Opening MS Word files via Python

[Tim Golden]

>I am curious as to how I should approach this issue.  I would just
>want to parse simple text and maybe perhaps tables in the future. 
>Would I have to save the word file and open it in a text editor?  That
>would kind of....suck...  Has anyone else tackled this issue?

Have a look at antiword: http://www.winfield.demon.nl/

It's not written in Python (afaik) but it writes to stdout.
Example:

<code>
import os

ANTIWORD = "c:/antiword/antiword.exe"
filename = raw_input ("Enter name of word doc: ")
text = os.popen ("%s %s" % (ANTIWORD, filename)).read ()

print text
</code>

TJG


________________________________________________________________________
This e-mail has been scanned for all viruses by Star Internet. The
service is powered by MessageLabs. For more information on a proactive
anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit:
http://www.star.net.uk
________________________________________________________________________