.NET Efficient way to generate WORD Doc - Server Side

Question

Hello,

.NET 4.0

I am looking for the easiest way to generate a Word document on our server.

Limitations :

• Server side
• I don't want to install word on the server
• Data source is XML

I tried to generate a DOCX with XSLT which is fast and easy but the only way I could find to validate the generated document is to open it with Word and the only error I get when the document is not valid is "Error while opening document". Not very useful.

Any ideas?

Thanks, Alex

Answer 1

I have used the Word interops, but I hated it. Stick processes, etc!

I found that generating HTML and saving as file with .DOC extension worked better than anything.

Answer 2

You have two options given your setup.

1. Use a third party library, something like the stuff available from SyncFusion
2. Use the XML route, the initial setup isn't fun, but once you get it the process is easy.

A third, much more crude way would be to write an HTML file and save as .doc, but that is going to cause warnings on the user side with 2007 and later.

Answer 3

A few years back, I worked on a project which used Aspose Word (http://www.aspose.com/categories/.net-components/aspose.words-for-.net/default.aspx) to generate Word documents. The tool does not require Word to be installed. However, it is not a cheap tool. IT tool was relatively easy to use and has a robust .net interface.

Answer 4

Hi

Keeping far from office automation at server side is really a good idea (since even Microsoft does not support this scenario).

I have never used, but this lib looks promising. Have you tried it?