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615

answers:

2

Is there any way to print an OOXML document (.docx file) without having MS Word installed?

It works nicely via the MS Word interface but I need to find a way to use it on servers where MS Word is not installed. I've been digging through the API and haven't found anything obvious so I'm inclined to believe there isn't a way. Is this the case?

EDIT: Devin's answer is basically what I understood to be the case. I should have mentioned that I'm using the .NET framework. So I wondered if there is perhaps a .NET library which would be able to be handle a docx file for printing? I see when adding a job to the DefaultPrinterQueue on a LocalPrintServer (in the System.Printing namespace) it can handle an XPS document. So perhaps this is the way to go.

+2  A: 

I was curious about the answer myself, so I Googled it. Seems there is support in some Novel and IBM products. Here's a link to a partial answer which seems to say support in OpenOffice is in development. http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Office_Open_XML

Devin Ceartas
+2  A: 

Well yes and no. Yes it is possible without MSWord but you will need an application or library that understands ooxml. There are many other products now that do support (as pointed out by Devin) but if your requirements says you cannot have any of them on the server then...use a library and do it yourself.

It will then depend on what platform you are developing in...for instance there is a OOXML4J library for Java. And there are other libraries for other platforms as you will find here.

Vincent Ramdhanie