siddhant-vij / email-based-file-conversion-service

Email-Based File Conversion Service from DOCX to PDF. Can be extended for other file formats.

Email-Based File Conversion Service

This service allows users to convert documents between different formats via email. Users send an email with the subject line indicating the desired conversion formats (e.g., "[DOCX] to [PDF]") and the document as an attachment. The service processes the request and sends back the converted file.

Table of Contents

1. Features
2. Installation
3. Configuration
4. Usage
5. Security
6. Contributing
7. Future Enhancements
8. License

Features

• Parses email subject lines to determine the requested file conversion formats.
• Converts DOCX files to PDF (with scope for adding more formats).
• Handles invalid subject lines and unsupported conversion requests with informative failure emails.
• Command-line interface for local testing.

Installation

1. Ensure Python 3.x is installed.
2. Clone this repository.
3. Install dependencies: pip install -r requirements.txt.

Configuration

Create a .env file in the project root with the following contents:

• EMAIL_USER: Your email username.
• EMAIL_PASSWORD: Your email password.
• IMAP_SERVER: IMAP server address (e.g., imap.gmail.com).
• SMTP_SERVER: SMTP server address (e.g., smtp.gmail.com).

Usage

• Create a temp directory in the project root.
• Copy the .env copy file to the .env file & edit with your own details.
• Run the server with file conversion service using python src/main.py.
• Send an email to the configured email address with the subject line formatted as "[Format-1] to [Format-2]" and include the file to be converted as an attachment.

Security

• The .env file is not committed to version control to keep credentials secure - only the template file is.
• Proper validation and error handling are in place to prevent misuse.

Contributing

Contributions are what make the open-source community such an amazing place to learn, inspire, and create. Any contributions you make are greatly appreciated.

1. Fork the Project
2. Create your Feature Branch:

   git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature

3. Commit your Changes:

   git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature'

4. Push to the Branch:

   git push origin feature/AmazingFeature

5. Open a Pull Request

Future Enhancements

• Extend the service to support additional file format conversions.
• Improve error handling and user feedback mechanisms.

License

Distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for more information.