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Inspired_Blue
Asked: 2016-03-11 05:03:59 +0800 CST

Is there a way to write to .ods files from Command line?

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It is too RAM-expensive to keep Libre-Office calc open all the time. And I find it a hassle to open calc everytime I have to add a few lines to my spreadsheet. Is there a way I could do it very minimally, by say opening the terminal and writing into my .ods files? I would like to add rows like these:

  A        B     C
1 03/02/16 09:00 Cooking
2 02/07/15 $225  New Clothes

I know I can write into .csv format. But I need my formulas. I could make the .ods file read from .csv file into which I write. But then I have to make too many changes to the .ods file.

command-line

2 Answers

  1. .ods files are binary so you can't use a text editor as you'd like. There is another possibility you might consider, but it is not free (albeit fairly cheap).

    If you get insync, it can sync a folder with google drive. One of it's very nice features is it can convert .ods files to-and-from Google spreadsheets.

    I do this currently. When I want to run calc locally, I do that. When I want to make a quick tweak or am on the road, I use Google to make the edit.

    I'm not sure what etiquete here is for posting product links, so if you google for "insync google drive" you can find it.

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  2. Run a macro from the command line: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/7295/how-to-invoke-an-openoffice-macro-from-the-linux-command-line

    Or, unzip the .ods file and make changes to the XML using a text editor.

    There are also libraries available such as http://incubator.apache.org/odftoolkit/ which may help.

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