How do I determine Slide ID - Using C/C++?

  • Thread starter Thread starter John Ivory
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J

John Ivory

I've been tasked with having to do some simple parsing of
PowerPoint files. The catch is, that I'm doing it in C/C++
on non-Windows machines. So far, so good.

But how/where does this SlideID concept creep in?

I understand what it's for and how it's used, and even
how to find it for a given slide via VBA. But... where
is a slide's SlideID actually discovered in the PPT file
itself? I see it referenced in a number of places
(ie. NotesAtoms), but never actually set.

Am I missing something?
Where else can I turn to get this granularity of knowledge?

Thanks
 
I've been tasked with having to do some simple parsing of
PowerPoint files. The catch is, that I'm doing it in C/C++
on non-Windows machines. So far, so good.

But how/where does this SlideID concept creep in?
Click to expand...

SlideID is a theoretically unique number that PowerPoint assigns each slide as
it's created or inserted from another presentation into the current
presentation. I figure you've got down already, though.
I understand what it's for and how it's used, and even
how to find it for a given slide via VBA. But... where
is a slide's SlideID actually discovered in the PPT file
itself? I see it referenced in a number of places
(ie. NotesAtoms), but never actually set.

Am I missing something?
Where else can I turn to get this granularity of knowledge?
Click to expand...

MS doesn't document the file structure for PPT, so unless you can find someone
who's worked it out and wants to share, you'll have to work it out (and share?)

But FWIW, SlideID never changes. It's a read-only property, so it won't ever
be set or changed other than at the time the slide's created.


--
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================
Featured Presenter, PowerPoint Live 2004
October 10-13, San Diego, CA www.PowerPointLive.com
================================================
 
Steve,

You wrote...
MS doesn't document the file structure for PPT, so unless
you can find someone who's worked it out and wants to share,
you'll have to work it out (and share?)
Click to expand...

Actually, I've working mostly with documentation found at Wotsit,
most notably...

http://www.wotsit.org/download.asp?f=powerpoint97

It seems to be pretty much right on the money with everything I've
stumbled around with so far. I've also scoured around at the sources
from the POI/Jakarta people, and some of the OpenOffice stuff (although
that's a bit more work to dig through).

I'm on-board with what the SlideID is and why they have it. I just
need to be able to find WHERE in the many atoms of the file the SlideID
is assigned to a slide. None of the atoms IN the slide actually assign
it, so it has to be somewhere else.

Anybody?

(and if you can answer that one, I've got a similar question regarding
how NoteID's are discovered!).
 
Steve,

You wrote...

Actually, I've working mostly with documentation found at Wotsit,
most notably...

http://www.wotsit.org/download.asp?f=powerpoint97
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. I suspect this is probably the old MSDN article that's
since been pulled but will have a look later. The direct link doesn't work,
btw, but if you search on PowerPoint, it takes you right to the correct page.

If you come across answers or links to more info, please do post 'em here.

I'm on-board with what the SlideID is and why they have it. I just
need to be able to find WHERE in the many atoms of the file the SlideID
is assigned to a slide. None of the atoms IN the slide actually assign
it, so it has to be somewhere else.

Anybody?

(and if you can answer that one, I've got a similar question regarding
how NoteID's are discovered!).
Click to expand...

--
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================
Featured Presenter, PowerPoint Live 2004
October 10-13, San Diego, CA www.PowerPointLive.com
================================================
 
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