The command would be
libreoffice --headless --convert-to pdf test.doc
test.doc is the document which we needed to be converted into pdf and this command will produce test.pdf in the same directory since we haven't specified a output directory.
Apparently this can be used to convert many more types of documents. For example converting a pdf file into odt would work too.
libreoffice --headless --convert-to odt test.pdf
Its interesting to have a look at the command line options provided by the Libreoffice.
LibreOffice 3.6
Usage: soffice [options] [documents...]
Options:
--minimized keep startup bitmap minimized.
--invisible no startup screen, no default document and no UI.
--norestore suppress restart/restore after fatal errors.
--quickstart starts the quickstart service
--nologo don't show startup screen.
--nolockcheck don't check for remote instances using the installation
--nodefault don't start with an empty document
--headless like invisible but no userinteraction at all.
--help/-h/-? show this message and exit.
--version display the version information.
--writer create new text document.
--calc create new spreadsheet document.
--draw create new drawing.
--impress create new presentation.
--base create new database.
--math create new formula.
--global create new global document.
--web create new HTML document.
-o open documents regardless whether they are templates or not.
-n always open documents as new files (use as template).
--display
Specify X-Display to use in Unix/X11 versions.
-p
print the specified documents on the default printer.
--pt
print the specified documents on the specified printer.
--view
open the specified documents in viewer-(readonly-)mode.
--show
open the specified presentation and start it immediately
--accept=
Specify an UNO connect-string to create an UNO acceptor through which
other programs can connect to access the API
--unaccept=
Close an acceptor that was created with -accept=
Use -unnaccept=all to close all open acceptors
--infilter=
Force an input filter type if possible
Eg. -infilter="Calc Office Open XML"
--convert-to output_file_extension[:output_filter_name] [-outdir ouput_dir] files
Batch convert files.
If -outdir is not specified then current working dir is used as output_dir.
Eg. -convert-to pdf *.doc
-convert-to pdf:writer_pdf_Export -outdir /home/user *.doc
--print-to-file [-printer-name printer_name] [-outdir ouput_dir] files
Batch print files to file.
If -outdir is not specified then current working dir is used as output_dir.
Eg. -print-to-file *.doc
-print-to-file -printer-name nasty_lowres_printer -outdir /home/user *.doc
Remaining arguments will be treated as filenames or URLs of documents to open.
Usage: soffice [options] [documents...]
Options:
--minimized keep startup bitmap minimized.
--invisible no startup screen, no default document and no UI.
--norestore suppress restart/restore after fatal errors.
--quickstart starts the quickstart service
--nologo don't show startup screen.
--nolockcheck don't check for remote instances using the installation
--nodefault don't start with an empty document
--headless like invisible but no userinteraction at all.
--help/-h/-? show this message and exit.
--version display the version information.
--writer create new text document.
--calc create new spreadsheet document.
--draw create new drawing.
--impress create new presentation.
--base create new database.
--math create new formula.
--global create new global document.
--web create new HTML document.
-o open documents regardless whether they are templates or not.
-n always open documents as new files (use as template).
--display
Specify X-Display to use in Unix/X11 versions.
-p
print the specified documents on the default printer.
--pt
print the specified documents on the specified printer.
--view
open the specified documents in viewer-(readonly-)mode.
--show
open the specified presentation and start it immediately
--accept=
Specify an UNO connect-string to create an UNO acceptor through which
other programs can connect to access the API
--unaccept=
Close an acceptor that was created with -accept=
Use -unnaccept=all to close all open acceptors
--infilter=
Force an input filter type if possible
Eg. -infilter="Calc Office Open XML"
--convert-to output_file_extension[:output_filter_name] [-outdir ouput_dir] files
Batch convert files.
If -outdir is not specified then current working dir is used as output_dir.
Eg. -convert-to pdf *.doc
-convert-to pdf:writer_pdf_Export -outdir /home/user *.doc
--print-to-file [-printer-name printer_name] [-outdir ouput_dir] files
Batch print files to file.
If -outdir is not specified then current working dir is used as output_dir.
Eg. -print-to-file *.doc
-print-to-file -printer-name nasty_lowres_printer -outdir /home/user *.doc
Remaining arguments will be treated as filenames or URLs of documents to open.
PS :-
As pointed out by Martin(read comments), Looks like the above command will not work if the libreoffice application is already running. Thanks for point it out Martin. Does anybody know a work around?
