📄 QMap – PDF Question Mapper

QMap is a MERN-based web application that analyzes exam PDFs and generates a clean, structured summary of printed page numbers and question distributions. It is designed to work generically on different PDF formats without hardcoding rules for a single document.

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🚀 Features

• 📑 Total PDF Pages Detection Accurately counts the real number of pages in the uploaded PDF.

• 🔢 Printed Page Number Extraction Detects original printed page numbers from headers or footers, including:

  • Top / Bottom
  • Top Left / Top Right
  • Bottom Left / Bottom Right Supports formats like:
  • 1
  • Page 1
  • (5)
  • Page 10 of 90
  • - 7 -

• ❓ Question Mapping Identifies where questions start in the document using patterns like:

  • Q1, Q.1
  • Q (1)
  • Question 1

• 📊 Per-Page Summary

  • Shows question start–end range per printed page
  • Clearly marks pages with no questions
  • Handles empty pages gracefully

• 🧠 Generic & Robust Logic

  • Works on hidden and unseen PDFs
  • Handles missing printed pages
  • Does not rely on hardcoded positions or formats

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🏗️ Tech Stack

Frontend

• React (Vite)
• Tailwind CSS
• Axios

Backend

• Node.js
• Express.js
• pdfjs-dist (PDF.js)
• Multer (file uploads)

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🔄 How It Works

1️⃣ Upload PDF

User uploads one or multiple exam PDFs from the frontend.

2️⃣ Backend Analysis

For each PDF:

• Reads total number of pages
• Extracts text with x/y coordinates
• Detects printed page numbers from header/footer regions
• Detects question starts using regex patterns
• Builds a structured summary per page

3️⃣ JSON Response

Backend returns structured metadata including:

• Total pages
• Printed page sequence
• Page-wise question summary

4️⃣ Frontend Display

Frontend displays:

• Overall summary
• Printed page sequence
• Page-by-page question details

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📦 Sample Output (Simplified)

{
  "fileName": "exam.pdf",
  "totalPages": 10,
  "printedPageSequence": [1, 2, 4, 5, 6],
  "pageSummary": [
    { "printedPage": 1, "summaryLabel": "No questions on this page" },
    { "printedPage": 2, "summaryLabel": "Question 1-5" },
    { "printedPage": 4, "summaryLabel": "Question 6-10" }
  ]
}

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🌍 Source Code

💻 GitHub Repo: https://github.com/FaiqaN27/QMap

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🖼 Screenshots / Demo

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⚠️ Constraints Handled

• ✔ PDFs with missing printed pages
• ✔ Printed page numbers in any corner
• ✔ Empty pages
• ✔ Pages with headers/footers only
• ✔ Different question numbering styles
• ✔ Generic solution (no hardcoding)

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🛠️ Setup Instructions

Backend

cd api
npm install
npm run dev

Frontend

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

Make sure to set the backend URL in your frontend .env file.

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🎯 Use Case

QMap is ideal for:

• Exam paper analysis
• Academic content review
• Automated document indexing
• Assessment and evaluation tools

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👩‍💻 Author

QMap Built as part of a MERN assessment focusing on PDF parsing and analysis.

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