers, and text boxes.
Plain text	`.txt`	Plain text files Content is returned as-is.
XML	`.xml`	XML documents All text content from XML nodes is extracted; element tags are stripped. Processing is secured against XXE (XML External Entity) attacks.
HTML	`.html`, `.htm`	HTML documents Readable text is extracted after removing `<script>`, `<style>`, and `<noscript>` elements. `<br>` tags are converted to line breaks. HTML entities (e.g., `&`, `<`, `©`) are decoded to their characters. Whitespace is normalized.
Markdown	`.md`	Markdown files Content is returned as-is, preserving all markdown syntax (headings, links, formatting, etc.). Markdown is human-readable and well-suited for semantic search without syntax stripping.

## Error messages

Error message	Cause
`ExtractText: File must be a PDF, DOCX, TXT, XML, HTM, HTML or MD.`	File extension is not one of the supported types
XML parsing error (e.g. `DtdProcessing is set to Prohibit`)	XML file contains a DTD declaration (blocked for security)
XML parsing error (e.g. `Data at the root level is invalid`)	XML file is malformed or not valid XML

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