Hi all,

 Description of the problem
********************************

 I am using odfdom in conjunction with my OpenOffice to create a Odf2Xhtml
compiler. This compiler will have a template that we have designed as an
entry and will generate both the corresponding html and css files. So far I
have been able to extract text, tables and images but I am now facing a
problem with charts and drawing:

 1.- Charts because OpenOffice provides them in a startview metafile format
which I am not yet able to convert into JPG or gift
 2.- Drawing are not supplied by OpenOffice as any treatable format.

 What Am I looking for?
****************************

 What I am looking for is a way so that I can get charts and drawing as
images (jpg or gift since they will be shown by a browser and all of us know
how IEx behaves :)) via any api, preferably java without having an
OpenOffice instance running in the background? Why? I would like to offer my
client a server application where thy send the document and by magic art
they have got the css and html files.

What solutions I have looked for but they do not convince me:
********************************************************

 1.- To convert the odf document to pdf and then use a java api to extract
the images. I have done a small test and it seems to be, pdf viewers are not
able to extract charts and drawing. I have not researched further more
but...

 2.- Tell my client to convert the file to html and then get those charts
and drawing as images: that is ok but the generated images are named with a
strange name that I can't match with the objects in the openoffice document.
For example, if there is a chart called 'graphic 1' the name of the file
that the html conversion provides is something that has nothing to do with
that.

 3.- User the version of above (second) but telling the clients to replace
those graphics by the actual charts or drawing.

 4.- There is a python application called unoconv that looks interesting but
this need to an OpenOffice instance running in the background.

What I need
************

 1.- Is there anyone who has dealt with this problem before or is there any
tip, url, article, piece of code or whatever that I can follow to solve out
this problem please?

 2.- Is there any beta API which would help me with this?

 3.- Does anyone know if OpenOffice is aware of this problem and there are
already projects in place to provide those charts and drawing in a format
that others API's can play with it?


 Thank you very much in advance,

 Daniel.

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