converting ppt documents to pptx in headless mode

users
#1

I searched for documentation of converting ppt documents to pptx format in
headless mode and I only saw examples of converting to pdf.
Can someone please help me with the parameters to be passed for this. I have
ppt files coming in and I want to save them as pptx files.
Thanks,
-Aneesh.

#2

I searched for documentation of converting ppt documents to pptx format in
headless mode and I only saw examples of converting to pdf.
Can someone please help me with the parameters to be passed for this. I have
ppt files coming in and I want to save them as pptx files.
Thanks,
-Aneesh.

If you open the ppt file in Impress you can use SAVE AS and save as
pptx. I would also save in the ODF format.

#3

Quote from the OP:
<quote>
I searched for documentation of converting ppt documents to pptx format
in headless mode...
</quote>
...

And no. I don't know the answer.

#4

There is a tool name jodconverter
(http://code.google.com/p/jodconverter/)

unfortunatly it converts only to PDF, or to ODP, an not to PPTX

Maybe it can be implemented, i dont know, but one way to find out is send a request to the authors of this tool..... :wink:

#5

Hi :slight_smile:
I think he needs to be able to do this from a command-line without opening LibreOffice in order to be able to write a script to do a LOT quite quickly.  There is then a custom-made program for them to extract specific parts of the PptXs.

Sadly even programmers are largely unaware of OpenDocument Formats but this will improve as LO edges into the market. 
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#6

Am 06.10.2011 11:03, aneesh.vemuri wrote:

I searched for documentation of converting ppt documents to pptx format in
headless mode and I only saw examples of converting to pdf.
Can someone please help me with the parameters to be passed for this. I have
ppt files coming in and I want to save them as pptx files.
Thanks,
-Aneesh.

Why do you want to do that? It is a very bad idea to use this software as a converter from one poorly supported foreign file format into another poorly supported foreign file format.
Whatever the reason for this conversion may be, there is no reason not to use MS Office for this task.

#7

Hi :slight_smile:
Why make posts like that publicly?  Is the aim to make the place unfriendly and make people afraid to ask questions?  If you have to write such harsh rudeness then please do not do them so publicly. 
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#8

I totally agree that using MS-Office for converting from DOC to DOCX is always a better apporach than using 'any' other piece of software.
('better' is not equal to 'faster'/'cheaper'/..... )

Because conversion is done between two MS-Office formats, the license can not be an issue.

MS-Office has some commandline options to start a macro, which can do the 'SaveAs' fo you....

#9

Am 06.10.2011 11:03, aneesh.vemuri wrote:

I searched for documentation of converting ppt documents to pptx format in
headless mode and I only saw examples of converting to pdf.
Can someone please help me with the parameters to be passed for this. I have
ppt files coming in and I want to save them as pptx files.
Thanks,
-Aneesh.

Why do you want to do that? It is a very bad idea to use this software as a converter from one poorly supported foreign file format into another poorly supported foreign file format.
Whatever the reason for this conversion may be, there is no reason not to use MS Office for this task.

#10

For batch conversion from Office Binary formats to OOXML formats, Microsoft
provides batch converters.

The original ones, released on conjunction with Office 2007 are described
here: <http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=21888>.

The latest ones, released in conjunction with Office 2010 are described here:
<http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=11454>.

It is also useful, as part of that kind of migration, to have the Microsoft
Office Compatibility Pack installed on Office XP and 2003 configurations. The
bulk upgrader apparently relies on it being installed as well (the compatibility
pack allows OOXML files to go both ways in and out of older Office versions).
See <http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=3>.

I haven't used the batch converters but assume that the resulting OOXML files
are in "Compatibility Mode", so that down-level features are preserved and
can be round-tripped back to a version that produced the binary versions.

- Dennis E. Hamilton
   tools for document interoperability, <http://nfoWorks.org/>
   dennis.hamilton@acm.org gsm: +1-206-779-9430 @orcmid

#11

e-letter wrote:

not petty metrics such as pursuing "most
prolific responder (regardless of the actual quality!)" award.

I can see your point about the conversion mentioned but offending EVERYONE
on this list is completely out of order.

You should respect people here who are helping someone with a problem even
if it's not directly related to LO.

Even Dennis Hamilton who is on the OASIS board isn't so fundamentalist about
ODF!

Who are you to be so self-righteous?

#12

Tom Davies wrote (08-10-11 10:48)

Sadly even programmers are largely unaware of OpenDocument Formats
but this will improve as LO edges into the market.

??

#13

Tom Davies wrote (08-10-11 11:47)

Hi :slight_smile: Why make posts like that publicly? Is the aim to make the
place unfriendly and make people afraid to ask questions? If you
have to write such harsh rudeness then please do not do them so
publicly. Regards from Tom :slight_smile:

I see no harsh rudeness in the words from Andreas.
He is just clear: whatever the reason for the intended conversion might be, it is a bad idea to use LibreOffice for that.
And he explains why: the idea is automatic conversion from two foreign file formats with both shortcomings in the support.

#14

Hi Pedro, e-letter,

You both made your point - to some extend at least.
Would you want to continue exchange ideas, background to come to better understanding, then at least I would really appreciate if you do it in private mail.

Thanks,
Cor

Pedro wrote (09-10-11 10:26)

#15

aneesh.vemuri wrote:

I searched for documentation of converting ppt documents to pptx format in
headless mode and I only saw examples of converting to pdf.
Can someone please help me with the parameters to be passed for this. I have
ppt files coming in and I want to save them as pptx files.

I believe the "-convert-to" parameter accepts any file type that "Save
as..." accepts. So just replace the "pdf" with "pptx" in the command
line. So, it might look something like this:
soffice -headless -convert-to pptx TestFile.ppt

Regards
Stephan

#16

I hear snipers! Let's get out of the war zone.

Thanks,
-- Tim