rtftopdf-service

Python microservice to convert RTF (or any Word) documents to PDF using MS Word and OLE

Requirements

• Windows XP or more recent
• MS Office 2010 or more recent

Python libraries

• flask
• optparse-pretty
• pywin32

Usage

Start the service with:

python rtftopdf-service.py [-H hostname=127.0.0.1] [-P port=5000]

To convert a document, call the url:

http://hostname:port/rtftopdf?input=<absolute_path_of_the_document>&output=<absolute_path_of_the_output_file>

Notes

• The document must be accessible from the server where this script runs. No feature to upload a file. The ouput file is also stored on the server.
• Must run on Windows because of the OLE automation. The absolute_path might need to be escaped (C:/my/path/input_file.rtf).
• The script can run as a service, for instance with NSSM, but it needs to have the right to interact with the desktop (NSSM option).

Possible bugs

• If the document has an error, Word might open a confirmation dialog to ask what to do. In that case, the script stay stuck waiting for Word. The process must then be killed manually.