mehtav has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I am writing a code that recursively goes through a directory and extracts the title, name of the author and the date from the 1st slide of a powerpoint and outputs that data to an excel sheet. It runs correctly if there is only one ppt in the entire directory. Otherwise, it gives the following error: Win32::OLE(0.1712) error 0x80010108: "The object invoked has disconnected from its clients". I have not changed anything in the code but it suddenly started showing this error. The line causing the error seems to be "foreach $shape (in @placeholders)" but I can't figure out why the error is being caused.

The output is 

 Scanning the following directories in the tape:
 \01 Quick Start
 \02 Syntax
 \03 Variables
 \04 Statements
 \05 Conditionals
 \06 Loops
 \07 Special Variables
 \08 Operators
   \Directory
 \09 Regexes
Title is Open Powerpoint
Date is 11/19/2015
Author is Author
 \10 Subroutines
 \11 References
 \12 Files
 \13 Builtins
 \14 Modules
 \15 POD
 \16 New Features
 \17 Web Development
   \bw-contact
     \html
   \twotrees
     \code
     \css
     \images
     \Scripts
     \testimonials
       \BW
         \DB
         \XML
       \data
       \html
Win32::OLE(0.1712) error 0x80010108: "The object invoked has disconnec
+ted from its clients" at C:\<path>\open_ppt_out_excel_v1.3.pl line 67
+.

[download]

The output should just be the titles, names and the dates. The code is shown below 

#!/usr/bin/perl

#use strict; 
#use warnings;
use Try::Tiny;

use FindBin qw( $Bin );
use File::Spec::Functions qw( catfile );
use lib "$FindBin::Bin/../lib";
#use plsubs;
use Cwd;

use Win32::OLE;
use Win32::OLE::Const  'Microsoft PowerPoint';
use Win32::OLE::Enum;

use Win32::OLE qw(in valof with);
use Win32::OLE::Const 'Microsoft Excel';

$Win32::OLE::Warn = 3;

#---------------------------------------------------------------------
+--#
#    $scriptName=     'Get details from 1st slide of ppt';
#   Last Edited:     11/19/2015
#    $revision=       1.3;
#---------------------------------------------------------------------
+--#
#   Description:
#     Searches through all files and folders of the to get details fro
+m the first page of the ppt
#---------------------------------------------------------------------
+--#
#   Revision History:
#   1.0 Initial revision
######################################################################
+###

# Sunroutine opens the ppt file and gets the details
sub get_file_data
{
  #print "get_file_data\n";  #debug
  my $name_file = shift;
  my $title;
  my $author;
  my $date;
  my $date_found = 0;
    
  my $ppt = get_ppt();
  $ppt->{Visible} = 1;

  my $ppt_file = catfile $Bin, $name_file;
  my $presentation = $ppt->Presentations->Open($ppt_file);
  my $slides = Win32::OLE::Enum->new( $presentation->Slides );
  my $num_slides = $presentation->Slides->Count;

  SLIDE:
    my $slide = $slides->Next;
    my $shapes1 = $slide->Shapes;
    #printf "%s:\t", $slide->Name;
    my $shapes = Win32::OLE::Enum->new( $slide->Shapes );
    my $num_shapes = $shapes1->Count;    
    #print "Num of shapes is $num_shapes\n";

    while ( my $shape = $shapes->Next ) 
    {
    if ($shape->HasTextFrame) 
    {
        @placeholders = $slide->Shapes->Placeholders; 
        foreach $shape (in @placeholders)
        {
                  my $type = $shape->PlaceholderFormat->Type;
                  if ( $type == ppPlaceholderTitle
                      or $type == ppPlaceholderCenterTitle
                      or $type == ppPlaceholderVerticalTitle
                  ) 
          {
              unless (defined $title)
              {
                         $title = $shape->TextFrame->TextRange->text;
              #$title1 = $title =~ s|\W*||m;
              print "Title is $title\n";
              }      
          }
          else 
          {
              #$author = $shape->TextFrame->TextRange->text;
              $text = $shape->TextFrame->TextRange->text; 
              if ($text =~ m|(\d+[/-]\d+[/-]\d+)|) 
              {
            unless (defined $date)
            {
                #print "date1";
                    $date = $1;
                print "Date is $date\n";
                $date_found = 1;
            }
              }
              if ($date_found == 1)
              {
                    $text =~ s|\d+[/-]\d+[/-]\d+||m;
              }
              if ($text =~ m/^\s*(\w+\s*\S*\w*.+)/ || $text =~ m/^\s*(
+\w+\s*\w+.+)/ ) 
              {
                unless (defined $author)
                {
                $author = $1;
                print "Author is $author\n";
                }
              }
           }
        }
        #$author = $shape->TextFrame->TextRange->text;
        $text = $shape->TextFrame->TextRange->text;
        #if ($text =~ m|^\s*(\d+[/-]\d+[/-]\d+)|) 
        if ($text =~ m|(\d+[/-]\d+[/-]\d+)|) 
        {
            unless (defined $date)
            {
                #print "date2";
                $date = $1;
            print "Date is $date\n";
            $date_found = 1;
        }
         }
        if ($date_found == 1)
        {
            $text =~ s|\d+[/-]\d+[/-]\d+||m;
        }
        if (($text =~ m/^\s*(\w+\s*\w+.+)/ || $text =~ m/^\s*(\w+\s*\S
+*\w*.+)/ ) && ($title ne $text)) 
        {
            unless (defined $author) 
            {        
              $author = $1;
                print "Author is $author\n";
            }
        }
     }
      }        
            
    #print "Number of slides = $num_slides\n";    
    #print "\n";

  $presentation->Close();
  return ($title,$author,$date,$num_slides);

} 

######################################################################
+#

#Opens the ppt application
sub get_ppt {

    #print "get_ppt\n";       #debug
    my $ppt;

    try {
        $ppt = Win32::OLE->GetActiveObject('PowerPoint.Application');
    }
    catch {
        die $_;
    };

    unless ( $ppt ) {
        $ppt = Win32::OLE->new(
            'PowerPoint.Application', sub { $_[0]->Quit }
        ) or die sprintf(
            'Cannot start PowerPoint: %s', Win32::OLE->LastError
        );
    }
    #print "get_ppt done\n";    #debug
    return $ppt;
}  ###################################################################
+####

# Scans the product specific directory including all directories and
# stores them in variables to be used during the script.
sub scan_directory
{
#    print "scan_directory";     #debug
    my $currentDir=shift;
    my $level=shift;
    my $cleanDir;
    my $relDir;
    my $file;
    my @dirContents=();
    my $dirNameSave;
    my $addDir="";

    # Change the current directory and obtain all of the files
    chdir($currentDir);
    @dirContents=<*>;

    if($level==0)
    {
        print " Scanning the following directories in the tape:\n";
        $dirName="ROOT";
    }
    elsif($level==1)
    {
        $dirName=$currentDir;
        $dirName=~s/$origCwd\///;
        #@cwdSplit=split /[\/\\]/, $currentDir;
        #$dirName=$cwdSplit[-1];
    }
    else
    {
        $addDir=$currentDir;
        $addDir=~s/$origCwd\/$dirName\///;
    }

    foreach $file (@dirContents)
    {
        # Check if current file is a directory
        if(-d $file)
        {
            # Skip . and .. directories
            if(($file eq ".")||($file eq "..")) { next; }

            # Skip CVS and SVN directories
            if(($file eq "CVS")||($file eq "SVN")) { next; }

            # Print directory name to screen
            print " "."  "x$level."\\$file\n";

            $dirNameSave=$dirName;
            # Scan each directory within this directory
            scan_directory("$currentDir/$file",$level+1);

            # Reset current directory
            chdir($currentDir);
            $dirName=$dirNameSave;
        }

        # If the file is binary, skip it
    #elsif(-B $file) { next; }

        # If not a directory then search the file
        else
        {
            # Skip all files except for ppts
        #if($file =~ /^stats_file\w*\.txt$/) { next; }

        #next unless ($file =~ /\.ppt$/ | $file =~ /\.pptx$/);
        if ($file =~ /\.pptx$/ | $file =~ /\.ppt$/) {     

            $numDirFiles=$numFiles{$dirName};

            if($addDir ne "") { $fileName{$dirName}[$numDirFiles]="$ad
+dDir/$file"; }
            else              { $fileName{$dirName}[$numDirFiles]=$fil
+e; }
            ($fileTitle{$dirName}[$numDirFiles],
                $fileAuthor{$dirName}[$numDirFiles],
                $fileDate{$dirName}[$numDirFiles],
                $fileNum_slides{$dirName}[$numDirFiles])=get_file_data
+("$file");

    #   $dirSize{$dirName}+=$fileSize{$dirName}[$numDirFiles];
    #   $dirCodeLines{$dirName}+=$fileCodeLines{$dirName}[$numDirFiles
+];
    #   $dirBlankLines{$dirName}+=$fileBlankLines{$dirName}[$numDirFil
+es];
    #   $dirCommentLines{$dirName}+=$fileCommentLines{$dirName}[$numDi
+rFiles];

            $numFiles{$dirName}++;
            $totalFiles++;
           }
        }
    }

    if(($numFiles{$dirName}>0) && ($level <= 1))
    {
        if($dirName eq "ROOT") { unshift @dirNames, $dirName; } # Add 
+to the beginning of the array
        else                   { push @dirNames, $dirName; } # Add to 
+the end of the array
    }
} ####################################################################
+###

sub print_data
{
#    print "\nprint_data\n";    #debug

#### put the directory where you want to put the excel file that you c
+reate in <path>
    my $excel_file = '<path>\ppt_data.xlsx';
#    my $excel_file = 'ppt_data.xlsx';     

    my $Excel = Win32::OLE->GetActiveObject('Excel.Application') || Wi
+n32::OLE->new('Excel.Application', 'Quit');
    $Excel->{SheetsInNewWorkbook} = 1;
    my $Book = $Excel->Workbooks->Add;
    my $Sheet = $Book->Worksheets(1);
    $Sheet->{Name} = 'Data';
    $Sheet->Range("A:H")->{'WrapText'} = "True";

    # Insert column titles
    my $Range = $Sheet->Range("A1:H1");
    $Range->{Value} = [qw(Tape Directory #Files File_Name File_Title F
+ile_Author File_Date #Slides)];
    $Range->Font->{Bold} = 1;
    my $num = 2;

    for($dir=0; $dir<@dirNames; $dir++)
    {
        $dirName=$dirNames[$dir];
        $numDirFiles=$numFiles{$dirName};
    for($file=0; $file<$numDirFiles; $file++)
        {
         my $range = $Sheet->Range("A".$num.":H".$num);
      $range->{Value} = [$tapeName, $dirName, $numDirFiles, $fileName{
+$dirName}[$file], $fileTitle{$dirName}[$file], $fileAuthor{$dirName}[
+$file], $fileDate{$dirName}[$file], $fileNum_slides{$dirName}[$file]]
+;
        $num++;      
        }
    }

    unlink $excel_file if -f $excel_file;    
    $Book -> SaveAs($excel_file);
    $Book = $Excel->Workbooks->Close();

} ####################################################################
+###

sub print_closing
{
#    print "closing\n";   #debug
    print "\n NUMBER OF FILES = $totalFiles\n";
    if($printFile) { print "\n OUTPUT FILE = searchResult.txt\n"; }
    #print "\n Start= ";
    #plsubs::print_date_time($scriptTime);
    #print "\n Stop = ";
    #plsubs::print_date_time();
    #print "\n Script Run Time = ";
    #plsubs::get_time($scriptTime);
    #print "\n";*/
}

######################################################################
+###
##----------------------------    MAIN    ----------------------------
+-##
######################################################################
+###

#$scriptTime=$timer=plsubs::get_time();

#plsubs::print_title($scriptName,$revision);
#print "main";   #debug
print "\n";

# Get starting directory and create clean root directory
$origCwd=cwd();
@cwdSplit=split /[\/\\]/, $origCwd;
$tapeName=$cwdSplit[-1];
$totalFiles=0;
@numFiles=();

scan_directory($origCwd);
print_data();

print_closing();

[download]

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Error in Extracting Data from the 1st slide of a ppt
by poj (Abbot) on Nov 23, 2015 at 21:23 UTC

    Try this cut down version of your code

    #!perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use Win32::OLE;
use Win32::OLE::Const  'Microsoft PowerPoint';
use Win32::OLE::Enum;
use File::Find;
use Cwd;

my $ppt = Win32::OLE->new( 'PowerPoint.Application', sub { $_[0]->Quit
+ } ) 
   or die "Cannot start PowerPoint: ".Win32::OLE->LastError;
   
find(\&wanted, cwd());

sub wanted {
  return unless (/pptx?$/);
  scan($File::Find::name);
}
   
sub scan {  
  my $file = shift;   
  print "Scanning $file\n";
  my $p = $ppt->Presentations->Open($file);

  my $slides = Win32::OLE::Enum->new( $p->Slides );
  my $slide = $slides->Next;
  
  my $shapes = Win32::OLE::Enum->new( $slide->Shapes );
  while ( my $shape = $shapes->Next ){
    my $type = $shape->PlaceholderFormat->Type;
    if ( $type == ppPlaceholderTitle
      or $type == ppPlaceholderCenterTitle
      or $type == ppPlaceholderVerticalTitle){
      my  $title = $shape->TextFrame->TextRange->text;
      print "Title is $title\n";
    }
  } 
}

    [download]
    poj
[reply]
[d/l]

      Hi Poj,

      Thanks a lot for your help. This code works great while reading the titles. However, I am also trying to extract the author and the date from the 1st slide. If these values are put in placeholders then the code works fine. However, these are put in a textbox then the line

      " my $type = $shape->Placeholderformat->Type; "

      gives a type mismatch error. I am assuming thats because a textbox does not count as a placeholder. How do I try to fix that?

[reply]

        Deal with different shape types with if/else statements. (You can use the object browser to inspect the msoShapeType constant values)

        sub scan {  
  my $file = shift;   
  print "Scanning $file\n";
  my $p = $ppt->Presentations->Open($file);

  my $slides = Win32::OLE::Enum->new( $p->Slides );
  my $slide = $slides->Next;
  
  my $shapes = Win32::OLE::Enum->new( $slide->Shapes );
  while ( my $shape = $shapes->Next ){
    my $stype = $shape->type;
    print "Shape type is $stype\n";
    if ($stype == 17){
      my  $text = $shape->TextFrame->TextRange->text;
      print "TextBox is $text\n";
    } elsif ($stype == 14){
      my $type =  $shape->PlaceholderFormat->Type;
      if ( $type == ppPlaceholderTitle
        or $type == ppPlaceholderCenterTitle
        or $type == ppPlaceholderVerticalTitle ){
        my  $title = $shape->TextFrame->TextRange->text;
        print "Title is $title\n";
      }
    }
  }    
}

        [download]
        poj
[reply]
[d/l]
[select]
Re: Error in Extracting Data from the 1st slide of a ppt
by stevieb (Canon) on Nov 23, 2015 at 19:48 UTC

    Welcome to the Monastery, mehtav!

    When cross-posting to other sites, it's polite to mention that near the top of your post. This prevents wasteful duplicate efforts.

[reply]
      Will do so next time! thanks!
[reply]

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