[buug] create .doc files on linux/BSD

[Claude Rubinson]

On Fri, Nov 22, 2002 at 07:50:55AM -0800, Bob Read wrote:

>    Quick google searches turned up "Makedoc" and
> "Tealdoc", as well as open office (can I create word
> docs via open office on the command line?).

I might be mistaken, but I believe that Makedoc and Tealdoc are both
tools for creating Palm Pilot "DOC" files.  (For some reason, Palm
decided to name one of its text formats "DOC".  It's a source of
constant confusion.)

Because the OpenOffice file format is XML, you should be able to
create a new document via your regular text editor.  I've never really
looked into this option and don't know how complicated the task might
be.  See http://xml.openoffice.org/.  Even if you do get this to work,
you're still faced with the issue of imperfect conversion between OO
and Word.


Generally, whenever this question (generating Word documents under
Unix) comes up people recommend writing to RTF or HTML since Word can
read both of these formats.  The problem is that -- unless your
formatting needs are very simple -- these formats simply can't give
you the flexibility that you'll need.

You need to find out the basic needs of the recipient.  If all they
need to do is read and print the document, go with PDF.  But if the
recipient does actually need a Word document (e.g., for editing), the
best bet is to pursue a Microsoft-only solution.  Pick up a copy of
_Writing Word Macros_ from O'Reilly.  (It's written by Steve Roman,
the same guy that wrote the _Writing Excel Macros_ book that I was
complaining about at last night's meeting.  For those not at the
meeting, I wasn't complaining about the author as much as the fact
that, with proprietary software, you frequently run into "undocumented
features.")

Claude