Error calling LibreOffice from Python

Question

Calling LibreOffice to convert a document to text...

This works fine from the linux command line:

soffice --headless --convert-to txt:"Text" document_to_convert.doc

But I get an error when I try to run the same command from Python:

subprocess.call(['soffice', '--headless', '--convert-to', 'txt:"Text"', 'document_to_convert.doc'])

Error: Please reverify input parameters...

How do I get the command to run from Python?

Answer 1

This is the code you should use:

subprocess.call(['soffice', '--headless', '--convert-to', 'txt:Text', 'document_to_convert.doc'])

This is the same line you posted, without the quotes around txt:Text.

Why are you seeing the error? Simply put: because soffice does not accept txt:"Text". It only accepts txt:Text.

Why is it working on the shell? Your shell implicitly removes quotes around arguments, so that the command that gets executed is actually:

soffice --headless --convert-to txt:Text document_to_convert.doc

Try running this command:

soffice --headless --convert-to txt:\"Text\" document_to_convert.doc

Quotes won't be removed and you'll see the Please verify input parameters message you are getting with Python.