smalot / smalot/pdfparser

Words containing "ff" are not parsing properly

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bug
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PHP
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Description

when parsing pdf files, words containing "ff" are not properly saved in the word table through pdfparser.

For example "puff" is saved as "pu"

It only happens with words in the content, not in the title. IOW, if "stuff" is a title word, then "stuff" is saved. If "stuff" is in the content, then only "stu" is saved.

Upon further testing, it appears that multiple "f" are treated as a space, anywhere in a word.

The word boardfflamps is parsed and saved as 2 words "board" and "lamps"

The word Cablefknoss is parsed and saved correctly as "cablefknoss"

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Research direction

Start by reproducing the reported PDF parsing cases with words such as “puff,” “stuff,” “boardfflamps,” and “Cablefknoss,” comparing content with title text. Trace the content path that saves words to the word table; done means repeated f characters remain part of content words without changing the observed title behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
php
Domain
backend
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
54/100

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