Is there an API for converting word files to HTML without losing the format?
Can the google documents API be used for this?
I tried saaspose but the returning result is always a server error.
Solutions that did not work for me:
I've spent a bit of time loking into this, and the best solution that I've found was to install unoconv on the server, and using PHP to interface with it through system calls.
I would have loved to find a good native PHP solution for this, but unfortunately I couldn't.
Edit Since originally answering this, I've come across a web service which presents an API for converting documents. I haven't tested it very thoroughly but it does seem to produce decent results at converting Word to HTML: CloudConvert.
Try PHPWord lib. According to site it is based on PHPExcel Lib which perfectly read/write excelsheets.
PHPDocx has a solution. According to site you may extract data directly from any database or spreadsheet and export them to other popular formats (PDF, DOC, HTML, ODT, ...) with the help of the conversion plugin. These reports may include editable graphs (only docx), images, tables, headers, footers, etcetera.
Am not sure how good it can convert word to html
The best solution I've found so far is http://www.phplivedocx.org/ . You use it with the Zend framework. Very easy to set up and you get minimal deviation from the actual word format. It converts word docs to html very well.