convert Word to PDF via GNATCOM

convert Word to PDF via GNATCOM

[Stephen Leake]

I have several Microsoft Word documents that are updated occasionally,
and I'd like to automate converting them to PDF for publication on a
Web page. (Yes, I'd rather they were in LaTeX or some other source,
but I'm stuck with MS Word for now).

I have Adobe Acrobat installed. It adds a button to Word that does the
conversion nicely. 

I'd like to use Gnu make to automate things, but I'm open to other
suggestions.

I don't know how to invoke a Word button (or the underlying macro)
from a command line. 

So I'm trying to use GNATCOM to generate a binding, and write a simple
Ada main that invokes the Word macro that does the PDF conversion.

I've run bindcom on MSWORD.TLB, and generated lots of Ada code, but I
don't see anything that looks like "call a macro".

Any suggestions?

-- 
-- Stephe

Re: convert Word to PDF via GNATCOM

[Jeffrey Creem]

Stephen Leake wrote:
> I have several Microsoft Word documents that are updated occasionally,
> and I'd like to automate converting them to PDF for publication on a
> Web page. (Yes, I'd rather they were in LaTeX or some other source,
> but I'm stuck with MS Word for now).
> 
> I have Adobe Acrobat installed. It adds a button to Word that does the
> conversion nicely. 
> 
> I'd like to use Gnu make to automate things, but I'm open to other
> suggestions.
> 
> I don't know how to invoke a Word button (or the underlying macro)
> from a command line. 
> 
> So I'm trying to use GNATCOM to generate a binding, and write a simple
> Ada main that invokes the Word macro that does the PDF conversion.
> 
> I've run bindcom on MSWORD.TLB, and generated lots of Ada code, but I
> don't see anything that looks like "call a macro".
> 
> Any suggestions?
> 

May not be quite as good but it looks like it might be easier to do this 
  with http://wvware.sourceforge.net/

Since it ends up using the Acrobat Distiller for the final conversion to 
PDF the resulting PDF should be good with the exception of any possible 
misinterpretation of the word data.


If that does not work, perhaps this articule will

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/172483/

Re: convert Word to PDF via GNATCOM

[Pascal Obry]

Stephen Leake a �crit :
> I have several Microsoft Word documents that are updated occasionally,
> and I'd like to automate converting them to PDF for publication on a
> Web page. (Yes, I'd rather they were in LaTeX or some other source,
> but I'm stuck with MS Word for now).

Agreed for LaTeX :)

But won't this be possible with OpenOffice, it supports natively PDF and
can import .doc files. I just don't know if it can be used in batch mode
but I'll be surprised if it was not... just a path to check...

Pascal.

-- 

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Re: convert Word to PDF via GNATCOM

[Rod Chapman]

> I'd like to use Gnu make to automate things, but I'm open to other
> suggestions.

We make makefiles and Word macros to do this.  hang on...got it...
Install this in a macro file that is loaded into your global Normal.dot
template:

Sub pdfprint()
    ActivePrinter = "Acrobat PDFWriter"
    Application.PrintOut FileName:="", Range:=wdPrintAllDocument,
Item:= _
        wdPrintDocumentContent, Copies:=1, Pages:="",
PageType:=wdPrintAllPages, _
        Collate:=True, Background:=False, PrintToFile:=True,
OutputFileName:="wibble"

    ActiveDocument.Saved = True
    ActiveDocument.Close
    Application.Quit
End Sub

We then have a makefile rule that uses Word's little-documented "/m"
command-line
switch:

%.pdf : %.doc
	$(msword) /mpdfprint $<
	mv wibble.pdf $@

Or something like that...I'm sure you get the idea...
 - Rod

Re: convert Word to PDF via GNATCOM

[Stephen Leake]

"Rod Chapman" <rod.chapman@praxis-his.com> writes:

> We make makefiles and Word macros to do this.  hang on...got it...
> Install this in a macro file that is loaded into your global Normal.dot
> template:
>
> Sub pdfprint()
>     ActivePrinter = "Acrobat PDFWriter"
>     Application.PrintOut FileName:="", Range:=wdPrintAllDocument,
> Item:= _
>         wdPrintDocumentContent, Copies:=1, Pages:="",
> PageType:=wdPrintAllPages, _
>         Collate:=True, Background:=False, PrintToFile:=True,
> OutputFileName:="wibble"
>
>     ActiveDocument.Saved = True
>     ActiveDocument.Close
>     Application.Quit
> End Sub

That's not as nice as invoking the "convert to PDF" button; you
don't get the table of contents as PDF bookmarks.

But I can't actually find the name of the macro that button invokes,
so maybe I'll just go with your approach.

> We then have a makefile rule that uses Word's little-documented "/m"
> command-line
> switch:

_That's_ what I was looking for! Why can't MS document things like
that!? Or perhaps I should ask how you found out about it?

Way easier than sorting thru thousands of lines of GNATCOM output.

-- 
-- Stephe