I think I tried all combinations of keywords on google but could not find a solution to this task. I have to store content of doc files into mysql table and for that I need to write a function in php that can read a file and give the text.

I will prefer to use a linux server as the entire application is in php and mysql but if I dont get any possible way out of this then I might consider windows.

This means, the classes that are using COM component are out. Actually I did try some of the classes, but the problem with them is they act like a macro that opens word and save the file in txt format. Which in my opinion will take a hell lot of processing power. And will surely require word to be installed on the server.

I did some more research and found that a small plugin software called Antiword, if installed on the server will let us convert doc files to txt from command prompt.

I am not very happy with that because I dont know how will I initiate a command using PHP. I think i will have to use system_exec() (not sure).

I am still looking out for a better solution, I am surprised as I feel this should be a common need for a lot of applications but I have not been able to find anything on the net.

Now I know why a lot of people hate Microsoft.

Thanks
Bye