This Python script is designed to recursively traverse through a specified folder, compile the contents of text files into a single PDF, and skip over specified unallowed files and folders. It's particularly useful for aggregating text data from multiple files into a single document.

To run this script, you need Python installed on your system along with the following libraries:

• PyPDF2: Used for creating and manipulating PDF files.
• reportlab: Used for generating PDF documents with text content.

You can install these dependencies using pip:

pip install PyPDF2 reportlab

import os
import sys
from PyPDF2 import PdfFileWriter, PdfFileReader
import io
from reportlab.pdfgen import canvas
from reportlab.lib.pagesizes import letter

• os and sys are standard Python libraries used for file and system operations.
• PyPDF2 is used for PDF manipulation.
• io provides core tools for working with streams.
• reportlab is used for creating PDF documents.

def add_text_to_pdf(text, pdf_writer):
    packet = io.BytesIO()
    can = canvas.Canvas(packet, pagesize=letter)
    for i, line in enumerate(text.split('\n')):
        can.drawString(72, 800 - 15 * i, line)
    can.save()

    packet.seek(0)
    new_pdf = PdfFileReader(packet)
    page = new_pdf.getPage(0)
    pdf_writer.addPage(page)

This function creates a PDF page with the provided text. It uses reportlab to draw text onto a canvas, which is then converted into a PDF page and added to the PdfFileWriter object.

def process_folder(folder_path, output_pdf, unallowed_files, unallowed_folders):
    pdf_writer = PdfFileWriter()

    for root, dirs, files in os.walk(folder_path):
        dirs[:] = [d for d in dirs if d not in unallowed_folders]

        for file in files:
            if file in unallowed_files:
                continue

            file_path = os.path.join(root, file)
            try:
                with open(file_path, 'r') as f:
                    add_text_to_pdf(f.read(), pdf_writer)
            except Exception as e:
                print(f"Error processing {file_path}: {e}")

    with open(output_pdf, 'wb') as out:
        pdf_writer.write(out)

This function traverses the directory tree starting from folder_path. It skips over unallowed folders and files, reads the content of allowed files, and uses add_text_to_pdf to add this content to the PDF.

if __name__ == "__main__":
    if len(sys.argv) != 3:
        print("Usage: python script.py <folder_path> <output_pdf>")
        sys.exit(1)

    folder_path = sys.argv[1]
    output_pdf = sys.argv[2]
    unallowed_files = ['file1.txt', 'file2.txt']
    unallowed_folders = ['folder1', 'folder2']

    process_folder(folder_path, output_pdf, unallowed_files, unallowed_folders) 

This part of the script checks for the correct usage, takes command-line arguments for the folder path and output PDF file name, and calls process_folder with these parameters along with the lists of unallowed files and folders.

Run the script from the command line, providing the path to the folder and the output PDF file name:

python script.py /path/to/folder output.pdf 

• Document Aggregation: Combining multiple text documents into a single PDF for reporting or archival purposes.
• Data Compilation: Gathering text data from various files for data analysis or research.

This script is a versatile tool for anyone looking to consolidate text information from multiple files into a single PDF document. Its ability to exclude specific files and folders adds to its flexibility, making it suitable for a variety of use cases in both professional and personal settings.

Remember to adjust the script for different file types and formatting needs, as it currently handles basic text files.