zopyx.convert 0.4.0

##########################################################################
# zopyx.convert - XSL-FO related functionalities
#
# (C) 2007, ZOPYX Ltd & Co. KG, Tuebingen, Germany
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A Python interface to XSL-FO libraries.

The packages helps to convert HTML to PDF, RTF, ODT, DOCX and WML using
XSL-FO technology.


Requirements:
-------------

- Java 1.4.0 or higher (1.5.X or 1.6.X are preferred)

- csstoxslfo (included)

- XFC-4.0 (www.xmlmind.com) for PDF support

- XINC 2.0 (www.lunasil.com) for ODT, RTF, DOCX, WML support

- mxTidy (egenix-experimental package from www.egenix.com)


Installation:
-------------

- install zopyx.convert either using easy_install or by downloading the sources

- $XFC_DIR must be set and point to the root of your XFC installation directory

- $XINC_HOME must be set and to point to the root of your XINC installation directory


Subversion repository:
----------------------

- http://svn-public.zopyx.com/viewvc/python-projects/zopyx.convert/trunk/


Usage:
------

> from zopyx.convert import Converter
> C = Convert('/path/to/some/file.html')
> pdf_filename = C('pdf')
> rtf_filename = C('rtf')
> pdt_filename = C('odt')
> wml_filename = C('wml')
> docx_filename = C('docx')

A very simple command-line converter is also available:

> xslfo-convert --format rtf --output foo.rtf sample.html


How zopyx.convert works internally:
-----------------------------------

- The source HTML file is converted to XHTML using mxTidy

- the XHTML file is converted to FO using the great "csstoxslfo" converter
written by Werner Donne.

- the FO file is passed either to the external XINC or XFC converter to
generated the desired output format

- all converters are based on Java technology make the conversion solution
highly portable across operating system (including Windows)


Limitations:
------------

- Works currently only on Linux/Unix, no Windows support so far

- no image support right now (exceptions will be raised)


Why XINC/XFC and not FOP?
-------------------------
zopyx.convert is build on the commercial converters XINC/XFC because these
converters *just work*. Depending on your needs to must make your choice
between the several available additions. Why not Apache FOP? FOP has been
evaluated in 2004 for the conversion to RTF/PDF and it was pretty much unusable
at that time. Now in 2007 Apache FOP reached version 0.9.3 thinks are looking
better. However open formats like ODT (Open-Office) and DOCX (Microsoft Office
2007) have come up and need to be supported. XFC fills the gap by supporting
RTF, ODT, DOCX and WML.


Author
======
zopyx.convert was written by Andreas Jung for ZOPYX Ltd. & Co. KG, Tuebingen, Germany.


License
=======
zopyx.convert is published under the Lesser GNU Public License V 2.1 (LGPL 2.1).
See LICENSE.txt.


Contact
=======
Andreas Jung,
E-mail: info at zopyx dot com
Web: http://www.zopyx.com

Changes:
========

0.4.0 (24.06.2007):

- added zope interfaces

- converters are now classes

- added unittests

0.3.1 (18.06.2007):

- html2fo() and the converter constructor got a new 'encoding'
parameter in order to specify the input encoding of the
HTML file. This parameter will be passed down to Tidy in order
to perform a proper conversion of non-ascii characters.

0.3.0 (unreleased):

- using subprocess module of Python

- new Convert() class for high-level XSLFO access

- logger added

- better checks for XINC, XFC

- updated documentation


0.2.0 (16.06.2007):

- PDF support added

- command line interface added

- mxTidy integration


0.1.0 (16.06.2007):

- initial release