CLI tool to convert Crystal Report RTF to CSV

aceinthehole · 08-10-2011, 03:52 PM

Hi all,

I have in my possession an RTF exported from Crystal Reports.

I need to convert it into a CSV so it can be used inside of Excel or other spreadsheets applications.

Here is a snippet of the document:

Code:

{\pard \pvpg\phpg\posx12960\posy1207\absw840\absh-600\fi0 \ltrpar\qc\tx360\tx720{\ltrch\f0 \b\i0\ul0\strike0\fs15 \cf1 Date \par}\fi0 \ltrpar\qc\tx360\tx720{\ltrch\f0 \b\i0\ul0\strike0\fs15 \cf1 of Last }{\ltrch\f0 \b\i0\ul0\strike0\fs15 \cf1 Inspection\par}}

As you can see, the RTF does not have a table format. Rather, each field is made up of a floating text element that has been absolutely positioned within the document. The actual name of this column is "Date of Last Inspection."

Does anyone have a suggestion on how to convert this from the Crystal Report RTF using a CLI tool? I have about 60 such documents to batch process.

TIA!
- Ace

David the H. · 08-11-2011, 11:20 AM

I have no idea about the exact formats that your application outputs, but if possible you should see if it has any way to directly output to csv or a similar format.

Otherwise, you can try to first run it through unrtf or a similar application that can convert rtf to other formats.

Basically, if you can get the files into a format that's more easily parseable by standard shell tools like awk, then it should be possible to build a csv file from them.

aceinthehole · 08-11-2011, 11:51 AM

Thanks David, perfect advice.

I need to do some reading on awk, and I never knew about the unrtf program.

Here is what looks like the document header:

Code:

{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033{\fonttbl{\f0\fswiss\fcharset0 Arial;}}{\colortbl;\red0\green0\blue0;}{\info{\title NY State Bridge Data}{\author Crystal Reports}{\doccomm Powered By Crystal}{\company Crystal Decisions}}{\*\userprops {\propname Business Objects Context Information}\proptype30{\staticval 016F3B86677DF327C4BB27C93C1CAA9450D4A81B7E48339734AD384EB47F3CF101AE035D5C93B1516C449BCF1F8004D9E07E065AD4DBF821C26217444152A3B14F10F4B31FCBF771DECADC1E5B5DD8047400078CC35F51544BA76CE79C17798531AE4FC2B9E2C8DADB691A231DC33F6BE8FC62C835F77D4BE9390EBCE7B4C06}{\propname Business Objects Context Information1}\proptype30{\staticval F826530EC439CA3899E0A89F83AB0124E8FDFE6A967DF09AD5744302DF5279D94C3004667D069BC1BF7E06149F93AD85841B799DE2B5E68C8F8EE80C45AD673167AA9861617E50391D698089214440F4F564C9D0CB264E6EC0620698E0DC6AE41180F43B5BA8B765D68A1511AE6D3ABAC701D3F4073B20AD7D80B07865BA4D7}{\propname Business Objects Context Information2}\proptype30{\staticval 11F5E2E40EBF55F5E3F74F51BFEEA4DCB6190EB04D72F0921C04C87B61F70C48582A914047475C2109B7E2A9C3834FE6C654B10D4C8FBC32FF111CBEF3AAD087C245815CE700059E0A5E21C5F3F865998341367ED02D0B3A0AA0B22CB78AF279E15B8602FCDB49A0A3212DDA9776E0814CB6C91338A324A75508B8492A87F6E}{\propname Business Objects Context Information3}\proptype30{\staticval F04C77358E61221CD9397569830B356E4E2EE}}
\landscape\paperw15840\paperh12240\margl360\margr360\margt360\margb360\gutter0\windowctrl\ftnbj\viewkind1\viewscale100\sectd\linex0\sbknone

The unfortunate part is that I can't get access to the original Crystal Reports system to get a decent export.