Question

How can I write an applescript to convert a doc file to a rtf file?

Asked by: grbone

I am new to writing applescript and want to write one to convert a doc file to a rtf file.

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Asked On
2008-11-20 at 19:31:26ID23923957
Tags

Applescript

,

AppleScript

Topics

Apple Programming

,

Scripting Languages

,

Apple Software

,

General Macintosh Programming

Participating Experts
3
Points
250
Comments
7

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Answers

 

by: lesouefPosted on 2008-11-22 at 02:57:22ID: 23020169

which app would you use? word, open office, have you checked first if it can be applescript driven?
making a macro from within the orginal application may be as quick and simpler... unless you want it to work with a hot folder.

 

by: eoinosullivanPosted on 2008-11-22 at 04:29:52ID: 23020357

That is not a simple task.. you need a program that can open Word files and save them as RTF.  Either MS Word or Apple Pages are the 2 main options.

The next thing you'll need to decide is how you want to convert the Document.  You can use Automator to quickly create a script to open any selected file in Apple Pages, then you invoke the EXPORT command.

If you want to do it all from Applescript this is not possible, you'll need a program to do the hard work of translating the formats.

 

by: eoinosullivanPosted on 2008-11-22 at 04:31:49ID: 23020360

Rather than waste a lot of time .. you might want to invest $30 in something like Dragoman
http://dragoman-mac.com/index.html

 

by: mac_guruPosted on 2009-04-30 at 17:07:04ID: 24275575

First of all, this is not hard, Applescript is totally capable of doing it.
Secondly it is free, why waste money!

Run this in your Script Editor :

tell application "Finder"
      activate
      set PathToFile to (choose file with prompt "Choose Word Doc to re-save as RTF!")
      -- Get Filename
      copy the name of PathToFile to saveName
      -- Rename with rtf extension
      set my text item delimiters to "."
      set saveName to text item 1 of saveName & ".rtf"
      -- Set save path to the original folder
      set savePath to (container of PathToFile as text) & saveName
end tell

tell application "Microsoft Word"
      open PathToFile
      save as active document file name savePath file format format rtf
      close active document
end tell

 

by: lesouefPosted on 2009-05-01 at 01:53:50ID: 24277474

I think the script is better, you will be able to re-use it for other formats, and it won't be obsolete with the newt word version.
You can still link this script to a hot folder as this is standard in osX

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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