We use a number of libraries to parse/process various document formats. Those formats include Word documents, Excel documents, PowerPoint documents, and others. We found that open source solutions may work in some cases, but not in others. This is a problem when we want to create a solution that is simple to maintain and works consistently well.

After searching for solutions, we found the Aspose suite of products. In particular, the Aspose.Total package includes a number of libraries to handle the document types we needed. One benefit of this is that it includes many of the individual Aspose products in a single package, and allows us to work with a consistent API across all of these file formats. After using their trial license, and evaluating the product against various file formats / examples, we've found that the Aspose solution is easy to use, and works well in a variety of cases. Performance has been good in our testing, which can be a problem with other solutions that we've evaluated.

In addition to the software library itself, one area we found to be helpful is the documentation that is provided on the support site. It really makes it easy to understand the process of how to setup your development environment, and begin using the APIs directly. Example demonstrations are included for the various components (Aspose.Cells, Aspose.Words, Aspose.PDF, and many others). In addition to the documentation provided on the site, there is also a support forum that is available. We had the opportunity to use the forums, and one nice thing about the Aspose support forums is that they are monitored by Aspose support staff who also participate in the conversations, and try and assist with customer questions. The development community around the product also seems to be growing as well - there are a lot of active developers in the forums, so it is a good way to connect with others if you're trying to solve a problem.

The Aspose.Total product has worked well for us, has saved a lot of development time, and reduced the number of libraries we need to use and maintain to be able to provide a solution to our users. We have used the Java version of the product, but there are other versions (.NET) as well. I'd recommend this product, and would also recommend taking advantage of the trial license to try before you buy.