Libreoffice: convert a dir with 3247 *.odt files in 1171 folders to *.pdf

Keruskerfuerst · 08-12-2018, 01:30 PM

Is it possible to convert a directory with 3247 files in 1171 folders to *.pdf ?

scasey · 08-12-2018, 01:57 PM

Probably. Please put "convert odt to pdf" into your favorite search engine and see if any of the many links is helpful.

This one looked useful...

TheEzekielProject · 08-12-2018, 01:59 PM

Something like

Code:

for file in *.odt
do
  mv "$file" "${file%.odt}.pdf"
done

should do it. But take that with a grain of salt I'm no expert

scasey · 08-12-2018, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheEzekielProject

Something like

Code:

for file in *.odt
do
  mv "$file" "${file%.odt}.pdf"
done

should do it. But take that with a grain of salt I'm no expert

I'm pretty sure that moving a file and changing its name is NOT going to convert its type.

TheEzekielProject · 08-12-2018, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scasey

I'm pretty sure that moving a file and changing its name is NOT going to convert its type.

I tested this on some files and it seems to have worked as expected. However, it does not work recursively through directories.

EDIT: Scratch that. While my file manager showed it as pdf, running

Code:

file testfile

still showed it as an OpenDocument Text file

Keruskerfuerst · 08-12-2018, 02:40 PM

I installed unoconv,
but how do I get through the directory tree and get the file names?

scasey · 08-12-2018, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keruskerfuerst

I installed unoconv,
but how do I get through the directory tree and get the file names?

You'll probably need to write a script.

cd to top directory
get list of directory names
for each directory
cd to directory
find files
execute unoconv on each file

...or something along those lines

jlinkels · 08-12-2018, 07:29 PM

It is very simple. This is the command line command:

Code:

libreoffice --headless --convert-to pdf *.odt

I use LO 4.3.3. OO or LO has the habit to change their GUI interface and CLI in the most surprising ways, not upward compatible and badly documented. But at least now you know what to search for.

To traverse a directory tree, do something like:

Code:

find /path/to/start/ -name "*.odt" -exec libreoffice --headless --convert-to pdf "{}" \;

I recommend to test this on a test tree first. The quotes around {} are probably needed to protect file names containing spaces.

jlinkels

syg00 · 08-13-2018, 07:54 AM

Cute jlinkels, never needed this (so far), but ya never know ...

Keruskerfuerst · 08-13-2018, 08:21 AM

Thanks for the script!

This script works for far, but
The output path must be in the path, where the files have been found.

Sorry, but I have not studied informatics (I am using Linux for 20 years now and have also used Gentoo).

jlinkels · 08-13-2018, 10:26 AM

Create a file odt2pdf.sh in your current directory with this contents:

Code:

#! /bin/bash
libreoffice --headless --convert-to pdf --outdir $(dirname "$1") "$1"
exit

Save the file and:

Code:

chmod +x odt2pdf.sh

Then run the command in the same directory where you created odt2pdf.sh:

Code:

find /tmp -name "*.odt"  -exec ./odt2pdf.sh "{}"  \;

Some person smarter than me might be able to enter this command right in the -exec part of the find command. But find is quite picky when it comes to the syntax of the -exec command. So I could not and did not have the time. It works with this separate bash file.

Code:

find /tmp -name "*.odt"  -exec /path/to/odt2pdf.sh "{}"  \;

should work as well. Please test.

jlinkels

Keruskerfuerst · 08-13-2018, 11:26 AM

Thanks!

The script works as expected.

Keruskerfuerst · 08-18-2018, 12:20 PM

Now I only need to delete the remaining *.odt files with the following small script:

Code:

#! /bin/bash
find /path/to/dir/ -name "*.odt" -exec rm -rv {} \;
exit

tofino_surfer · 08-18-2018, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Something like
Code:

for file in *.odt
do
mv "$file" "${file%.odt}.pdf"
done

should do it. But take that with a grain of salt I'm no expert

This was without a doubt the worst thing I have seen in this forum for a while. Changing an extension does not change a word processing file to an Adobe pdf. You need LibreOffice to export the pdf.

Quote:

I tested this on some files and it seems to have worked as expected. However, it does not work recursively through directories.

You mean it changes the file extension as expected.

Quote:

EDIT: Scratch that. While my file manager showed it as pdf, running
Code:

file testfile

still showed it as an OpenDocument Text file

No kidding. So changing the extension of a file does not change its contents. Shocking. Why do you post on this forum ?

Turbocapitalist · 08-18-2018, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keruskerfuerst

Now I only need to delete the remaining *.odt files with the following small script:

Code:

#! /bin/bash
find /path/to/dir/ -name "*.odt" -exec rm -rv {} \;
exit

The -r is not needed for the rm at all. See "man rm".

In fact if you also check the manual page for find you might decide that the -delete option is more appropriate than trying for an -exec option. See "man find" and browse down to -delete