PowerPoint Shell Verification

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• read_file or other built-in tools fail to read PowerPoint (.pptx) files
• You need to verify presentation structure (slide count, titles, content)
• Standard file inspection methods return errors or incomplete data

Prerequisites

• Python 3.x installed in the execution environment
• python-pptx library available (install if needed)

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Attempt Standard File Read

First, try to read the file using standard methods:

read_file: path/to/presentation.pptx

If this fails or returns unusable data, proceed to Step 2.

Step 2: Verify python-pptx Availability

Check if the library is installed:

run_shell: python -c "import pptx; print('pptx available')"

If not available, install it:

run_shell: pip install python-pptx

Step 3: Create Verification Script

Create a Python script to extract presentation metadata:

# verify_pptx.py
from pptx import Presentation
import sys
import json

def verify_presentation(filepath):
    try:
        prs = Presentation(filepath)
        data = {
            "slide_count": len(prs.slides),
            "slides": []
        }
        
        for i, slide in enumerate(prs.slides):
            slide_data = {
                "slide_number": i + 1,
                "title": None,
                "shapes_count": len(slide.shapes)
            }
            
            # Extract title if present
            if slide.shapes.title:
                slide_data["title"] = slide.shapes.title.text
            
            data["slides"].append(slide_data)
        
        print(json.dumps(data, indent=2))
        return True
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"ERROR: {str(e)}", file=sys.stderr)
        return False

if __name__ == "__main__":
    if len(sys.argv) < 2:
        print("Usage: python verify_pptx.py <file.pptx>", file=sys.stderr)
        sys.exit(1)
    
    success = verify_presentation(sys.argv[1])
    sys.exit(0 if success else 1)

Step 4: Execute Verification

Run the verification script:

run_shell: python verify_pptx.py path/to/presentation.pptx

Step 5: Interpret Results

Expected output format:

{
  "slide_count": 10,
  "slides": [
    {
      "slide_number": 1,
      "title": "Introduction",
      "shapes_count": 3
    },
    ...
  ]
}

Use this data to:

• Confirm expected slide count matches
• Verify slide titles are present
• Validate presentation structure before delivery

Example Validation Checks

# Check slide count matches requirement
assert data["slide_count"] >= expected_min_slides

# Check all slides have titles
for slide in data["slides"]:
    assert slide["title"] is not None, f"Slide {slide['slide_number']} missing title"

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Corrupted file	Verify file was created successfully, check file size
Permission denied	Ensure file path is accessible, check read permissions
Library not found	Install with pip install python-pptx
Empty presentation	File may be 0 bytes or incomplete write

Best Practices

1. Always verify after creation: Run verification immediately after generating a PowerPoint file
2. Keep verification script reusable: Store the script for future presentations
3. Validate before delivery: Never deliver a presentation without confirming structure
4. Log verification results: Keep verification output for audit trails