Convert RTF to Word or Word to RTF in C++

RTF stands for Rich Text Format, which is a proprietary file format developed by Microsoft for exchanging text files between different word processing programs. Unlike Word documents, RTF is readable across many programs and platforms, but it has some limitations, for example, it cannot retain certain types of formatting, such as track changes and comments, or include certain types of images. Sometimes, you may need to convert an RTF file to Word to get rid of these limitations or convert a Word file to RTF to improve its compatibility. In this article, I will demonstrate how to programmatically convert RTF files to Word or convert Word files to RTF in C++.

• Convert RTF to Word in C++
• Convert Word to RTF in C++

C++ Library to Convert RTF to Word or Word to RTF

In order to implement the conversions between RTF and Word files in C++ applications, this article uses a third-party library called Spire.Doc for C++. Spire.Doc for C++ is a professional Word library specifically designed for creating, reading, writing, converting, merging, splitting, and comparing Word documents in C++ applications with fast and high-quality performance.

NuGet is the easiest way to integrate Spire.Doc for C++ into your application, and there are two ways to install Spire.Doc for C++ through NuGet.

1. Install Spire.Doc for C++ using Manage NuGet Packages.

• Create or open your project in Visual Studio.
• Click Tools -> NuGet Package Manager -> Manage NuGet Packages for Solution…
• Search for Spire.Doc.Cpp and click install.

2. Install the library using Package Manager Console.

• Create or open your project in Visual Studio.
• Click Tools -> NuGet Package Manager -> Package Manager Console.
• Type the command “Install-Package Spire.Doc.Cpp” and press enter.

In case you can’t install the library through NuGet, you can download the package from the official site and then manually import it into your project. For more details, you can check the documentation – How to Integrate Spire.Doc for C++ in a C++ Application.

Convert RTF to Word in C++

Converting an RTF file to Word is very straightforward with Spire.Doc for C++, you just need to load the file and then call the Document->SaveToFile(LPCWSTR_S fileName, FileFormat fileFormat) method. The following steps show you how to convert RTF to Word in C++:

• Initialize an instance of the Document class.
• Load an RTF document using Document->LoadFromFile(LPCWSTR_S fileName) method.
• Save the RTF document to Word Doc/Docx format using Document->SaveToFile(LPCWSTR_S fileName, FileFormat fileFormat) method.

#include "Spire.Doc.o.h"

using namespace Spire::Doc;

int main()
{
	//Initialize an instance of the document class
	Document* doc = new Document();
	//Load an RTF file 
	doc->LoadFromFile(L"Input.rtf");

	//Save the RTF file to Word Docx format
	doc->SaveToFile(L"RtfToWord.docx", FileFormat::Docx2013);
	doc->Close();
	delete doc;
}

Convert Word to RTF in C++

The Document->SaveToFile(LPCWSTR_S fileName, FileFormat fileFormat) method can also be used to convert a Word file to RTF format. The steps to convert a Word file to RTF are very similar to that of the above example:

• Initialize an instance of the Document class.
• Load a Word document using Document->LoadFromFile(LPCWSTR_S fileName) method.
• Save the document as an RTF file using Document->SaveToFile(LPCWSTR_S fileName, FileFormat fileFormat) method.

#include "Spire.Doc.o.h"

using namespace Spire::Doc;

int main()
{
	//Initialize an instance of the document class
	Document* doc = new Document();
	//Load a Word file 
	doc->LoadFromFile(L"Input.docx");

	//Save the Word file to RTF format
	doc->SaveToFile(L"WordToRtf.docx", FileFormat::Rtf);
	doc->Close();
	delete doc;
}

Conclusion

This article demonstrated how to convert RTF to Word or Word to RTF in C++ applications using Spire.Doc for C++. Actually, this library also supports lots of other file format conversions, for example, it can convert RTF to PDF and HTML, as well as convert Word to HTML, PDF, images and more.