opening a MS Word file in pywin32

ms-word, python, pywin32

Solution

You need to open the file from the correct location.

You might try this:

import win32com.client as win32
import os

word = win32.gencache.EnsureDispatch('Word.Application')
word.Visible = False
doc_path = os.path.join('c:', os.sep, 'Users', 'User', 'Documents', 'python', 'progs', 'misc', 'formatting for isn', 'sectarianism.doc')
doc = word.Documents.Open(doc_path)

of course, remember to close the doc with doc.Close() and quit Word with Word.Quit() later.

Problem

I am unable to open a word file using pywin32. I have been trying to find tutorials for pywin32 but none of the code works. The location of the word document is C:\Users\User\Documents\python progs\misc\formatting for isn. ``` import win32com.client as win32 word = win32.gencache.EnsureDispatch('Word.Application') word.Visible = False word.Documents.Open('C:\\sectarianism.doc') Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:\Users\User\Documents\python progs\misc\formatting for isn\formatting.py", line 5, in <module> word.Documents.Open('C:\\sectarianism.doc') File "C:\Python25\lib\site-packages\win32com\gen_py\00020905-0000-0000-C000-000000000046x0x8x4\Documents.py", line 96, in Open , Visible, OpenAndRepair, DocumentDirection, NoEncodingDialog, XMLTransform com_error: (-2147352567, 'Exception occurred.', (0, u'Microsoft Word', u'This file could not be found.\r (C:\\sectarianism.doc)', u'C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\1033\\WDMAIN11.CHM', 24654, -2146823114), None) >>> ```

Original source