win32::ole and MS Office 2010 over cgi

wal77 has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

We have a web application runnung on Windows Server 2003, Apache and MS Office 2003. Win32::Ole generates word documents initiated over a CGI form. All works pretty. Now I have to install a new server based on Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard with Office 2010.

Apache runs as priveleged user, but the script hangs on $word = Win32::OLE->new('Word.Application', sub {$_[0]->Quit;} till browser timeout message coming, no errors in perl($Win32::OLE::Warn = 3;), Apache or Windows. Seems to be Word waiting for a confirmation, but I can't see it ({visible} = 1).

use Win32::OLE; $Win32::OLE::Warn = 3;  
eval {$word = Win32::OLE->GetActiveObject('Word.Application')}; 
die "Word not installed" if $@; 
unless (defined $word) { $word = Win32::OLE->new('Word.Application', 
sub {$_[0]->Quit;}) or die "Oops, cannot start Word"; } 
$word->Activate; 
$word->{visible} = 1; 
my $doc = $word->Documents->Open("$oldfile"); 
....... 
$word->ActiveDocument->SaveAs($newfile); $doc->Close(); $word -> Quit;
[download]

Can you halp me? Regards, wal77

Comment on win32::ole and MS Office 2010 over cgi Download Code

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Re: win32::ole and MS Office 2010 over cgi by afoken (Chancellor) on Feb 04, 2012 at 19:10 UTC
Usually, Apache runs as service, and services are not allowed to interact with any desktop, neither console nor remote. So, the Word executable may start, but it won't be able to open a window, Windows actively prevents this. No window, no communication, no OLE. That are Windows' rules. Alexander -- Today I will gladly share my knowledge and experience, for there are no sweeter words than "I told you so". ;-)	[reply]
Re^2: win32::ole and MS Office 2010 over cgi by wal77 (Novice) on Feb 04, 2012 at 21:06 UTC
But it works with Windows Server 2003 and Office 2003	[reply]
Re^3: win32::ole and MS Office 2010 over cgi by furry_marmot (Pilgrim) on Feb 05, 2012 at 06:36 UTC
I'm not familiar with Server 2008 OR Office 2010...buuut...you might check a couple of things. First, if you installed Office with VBA, check the docs for changes. Running Office from VBA should be almost identical from running it via Perl and OLE, but for some syntax changes. You probably know that a quickstart to automating a task in Office is creating a VBA macro, and then translating it to Perl. Anyway, another possibility is that it's not Word.Application anymore. It's only a shot in the dark, but I hope it helps. --marmot	[reply]
Re^4: win32::ole and MS Office 2010 over cgi by wal77 (Novice) on Feb 05, 2012 at 09:54 UTC
Re^5: win32::ole and MS Office 2010 over cgi by afoken (Chancellor) on Feb 05, 2012 at 12:54 UTC
Some notes below your chosen depth have not been shown here
Re^3: win32::ole and MS Office 2010 over cgi by Anonymous Monk on Feb 05, 2012 at 06:25 UTC
But it works with Windows Server 2003 and Office 2003 Microsoft actively improves windows and office, check the changes files on msdn	[reply]
Re: win32::ole and MS Office 2010 over cgi by Anonymous Monk on Feb 04, 2012 at 16:00 UTC
Use absolute paths?	[reply]
Re^2: win32::ole and MS Office 2010 over cgi by wal77 (Novice) on Feb 04, 2012 at 16:49 UTC
Yes, but I don't get so far. If I comment out the rest, the Method "new" hangs as well	[reply]
Re: win32::ole and MS Office 2010 over cgi by kenearle (Novice) on Mar 18, 2012 at 15:15 UTC
This might be too late and not address your problem, but I have had similar troubles moving from Word 2003 to 2010, in particular your code example flunks for me too. After some anguish I recorded a macro to open a file with Word 2010 - and there was one big difference from 2003. Seems Word 2010 wants to see just a file name proper in the Open(), with a change of working directory beforehand. Doing that works for me. Here's a crude example you might try, note I've assumed a full path for $oldfile with forward slashes only: `use Win32::OLE; $Win32::OLE::Warn = 3; eval {$word = Win32::OLE->GetActiveObject('Word.Application')}; die "Word not installed" if $@; unless (defined $word) { $word = Win32::OLE->new('Word.Application', sub {$_[0]->Quit;}) or die "Oops, cannot start Word"; } $word->Activate; $word->{visible} = 1; $oldfile =~ m!^(.+?)/([^/]+)$!; my $dir = $1 . '/'; my $name = $2; $word->ChangeFileOpenDirectory($dir); my $doc = $word->Documents->Open("$name"); ...` [download]	[reply] [d/l]