How to remove row line numbers from several .doc/.docx files on Linux?

Question

I need to remove row line numbers from a large collection of Word .doc/.docx files as part of a (Python) data processing pipeline.

I am aware of solutions to do this in C# using Word.Interop (e.g. Is it possible to use Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word to programatically remove line numbering from a Word document?) but it would be great to achieve this e.g. using LibreOffice in --headless mode (before evaluating MS Word + wine solutions).

For a single file, with the UI, one can follow https://help.libreoffice.org/Writer/Line_Numbering, but I need to do this for a lot of files, so a macro/script/command line solution to

1) cycle through a set of files
2) remove row numbers and save the result to file

and triggered with e.g. a Python subprocess call would be great, or even with calls to the Python API (https://help.libreoffice.org/Common/Scripting).

Answer 1

To perform line removal for a list of files in the working directory (and put the resulting output into pdfs) run LibreOffice in a Linux command line:

soffice --headless --accept="socket,host=localhost,port=2002;urp;StarOffice.ServiceManager"

and then in the Python interpreter

import uno
import socket
import os
import subprocess
from pythonscript import ScriptContext
from com.sun.star.beans import PropertyValue

# list docfiles in working dir
files = [x for x in os.listdir('.') if x.endswith(".docx")]

# iterate on files
for file in files:

    localContext = uno.getComponentContext()
    resolver = localContext.ServiceManager.createInstanceWithContext("com.sun.star.bridge.UnoUrlResolver", localContext)
    ctx = resolver.resolve("uno:socket,host=localhost,port=2002;urp;StarOffice.ComponentContext")
    smgr = ctx.ServiceManager
    desktop = smgr.createInstanceWithContext("com.sun.star.frame.Desktop", ctx)

    # open file 
    model = desktop.loadComponentFromURL(uno.systemPathToFileUrl(os.path.realpath(file)), "_blank", 0, ())

    # remove line numbers
    model.getLineNumberingProperties().IsOn = False

    # prepare to save output to pdf
    XSCRIPTCONTEXT = ScriptContext(ctx, None, None)

    p = PropertyValue()
    p.Name = 'FilterName'
    p.Value = 'writer_pdf_Export'

    oDoc = XSCRIPTCONTEXT.getDocument()

    # create pdf 
    oDoc.storeToURL("file://" + os.getcwd() + "/" + file + ".pdf", tuple([p]))

This should create pdf files with no line numbering in your working directory.

Useful links:
Add line numbers and export to pdf via macro on OpenOffice forums
LineNumberingProperties documentation
Info on running a macro from the command line