Converting files to PDF

[InvisibleDuncan]

I seem to recall asking this before but can't find it....

We have an old application that runs as a scheduled task on an very old server. A major part of its job is converting files into PDFs, and it does this by using the MS Office object model. Essentially, it uses the relevant application to open the file (".DOC", ".TXT", ".HTM", ".HTML", ".RTF", ".MHT", ".MHTML" files are opened in Word, ".XLS", ".CSV" in Excel), and then uses that to print them into a PDF file. Very basic, but it works well (please ignore the naming conventions!).

                Select Case UCase(mFileExt)
                    Case ".DOC", ".TXT", ".HTM", ".HTML", ".RTF", ".MHT", ".MHTML"
                        Dim oWordApp As Word.Application
                        Dim oDocument As Word.Document

                        oWordApp = CreateObject("Word.Application")
                        oWordApp.DisplayAlerts = Word.WdAlertLevel.wdAlertsNone
                        oWordApp.Visible = False
                        oWordApp.Application.WindowState = Word.WdWindowState.wdWindowStateMinimize
                        oDocument = CreateObject("Word.Document")
                        oDocument = oWordApp.Documents.Open(mTempFilePath, PasswordDocument:=mPassword, ReadOnly:=True)

                        Dim holdprtrdefault As String = oWordApp.ActivePrinter
                        oWordApp.ActivePrinter = "Adobe PDF"
                        oWordApp.Application.PrintOut(FileName:=mTempFilePath, _
                            Copies:=1, _
                            Range:=Word.WdPrintOutRange.wdPrintAllDocument, _
                            Item:=Word.WdPrintOutItem.wdPrintDocumentContent, _
                            Pages:="", _
                            PageType:=Word.WdPrintOutPages.wdPrintAllPages, _
                            Collate:=True, _
                            Background:=False, _
                            PrintToFile:=True, _
                            OutputFileName:=mPSFilePath)

                        oWordApp.ActivePrinter = holdprtrdefault
                        oWordApp.Application.Quit(Word.WdSaveOptions.wdDoNotSaveChanges)
                        oWordApp = Nothing
                        oDocument = Nothing
                    Case ".XLS", ".CSV"
                        Dim oXLApp As Excel.Application
                        Dim oWkBook As Excel.Workbook
                        oXLApp = CreateObject("Excel.Application")

                        oXLApp.DisplayAlerts = False
                        oXLApp.Visible = False
                        oXLApp.Application.WindowState = Excel.XlWindowState.xlMinimized
                        oWkBook = oXLApp.Workbooks.Open(mTempFilePath, Password:=Trim(mPassword), ReadOnly:=True, UpdateLinks:=False, Converter:=True, IgnoreReadOnlyRecommended:=True)

                        Dim holdprtrdefault As String = oXLApp.ActivePrinter
                        Dim nSheets As Integer = oWkBook.Worksheets.Count

                        oWkBook.PrintOut(1, nSheets, 1, ActivePrinter:="Adobe PDF", PrintToFile:=True, Collate:=True, PrToFileName:=mPSFilePath)
                        oXLApp.ActivePrinter = holdprtrdefault
                        oXLApp.Application.Quit()
                        oXLApp = Nothing
                        oWkBook = Nothing

                    Case ".MDI"
                        Dim oDIApp As MODI.Document = New MODI.Document

                        oDIApp.Create(mTempFilePath)
                        oDIApp.PrintOut(PrinterName:="Adobe PDF", PrintToFileName:=mPSFilePath, FitMode:=MODI.MiPRINT_FITMODES.miPRINT_ACTUALSIZE)
                        oDIApp.Close()
                        oDIApp = Nothing

                    Case Else
                        mIsPDF = False
                        mConvToPDF = False
                        mLogMsg = "Invalid File Format"
                        mLogType = MergeLogType.Failure
                        WriteLog(" - Invalid File Format", False)
                        Exit Sub

                End Select

However, we now want to move this application to a new server and would like to avoid having to install Office on that new server. This means we need an alternative way of converting all of these files into PDFs. Unfortunately buying new software is out of the question, because getting approval for anything not in our current development stack is a looooooooooooooooong process in this place. Even freeware could be a problem, although I'd be willing to look into it.

Anyone have any suggestions? I've googled quite a bit and haven't found anything suitable.

[Arnoutdv]

So it's not only about creating PDF, but also for parsing all kind of document formats.

Just a silly question, if the current solution works and you don't have any budget then why are you looking for an alternative?

[InvisibleDuncan]

It's not the budget so much as the length of time it takes to get anything approved.

The problem is that the new servers are Windows Server 2012, and Microsoft strongly recommend not installing Office on them:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...tion-of-office

Because of this, our infrastructure team (who handle installations) are digging their heels in a bit about installing it.


The reason for all of those formats being in there is that you can use Word to convert any of them into PDFs.

[ChrisE]

Hi,

take a look at PDfCreator
http://https://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/

regards
Chris

[InvisibleDuncan]

Thanks, Chris - that looks very interesting. I'll see what I can do with it.