# Logstash parsing for rich text documents

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/logstash-parsing-for-rich-text-documents/40640>\
**Category:** Logstash\
**Created:** [February 1, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/logstash-parsing-for-rich-text-documents/40640 "2016-02-01T14:39:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Meenal.Luktuke](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/meenal.luktuke/32/7795_2.png) [@Meenal.Luktuke](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Meenal.Luktuke)\
**Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/logstash-parsing-for-rich-text-documents/40640/1 "2016-02-01T14:39:27Z")

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Hi,

Can Logstash parse rich text documents? I have a use-case where the input is not logs, but some documents instead and then build some KPI in Kibana. I have 2 questions:

1. Can logstash do it with some plugin or I would have to create a custom one?
2. Instead of using Logstash, should I convert the document into JSON first and then pass it to ES directly?

Thanks,  
Meenal

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**Author:** ![magnusbaeck](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/magnusbaeck/32/44943_2.png) [@magnusbaeck](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/magnusbaeck)\
**Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 5:36pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/logstash-parsing-for-rich-text-documents/40640/2 "2016-02-01T17:36:33Z")

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Assuming "rich text" means RTF:

1. You'd need a custom plugin.
2. That might be easier, yes. It's not obvious that Logstash brings any significant benefits in this case.

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**Author:** ![Meenal.Luktuke](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/meenal.luktuke/32/7795_2.png) [@Meenal.Luktuke](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Meenal.Luktuke)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2016, 8:00am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/logstash-parsing-for-rich-text-documents/40640/3 "2016-04-22T08:00:38Z")

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@magnusbaeck : Found a solution to this problem. Using mapper-attachment plugin, any rich text documents, PDF or office documents can be indexed in Elasticsearch. For making it real time, fs-crawler plugin can be used.

> **[dadoonet/fscrawler](https://github.com/dadoonet/fscrawler)**
>
> fscrawler - Elasticsearch File System Crawler (FS Crawler)

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 5:01am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/logstash-parsing-for-rich-text-documents/40640/4 "2017-07-06T05:01:09Z")

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