[Scribus] Importing Tables

[Nik]

Hi Folks,

I have been given a 58 page document in OpenOffice WP format. I am 
trying to control its size and layout, by breaking it into separate 
files for each chapter, image, etc, and then assemble them with scribus 
(scribus-1.2.3-0.1.fc3.rf installed using yum on Fedora Core 3).

Scattered amongst the 58 pages there are 39 tables.

I initially tried to import the tables directly into a scribus table 
frame. This only ever loaded the text of the incoming table into the 
first cell of the scribus table.

Further tests confirmed that it is possible to import an OpenOffice 
table into OpenOffice Draw, export as EPS, and then import the 
PostScript into scribus.

However, after importing the first 3 tables (of 38), scribus has ground 
to a halt processing, a file save takes in the order of minutes, and the 
resulting file is 33 Mbytes in size. This approach clearly isn't going 
to work for this project.

It seems what I really need is for gettext to import tables correctly.

Q1: Has anything changed regarding importing tables since 1.2.3? I've 
poked around in sxwim/contentreader, and I can see nothing new in there.

Q2: Is there some other way of accomplishing this that I've overlooked?

Assuming scribus still doesn't import table text, I am happy to make the 
changes myself, and submit them to the developers for inclusion, as 
people see fit.

Q3: Could someone please point me in the correct direction to see how 
table frames are implemented in scribus? This is something I haven't yet 
discovered.

I am considering two possible implementations, depending on which is 
easier in scribus:

1. Adding logic to handle importing into a table frame, so that the 
cells are iterated correctly, as the content is read.

2. Adding logic to generic text importing to create tables and cells if 
table content is encountered. Such an option should have a checkbox in 
the GUI to enable/disable it.

Does anyone out there have any comments, suggestions or guidance to 
offer? I am happy to use the greater experience of others to streamline 
the process, and avoid obvious pitfalls.


Cheers!
Nik.