Document Parser Skill

Overview

This skill enables advanced document parsing using docling - IBM's state-of-the-art document understanding library. Parse complex PDFs, Word documents, and images while preserving structure, extracting tables, figures, and handling multi-column layouts.

How to Use

1. Provide the document to parse
2. Specify what you want to extract (text, tables, figures, etc.)
3. I'll parse it and return structured data

Example prompts:

• "Parse this PDF and extract all tables"
• "Convert this academic paper to structured markdown"
• "Extract figures and captions from this document"
• "Parse this report preserving the document structure"

Domain Knowledge

docling Fundamentals

from docling.document_converter import DocumentConverter

# Initialize converter
converter = DocumentConverter()

# Convert document
result = converter.convert("document.pdf")

# Access parsed content
doc = result.document
print(doc.export_to_markdown())

Supported Formats

Basic Usage

from docling.document_converter import DocumentConverter

# Create converter
converter = DocumentConverter()

# Convert single document
result = converter.convert("report.pdf")

# Access document
doc = result.document

# Export options
markdown = doc.export_to_markdown()
text = doc.export_to_text()
json_doc = doc.export_to_dict()

Advanced Configuration

from docling.document_converter import DocumentConverter
from docling.datamodel.base_models import InputFormat
from docling.datamodel.pipeline_options import PdfPipelineOptions

# Configure pipeline
pipeline_options = PdfPipelineOptions()
pipeline_options.do_ocr = True
pipeline_options.do_table_structure = True
pipeline_options.table_structure_options.do_cell_matching = True

# Create converter with options
converter = DocumentConverter(
    allowed_formats=[InputFormat.PDF, InputFormat.DOCX],
    pdf_backend_options=pipeline_options
)

result = converter.convert("document.pdf")

Document Structure

# Document hierarchy
doc = result.document

# Access metadata
print(doc.name)
print(doc.origin)

# Iterate through content
for element in doc.iterate_items():
    print(f"Type: {element.type}")
    print(f"Text: {element.text}")
    
    if element.type == "table":
        print(f"Rows: {len(element.data.table_cells)}")

Extracting Tables

from docling.document_converter import DocumentConverter
import pandas as pd

def extract_tables(doc_path):
    """Extract all tables from document."""
    converter = DocumentConverter()
    result = converter.convert(doc_path)
    doc = result.document
    
    tables = []
    
    for element in doc.iterate_items():
        if element.type == "table":
            # Get table data
            table_data = element.export_to_dataframe()
            tables.append({
                'page': element.prov[0].page_no if element.prov else None,
                'dataframe': table_data
            })
    
    return tables

# Usage
tables = extract_tables("report.pdf")
for i, table in enumerate(tables):
    print(f"Table {i+1} on page {table['page']}:")
    print(table['dataframe'])

Extracting Figures

def extract_figures(doc_path, output_dir):
    """Extract figures with captions."""
    import os
    
    converter = DocumentConverter()
    result = converter.convert(doc_path)
    doc = result.document
    
    figures = []
    os.makedirs(output_dir, exist_ok=True)
    
    for element in doc.iterate_items():
        if element.type == "picture":
            figure_info = {
                'caption': element.caption if hasattr(element, 'caption') else None,
                'page': element.prov[0].page_no if element.prov else None,
            }
            
            # Save image if available
            if hasattr(element, 'image'):
                img_path = os.path.join(output_dir, f"figure_{len(figures)+1}.png")
                element.image.save(img_path)
                figure_info['path'] = img_path
            
            figures.append(figure_info)
    
    return figures

Handling Multi-column Layouts

from docling.document_converter import DocumentConverter

def parse_multicolumn(doc_path):
    """Parse document with multi-column layout."""
    
    converter = DocumentConverter()
    result = converter.convert(doc_path)
    doc = result.document
    
    # docling automatically handles column detection
    # Text is returned in reading order
    
    structured_content = []
    
    for element in doc.iterate_items():
        content_item = {
            'type': element.type,
            'text': element.text if hasattr(element, 'text') else None,
            'level': element.level if hasattr(element, 'level') else None,
        }
        
        # Add bounding box if available
        if element.prov:
            content_item['bbox'] = element.prov[0].bbox
            content_item['page'] = element.prov[0].page_no
        
        structured_content.append(content_item)
    
    return structured_content

Export Formats

from docling.document_converter import DocumentConverter

converter = DocumentConverter()
result = converter.convert("document.pdf")
doc = result.document

# Markdown export
markdown = doc.export_to_markdown()
with open("output.md", "w") as f:
    f.write(markdown)

# Plain text
text = doc.export_to_text()

# JSON/dict format
json_doc = doc.export_to_dict()

# HTML format (if supported)
# html = doc.export_to_html()

Batch Processing

from docling.document_converter import DocumentConverter
from pathlib import Path
from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor

def batch_parse(input_dir, output_dir, max_workers=4):
    """Parse multiple documents in parallel."""
    
    input_path = Path(input_dir)
    output_path = Path(output_dir)
    output_path.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
    
    converter = DocumentConverter()
    
    def process_single(doc_path):
        try:
            result = converter.convert(str(doc_path))
            md = result.document.export_to_markdown()
            
            out_file = output_path / f"{doc_path.stem}.md"
            with open(out_file, 'w') as f:
                f.write(md)
            
            return {'file': str(doc_path), 'status': 'success'}
        except Exception as e:
            return {'file': str(doc_path), 'status': 'error', 'error': str(e)}
    
    docs = list(input_path.glob('*.pdf')) + list(input_path.glob('*.docx'))
    
    with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=max_workers) as executor:
        results = list(executor.map(process_single, docs))
    
    return results

Best Practices

1. Use Appropriate Pipeline: Configure for your document type
2. Handle Large Documents: Process in chunks if needed
3. Verify Table Extraction: Complex tables may need review
4. Check OCR Quality: Enable OCR for scanned documents
5. Cache Results: Store parsed documents for reuse

Common Patterns

Academic Paper Parser

def parse_academic_paper(pdf_path):
    """Parse academic paper structure."""
    
    converter = DocumentConverter()
    result = converter.convert(pdf_path)
    doc = result.document
    
    paper = {
        'title': None,
        'abstract': None,
        'sections': [],
        'references': [],
        'tables': [],
        'figures': []
    }
    
    current_section = None
    
    for element in doc.iterate_items():
        text = element.text if hasattr(element, 'text') else ''
        
        if element.type == 'title':
            paper['title'] = text
        
        elif element.type == 'heading':
            if 'abstract' in text.lower():
                current_section = 'abstract'
            elif 'reference' in text.lower():
                current_section = 'references'
            else:
                paper['sections'].append({
                    'title': text,
                    'content': ''
                })
                current_section = 'section'
        
        elif element.type == 'paragraph':
            if current_section == 'abstract':
                paper['abstract'] = text
            elif current_section == 'section' and paper['sections']:
                paper['sections'][-1]['content'] += text + '\n'
        
        elif element.type == 'table':
            paper['tables'].append({
                'caption': element.caption if hasattr(element, 'caption') else None,
                'data': element.export_to_dataframe() if hasattr(element, 'export_to_dataframe') else None
            })
    
    return paper

Report to Structured Data

def parse_business_report(doc_path):
    """Parse business report into structured format."""
    
    converter = DocumentConverter()
    result = converter.convert(doc_path)
    doc = result.document
    
    report = {
        'metadata': {
            'title': None,
            'date': None,
            'author': None
        },
        'executive_summary': None,
        'sections': [],
        'key_metrics': [],
        'recommendations': []
    }
    
    # Parse document structure
    for element in doc.iterate_items():
        # Implement parsing logic based on document structure
        pass
    
    return report

Examples

Example 1: Parse Financial Report

from docling.document_converter import DocumentConverter

def parse_financial_report(pdf_path):
    """Extract structured data from financial report."""
    
    converter = DocumentConverter()
    result = converter.convert(pdf_path)
    doc = result.document
    
    financial_data = {
        'income_statement': None,
        'balance_sheet': None,
        'cash_flow': None,
        'notes': []
    }
    
    # Extract tables
    tables = []
    for element in doc.iterate_items():
        if element.type == 'table':
            table_df = element.export_to_dataframe()
            
            # Identify table type
            if 'revenue' in str(table_df).lower() or 'income' in str(table_df).lower():
                financial_data['income_statement'] = table_df
            elif 'asset' in str(table_df).lower() or 'liabilities' in str(table_df).lower():
                financial_data['balance_sheet'] = table_df
            elif 'cash' in str(table_df).lower():
                financial_data['cash_flow'] = table_df
            else:
                tables.append(table_df)
    
    # Extract markdown for notes
    financial_data['markdown'] = doc.export_to_markdown()
    
    return financial_data

report = parse_financial_report('annual_report.pdf')
print("Income Statement:")
print(report['income_statement'])

Example 2: Technical Documentation Parser

from docling.document_converter import DocumentConverter

def parse_technical_docs(doc_path):
    """Parse technical documentation."""
    
    converter = DocumentConverter()
    result = converter.convert(doc_path)
    doc = result.document
    
    documentation = {
        'title': None,
        'version': None,
        'sections': [],
        'code_blocks': [],
        'diagrams': []
    }
    
    current_section = None
    
    for element in doc.iterate_items():
        if element.type == 'title':
            documentation['title'] = element.text
        
        elif element.type == 'heading':
            current_section = {
                'title': element.text,
                'level': element.level if hasattr(element, 'level') else 1,
                'content': []
            }
            documentation['sections'].append(current_section)
        
        elif element.type == 'code':
            if current_section:
                current_section['content'].append({
                    'type': 'code',
                    'content': element.text
                })
            documentation['code_blocks'].append(element.text)
        
        elif element.type == 'picture':
            documentation['diagrams'].append({
                'page': element.prov[0].page_no if element.prov else None,
                'caption': element.caption if hasattr(element, 'caption') else None
            })
    
    return documentation

docs = parse_technical_docs('api_documentation.pdf')
print(f"Title: {docs['title']}")
print(f"Sections: {len(docs['sections'])}")

Example 3: Contract Analysis

from docling.document_converter import DocumentConverter

def analyze_contract(pdf_path):
    """Parse contract document for key clauses."""
    
    converter = DocumentConverter()
    result = converter.convert(pdf_path)
    doc = result.document
    
    contract = {
        'parties': [],
        'clauses': [],
        'dates': [],
        'amounts': [],
        'full_text': doc.export_to_text()
    }
    
    import re
    
    # Extract dates
    date_pattern = r'\b\d{1,2}[/-]\d{1,2}[/-]\d{2,4}\b|\b(?:Jan|Feb|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep|Oct|Nov|Dec)[a-z]* \d{1,2},? \d{4}\b'
    contract['dates'] = re.findall(date_pattern, contract['full_text'], re.IGNORECASE)
    
    # Extract monetary amounts
    amount_pattern = r'\$[\d,]+(?:\.\d{2})?|\b\d+(?:,\d{3})*(?:\.\d{2})?\s*(?:USD|dollars)\b'
    contract['amounts'] = re.findall(amount_pattern, contract['full_text'], re.IGNORECASE)
    
    # Parse sections as clauses
    for element in doc.iterate_items():
        if element.type == 'heading':
            contract['clauses'].append({
                'title': element.text,
                'content': ''
            })
        elif element.type == 'paragraph' and contract['clauses']:
            contract['clauses'][-1]['content'] += element.text + '\n'
    
    return contract

contract_data = analyze_contract('agreement.pdf')
print(f"Key dates: {contract_data['dates']}")
print(f"Amounts: {contract_data['amounts']}")

Limitations

• Very large documents may require chunking
• Handwritten content needs OCR preprocessing
• Complex nested tables may need manual review
• Some PDF types (encrypted) not supported
• GPU recommended for best performance

Installation

pip install docling

# For full functionality
pip install docling[all]

# For OCR support
pip install docling[ocr]

Resources

• docling GitHub
• Documentation
• IBM Research Blog