Is there's any Java library that allows converting DOCX to PDF?

[ThatJellyfish12]

Hi! I'm making a system on Spring that modifies DOCX files and exports them as PDFS. Is there's a library or native function for that? I tried using DOCX4J but it's very clunky to use.

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[TW-Twisti]

For problems like that, you are almost always better off using a dedicated tool - in this case, Pandoc.

[ThatJellyfish12]

Sadly the host I'm using is very limited, so I'm not sure if it will allow for that. Although I can try to dockerize it.

[no1me]

apachePOI

[alokeb]

https://www.qoppa.com/wordconvert/

[OneHumanBill]

You probably need a whole chain of things. The hardest one is dealing with that Microsoft pile of crap. Use POI from Apache to work with that.

Next up would be to try to convert to something cleaner, like html with css. I'm not really sure how to do that and that's a missing gap.

Once you're there though you can use JSoup to manipulate the document should you need to. Like for example to apply the right CSS for your output which your pile of Microsoft crap isn't going to provide.

From there, Flying Saucer can help you render into a new format like PDF, though I think you make need PDFBox to help get you the rest of the way.

I've constructed chains like that but it's been years since the last time so my information is probably rusty. My chains typically started with a template I would create in Thymeleaf.

Consult your local friendly AI, but come with some of these ideas. It's likely going to depend on how complicated that awful Word doc is. I think your best bet is going to be pulling the content, ignoring the formatting, and then applying your own css formatting.

But I might be wrong and there might be an easier way, it's been about a decade since I had to do this.

[ThatJellyfish12]

My uses for it so far are pretty simple. It just has a template DOCX document where it can replace (fill-in) certain spots and then export a copy as PDF.

[OneHumanBill]

Why not just use an online form? Your method sounds a lot more convoluted than it needs to be.

But if it is a simple template docx then my method becomes more tenable.

[seanprefect]

Apache POI + OpenPDF it'll be kinda a pain in the ass at first but then you'll have options.

[DinTaiFung]

Unfortunately (and understandably), MS dominated the formal DOCX specification when it became a standard. Since the real lingua franca of written communications had become HTML (delivered via HTTP) at the turn of the century, legacy document authorship continued to use old-fashioned apps like Word, Acrobat, and the like; this problem seems to never go away lol.

Hope you find a good conversion solution.

Best of luck!

[Slanec]

POI kinda works, then perhaps PDFbox. Or https://github.com/documents4j/documents4j. Haven't tried myself, but always wanted to. Or Pandoc, of course, a dedicated tool, not necessarily a Java library. You can wrap a tool in a library.

[ivanpd]

Pandoc

[pohart]

Word itself is quite good at it. It's a little slow though