https://github.com/unoconv/unoconv

Universal Office Converter - Convert between any document format supported by LibreOffice/OpenOffice.
https://github.com/unoconv/unoconv

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Universal Office Converter - Convert between any document format supported by LibreOffice/OpenOffice.

• Host: GitHub
• URL: https://github.com/unoconv/unoconv
• Owner: unoconv
• License: gpl-2.0
• Created: 2011-04-11T17:22:04.000Z (over 13 years ago)
• Default Branch: master
• Last Pushed: 2023-04-19T07:21:34.000Z (over 1 year ago)
• Last Synced: 2024-05-22T01:14:08.413Z (6 months ago)
• Language: Python
• Homepage: http://dag.wieers.com/home-made/unoconv/
• Size: 600 KB
• Stars: 2,526
• Watchers: 101
• Forks: 373
• Open Issues: 104
• Metadata Files:
  • Readme: README.adoc
  • Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
  • License: COPYING
  • Authors: AUTHORS

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README

        
= Automated conversion and styling using LibreOffice

Dag Wieers 

== Unoconv is deprecated

Please note that there is a rewrite of Unoconv called "Unoserver":

https://github.com/unoconv/unoserver/

We are running Unoserver successfully in production, and it's now the

recommended solution.

Unoserver does not have all the features of Unoconv, which features it

will get depends on a combination of what people want, and if someone

wants to implement it. 

Until Unoserver has all the major features people need, Unoconv is in 

bugfix mode, there will be no major changes. Once Unoserver has the major

features of Unoconv, Unoconv will become unsupported.

== Unoconv

Universal Office Converter (unoconv) is a command line tool to convert any

document format that LibreOffice can import to any document format that

LibreOffice can export. It makes use of the LibreOffice's UNO bindings for

non-interactive conversion of documents.

_For practical reasons we mention LibreOffice, but OpenOffice is supported by

unoconv as well._

== Installing unoconv

unoconv can be installed using packages coming from your distribution, or

simply by copying the unoconv python script to your system.

If you installed unoconv by hand, make sure you have the required LibreOffice

or OpenOffice packages installed. A hard requirement is the UNO python bindings

which are often inside a subpackage named +libreoffice-pyuno+ or

+libobasis4.4-pyuno+.

Various sub-packages are needed for specific import or export filters, e.g.

XML-based filters require the xsltfilter subpackage,

e.g. +libobasis4.4-xsltfilter+.

IMPORTANT: Neglecting these requirements will cause unoconv to fail with

unhelpful and confusing error messages.

To find a good Python installation to use to run unoconv, do the following:

To find which Python to use to run unoconv, you can try a script I made.

----

cd /tmp

wget -l https://gist.githubusercontent.com/regebro/036da022dc7d5241a0ee97efdf1458eb/raw/1bc0655423d196acd79a5d9fa60d2baada8dd534/find_uno.py

python3 find_uno.py

----

It should list all Pythons that have Libreoffice libraries installed.

== How does unoconv work ?

unoconv starts its own office instance (if it cannot find an existing

listener) that it then uses. There are some challenges to do this

correctly, but in general this works fine.

Typically you would convert an ODT document to PDF by running:

    unoconv -f pdf some-file.odt

== Start your own unoconv listener

However, you can always start an instance yourself at the default port 2002

(or specify another port with -p/--port) and after use you can tear it down:

----

unoconv --listener &

sleep 20

unoconv -f pdf *.odt

unoconv -f doc *.odt

unoconv -f html *.odt

kill -15 %-

----

It is also possible to use a listener or LibreOffice instance that accepts

connections on another system and use it from unoconv remotely. This

way the conversion tasks are performed on a dedicated system instead

of on the client system. This works only if you have a shared filesystem

mounted at the same location.

== Python and pyuno incompatibilities

Beware that the pyuno python module needs to be compiled with the exact

same version of python that you are using to load it. A lot of people that

run into problems loading pyuno are actually using a precompiled LibreOffice

that they downloaded somewhere and is incompatible with the python version

on their system.

To solve this issue, the project's office suite ships with its own python

interpreter located in the 'program' directory, this one should work

flawlessly.

The most recent unoconv works around this issue by automatically detecting

incompatibilities, and restarting itself using a compatible python (the same

one that ships with LibreOffice).

You can influence the automatic detection by setting the +UNO_PATH+ environment

variable to point to an alternative LibreOffice installation, e.g.:

    UNO_PATH=/opt/libreoffice4.4 unoconv -f pdf some-file.odt

But you can also force another python by using it to execute unoconv, e.g.:

    /opt/libreoffice4.4/program/python.bin unoconv -f pdf some-file.odt

or on macOS:

    /Applications/LibreOffice.app/Contents/MacOS/python unoconv -f pdf some-file.odt

or on Windows:

    C:\Program Files (x86)\LibreOffice 4.4\program\python.exe unoconv -f pdf some-file.odt

TIP: If you plan to use unoconv extensively (or in an automated fashion) it

is more efficient to use the correct python interpreter directly. Or event

put it directly in the Shebang (the first line) of the unoconv script !

== Using unoconv with no X display

Since OpenOffice 2.3 you do not need an X display for starting ooffice.

However you may need the openoffice.org-headless package from your

distribution. Since LibreOffice 2.4 nothing special is needed, running

in headless mode does not require X.

For any older OpenOffice releases, remember that ooffice requires an X

display, even when using it in headless mode. One solution is to use Xvfb

to create a headless X display for ooffice.

 - http://www.oooforum.org/forum/viewtopic.phtml?t=11890

 - http://www.wonko.be/2008/01/09/running-openoffice-headless-on-debian

 - http://ward.vandewege.net/writings/200510auto_doc_conv/

 - http://www.artofsolving.com/node/10

== Using unoconv with macOS

LibreOffice 3.6.0.1 or later is required to use unoconv under macOS.  This

is the first version distributed with an internal python script that works.

No version of OpenOffice for macOS (3.4 is the current version) works because

the necessary internal files are not included inside the application.

== Problems running unoconv from Nginx/Apache/PHP

Some people have had difficulties using unoconv through webservices. Here

is a list of probable causes and recommendations:

 - Use the latest version of unoconv (or GitHub master branch)

 - Use the most recent stable release of LibreOffice (less memory, more stable, fewer crashes)

 - Use the native LibreOffice python binary to run unoconv

 - Hardcode this native python path in the unoconv script shebang (or ensure PATH is set)

 - Ensure that the user running unoconv has write access to its HOME directory (ensure HOME is set)

 - Test with SELinux in permissive mode

It is recommended to open the unoconv script and modify the very first line to

point directly to your installed LibreOffice python binary, so replace this:

    #!/usr/bin/env python

with something like this:

    #!/opt/libreoffice4.4/program/python

== Conversion problems

If you encounter problems converting files, it often helps to try again. If

you are using a listener, restarting the listener may help as well.

The reason for conversion failures are unclear, and they are not

deterministic. unoconv is not the only project to have noticed problems

with import and export filters using PyUNO. We assume these are related

to internal state or timing issues that under certain conditions fail

to correctly work.

If you can reproduce the problem on a specific file, please take the time to

open the file in LibreOffice directly and export it to the desired format. If

this fails, it needs to be reported to the LibreOffice project directly. If

that works, we need to know !

We are looking into this with the LibreOffice developers to:

 - Collaborate closer to find, report and fix unexpected failures

 - Allow end-users to increase debugging and improve reporting to the project

== Troubleshooting instructions

If you encounter a problem with converting documents using unoconv, please

consider that this could be caused by a number of things:

 - incomplete LibreOffice installation

 - LibreOffice bug or regression specific to your version/distribution

 - LibreOffice import or export filter issue

 - problem related to stale lock files

 - problem related to the source document

 - problem related to permissions or SELinux

 - problem related to the python UNO bindings

 - problem related to the unoconv python script

It is recommended to follow all of the below steps to pinpoint the problem:

 - if this is the first time you are using LibreOffice/OpenOffice, make sure

   you have all the required sub-packages installed, depending on the

   distribution this could be the +xsltfilter+, +headless+, +writer+,

   +calc+, +impress+ or +draw+ sub-packages.

 - check if there is no existing LibreOffice process running on the system

   that could interfere with proper functioning

        # pgrep -l 'office|writer|calc'

 - check that there are no stale lock files present, e.g. '.~lock.file.pdf#' or

   '.~lock.index.html#'

 - check that the LibreOffice instance handling UNO requests is not handling

   multiple requests at the same time

 - try using the latest unoconv release, or the latest version on Github at:

   https://github.com/dagwieers/unoconv/downloads

 - try the conversion by opening the file in LibreOffice and exporting

   it through LibreOffice directly

 - try unoconv with a different minor or major LibreOffice version to test

   whether it is a regression in LibreOffice

 - try to load the UNO bindings in python manually:

   * do this with the python executable that ships with the LibreOffice

     package/installer

        # /opt/libreoffice4.4/program/python.bin -c 'import uno, unohelper'

   * or alternatively, run the distribution python (with the distribution

     LibreOffice)

        # python -c 'import uno, unohelper'

 - try unoconv with a different python interpreter manually:

    # /opt/libreoffice4.4/program/python.bin unoconv -f pdf test-file.odt

If you tried all of the above, and the issue still remains, the issue might

still be related to import/export filters, LibreOffice or unoconv, so please

report any information to reproduce the problem on the Github issue-tracker

at: https://github.com/dagwieers/unoconv/issues

And do mention that you already tried the above hints to troubleshoot the issue.

== Interesting information

If you're interested to help out with development, here are some pointers to

interesting sources:

 - [Tutorial] Import uno module to a different Python install

   http://user.services.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=36370&p=166783

 - UDK: UNO Development Kit

   http://udk.openoffice.org/

 - Python-UNO bridge

   http://www.openoffice.org/udk/python/python-bridge.html

 - Python and OpenOffice.org

   http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Python

 - OpenOffice.org developer manual

   http://api.openoffice.org/DevelopersGuide/DevelopersGuide.html

 - Framework/Article/Filter/FilterList OOo 2 1

   http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Framework/Article/Filter/FilterList_OOo_2_1

 - Framework/Article/Filter/FilterList OOo 3 0

   http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Framework/Article/Filter/FilterList_OOo_3_0

== Other implementations

Other implementations using python and UNO:

 - unoserver

   https://github.com/unoconv/unoserver/

   

 - convwatch

   http://cgit.freedesktop.org/libreoffice/core/tree/bin/convwatch.py

 - oooconv

   https://svn.infrae.com/oooconv/trunk/src/oooconv/filters.py

 - officeshots.org

   http://code.officeshots.org/trac/officeshots/browser/trunk/factory/src/backends/oooserver.py

 - cloudooo

   http://svn.erp5.org/erp5/trunk/utils/cloudooo.handler/ooo/cloudooo/handler/ooo/

== Related tools

Other tools that are useful or similar in operation:

 - Text based document generation:

   http://www.methods.co.nz/asciidoc/

 - DocBook to OpenDocument XSLT:

   http://open.comsultia.com/docbook2odf/

 - Simple (and stupid) converter from OpenDocument Text to plain text:

   http://stosberg.net/odt2txt/

 - Another python tool to aid in converting files using UNO:

   http://www.artofsolving.com/files/DocumentConverter.py

   http://www.artofsolving.com/opensource/pyodconverter