#  `dump_data`

Metadata, page and bookmark info (XML-escaped or JSON)
## Usage
> pdftl `<input>` `dump_data` `[json]` `[output` `<output>]`

## Details
Extracts document-level metadata and structural information
from the input PDF and prints it to the console (or a
specified file).

This operation is the primary way to export data for
inspection or for later use by the `update_info`
operation. By default, all string values in the output are
processed with XML-style escaping (e.g., `<` becomes
`&lt;`).

Alternatively, passing the `json` parameter will produce a
structured JSON output, which is often easier for other
programs to parse.

### Output Format Details (Stanza Format)

The default output is a plain text, line-based, key-value
format. It consists of both simple top-level fields and
multi-line "stanzas". A stanza is a block of related data that
begins with a line like `InfoBegin` or `BookmarkBegin`.

The data from this command is consumed by `update_info`.

#### Top-Level Fields

These fields appear as simple `Key: Value` lines.

* `PdfID0: <hex_string>`
    * The first part of the PDF's unique file identifier.
    * *Updatable by `update_info`.*

* `PdfID1: <hex_string>`
    * The second part of the PDF's unique file identifier.
    * *Not updatable by `update_info`.*

* `NumberOfPages: <integer>`
    * The total number of pages in the document.

#### Stanzas

These are multi-line blocks, each describing a single record.
These can all be updated by `update_info`.

##### 1. Info Stanza (Document Metadata)

Each metadata entry (e.g., Title, Author) gets its own stanza.

* `InfoBegin`
* `InfoKey: <key_name>`
    Standard keys include `Title`, `Author`, `Subject`, `Keywords`,
    `Creator`, `Producer`, `CreationDate`, `ModDate`.
* `InfoValue: <value_string>`

##### 2. Bookmark Stanza

Represents a single bookmark (outline) item.

* `BookmarkBegin`
* `BookmarkTitle: <title_string>`
* `BookmarkLevel: <integer>` (1 is top level)
* `BookmarkPageNumber: <integer>`
    The 1-indexed target page number.

##### 3. PageMedia Stanza (Page-level Boxes)

Describes geometry boxes for a page. Coordinates are in PDF points,
space-separated (e.g., `0 0 595 842`).

* `PageMediaBegin`
* `PageMediaNumber: <integer>`
    The 1-indexed page number.
* `PageMediaRotation: <0|90|180|270>`
* `PageMediaRect: <x1> <y1> <x2> <y2>` (MediaBox)
    Always present.
* `PageMediaDimensions: <width> <height>`
* `PageMediaCropRect: <x1> <y1> <x2> <y2>`
    Omitted if identical to `PageMediaRect`.
* `PageMediaBleedRect: <x1> <y1> <x2> <y2>`
    Omitted if identical to `PageMediaCropRect` (or `PageMediaRect` if no crop).
* `PageMediaTrimRect: <x1> <y1> <x2> <y2>`
    Omitted if identical to `PageMediaCropRect` (or `PageMediaRect` if no crop).

##### 4. PageLabel Stanza (Logical Page Numbers)

Defines a page numbering style range.

* `PageLabelBegin`
* `PageLabelNewIndex: <integer>`
    The 1-indexed physical starting page for this numbering.
* `PageLabelStart: <integer>`
    The starting number for this labelling (e.g., 1).
* `PageLabelPrefix: <string>`
    String to prepend to page label (e.g., `A-`).
* `PageLabelNumStyle: <Style>`
    Standard styles: `DecimalArabic`, `UppercaseRoman`, `LowercaseRoman`,
    `UppercaseLetters`, `LowercaseLetters`, `NoNumber`.
## Examples

> Print XML-escaped metadata for in.pdf
```
pdftl in.pdf dump_data
```

> Save XML-escaped metadata for in.pdf to data.txt
```
pdftl in.pdf dump_data output data.txt
```

> Print metadata for in.pdf in JSON format
```
pdftl in.pdf dump_data json
```


**Tags**: info, metadata

*Source: pdftl.operations.dump_data*

*Read online: [https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/operations/dump_data.html](https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/operations/dump_data.html)*

*Type: Operation*