Convert from Excel xlsx to xls in Java

Question

I have an Excel 2007 xlsx file that I would like to programmatically convert to an .xls file. An xlsx file is an export from a reporting tool, and I would like to convert it to xls for better compatibility with the software stack of my application users. Xlsx is as simple as it is. Just strings with data and information of the basic type (int / date / string). No formulas.

My platform is Java and I have not installed Microsoft Office. I am looking for a solution that will allow me to convert between formats with minimal effort. That is, I would like not to write a custom “copy application” that reads the xlsx file and copies the lines and formatting to another file. Preferably, the solution is open and / or free.

I looked at the POI, and as far as I could tell, it can read and write xls and xlsx files. But I could not say, looking at the documentation and examples, if he can read one format and write to another. Before I go deeper, I would like to check if any of you have really done something like this before in Java, and if you have any tips.

Answer 1

Converting with a POI would be a tedious task. I would like to point you to the JODConverter . JODConverter is used by OpenOffice to convert its data, so it should work well for this task.

However, if I say that I myself have not used JODConverter.