The document preview page allows users to view the contents of common file types directly in the browser. This is powered by an open-source office application called OpenOffice.
Documents are converted to PDFs using OpenOffice. They are then converted from PDFs to SWFs using a PDF to SWF converter.
Essentially, the Open Office converter is not able to convert all features that are available in extended file formats (e.g. docx, xlsx)
Not all file types are supported; only those listed below will give a preview when uploaded into the Documents application.
Also, more complex files may not be converted 100% accurately. In such cases, previews of documents may look different to the original.
Supported file types for a preview in the Documents application
| bmp | Bit map picture |
| csv | Comma-separated variables |
| doc | Pre 2007 MS Word document |
| docx | Post 2007 MS Word document |
| docm, dotm, dotx | MS Word Documents with macros and template |
| gif | Graphical interchange format |
| jpg | Joint photographic group |
| odp | Open document presentation (OpenOffice) |
| ods | Open document spreadsheet (OpenOffice) |
| odt | Open document text document (OpenOffice) |
| Portable document format | |
| png | Portable network graphics |
| ppt | Pre MS PowerPoint 2007 presentation |
| pptx | Post MS PowerPoint 2007 presentation |
| ppsm, pptm | MS PowerPoint with macros and template |
| rtf | Rich text format |
| sxc | StarOffice Calc spreadsheet |
| sxi | StarOffice Impress presentation |
| txt | Text file |
| wpd | WordPerfect document |
| xls | Pre MS Excel 2007 spreadsheet |
| xlsx | Post MS Excel 2007 spreadsheet |
| xlsm xltm | MS Excel with macros and template |
Important points
- A document preview may fail to generate for Excel files that contain macros and Visual Basic. In this case, downloading the files and opening them in their native application is recommended.
- .exe files pose a security risk if uploaded into Claromentis directly; instead, it's possible to save these to a ZIP file and upload this to the Intranet. Once downloaded the user's anti-virus can be relied on as the file will be opened and run locally.
