Edit DOCX document programmatically in .NET

VintaSoft Imaging .NET SDK complemented with VintaSoft Office .NET Plug-in provides functionality for editing DOCX documents programmatically, i.e. the SDK does not allow to create new DOCX document from scratch, but it can edit an existing DOCX document.

For editing of an existing DOCX document is used DocxDocumentEditor class, which provides the following programming features:

• Setting up the page header and footer
• Search/replace/insert text in/to any element (paragraph, table cell, etc)
• Change text properties (size, color, bold, font, underline, etc)
• Change paragraph properties (alignment, indent, etc)
• Copy/paste/remove strings of table
• Setting table border properties
• Setting a link in the text
• Changing an image (i.e. for inserting a generated barcode)

The ability to edit DOCX documents has been implemented specially for speeding up the process of creation the report generator (price lists) in vector (PDF, SVG) and raster (PNG, TIF, etc) formats. The advantage of storing the report template as DOCX document is the rich abilities to layout DOCX documents and the simplicity of creation DOCX documents via MS Word or OpenOffice programs.

For generating a report as PDF document is necessary to do the following:

1. Create a template of document as DOCX document using MS Word or OpenOffice.
2. Change the data in the template and save the changed document into a new DOCX file using DocxDocumentEditor class.
3. Convert the created DOCX document into a PDF document using VintaSoft PDF .NET Plug-in.

The below article explains more about creation of report or price-list generator Create PDF invoice generator in .NET.

The following code example demonstrates how to edit content of an existing DOCX document:
Here is the code showing how to create an invoice and save it to PDF document:

• Invoice template: template.docx
• Generated invoice: out.docx

// The project, which uses this code, must have references to the following assemblies:
// - Vintasoft.Shared
// - Vintasoft.Imaging
// - Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml

// Edits the DOCX document
public static void EditDocx(string templateFilename, string outFilename)
{
    using (Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.DocxDocumentEditor documentEditor =
        new Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.DocxDocumentEditor(templateFilename))
    {
        Generate(documentEditor);

        documentEditor.Save(outFilename);
    }
}

// Generates DOCX document using DOCX document editor
public static void Generate(Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.DocxDocumentEditor documentEditor)
{
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlDocumentElement documentBody = documentEditor.Body;
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlDocumentTable[] documentTables = documentEditor.Tables;

    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties grayTextProperties = 
        new Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties();
    grayTextProperties.Color = System.Drawing.Color.Gray;

    // set Headers and Footers
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlDocumentElement header = documentEditor.CreateHeader();
    header.Text = string.Format("VintaSoft Office .NET Plugin, DOCX Editor Example. {0}", System.DateTime.Now);
    header.SetTextProperties(grayTextProperties);
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlDocumentElement footer = documentEditor.CreateFooter();
    footer.Text = "VintaSoft Imaging .NET SDK";
    footer.SetTextProperties(grayTextProperties);
    footer.SetTextProperties(Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties.BoldText);
    documentEditor.SetHeaderFooterConfiguration(header, footer);

    //
    // 1. Text replace.
    //

    // replace first occurrence
    documentBody["[field1]"] = "value1";

    // replace all occurrences
    documentBody.ReplaceText("[field2]", "value2");

    // get text content that corresponds to the [field3] and set text
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextContent field3Content = documentBody.FindText("[field3]");
    field3Content.Text = "value3";

    // replace field to the multiline text
    documentBody["[multiline_field]"] = "\nline1\nline2\nline3";


    //
    // 2. Change text properties.
    //

    // set text color
    documentBody.FindText("COLOR").Substring(0, 2).SetTextProperties(CreateColorTextProperties(System.Drawing.Color.Red));
    documentBody.FindText("COLOR").Substring(2, 1).SetTextProperties(CreateColorTextProperties(System.Drawing.Color.Green));
    documentBody.FindText("COLOR").Substring(3, 2).SetTextProperties(CreateColorTextProperties(System.Drawing.Color.Blue));

    // highlight text
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties highlightedTextProperties = 
        new Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties();
    highlightedTextProperties.Highlight = Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextHighlightType.Green;
    documentBody.FindText("highlighted text").SetTextProperties(highlightedTextProperties);

    // set text "bold text" as bold text
    documentBody.FindText("bold text").SetTextProperties(Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties.BoldText);

    // set text "italic text" as italic text
    documentBody.FindText("italic text").SetTextProperties(Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties.ItalicText);

    // set text "underline text" as underline text
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties underlineTextProperties =
        new Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties();
    underlineTextProperties.Underline = Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextUnderlineType.Single;
    underlineTextProperties.UnderlineColor = System.Drawing.Color.Red;
    documentBody.FindText("underline text").SetTextProperties(underlineTextProperties);

    // set text "strike text" as striked out text
    documentBody.FindText("strike text").SetTextProperties(Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties.StrikeText);

    // change font size
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties setTextSize = 
        new Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties();
    setTextSize.FontSize = 16;
    documentBody.FindText("text with size 16pt").Substring(0, 4).SetTextProperties(setTextSize);

    // change text style
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties setTextStyle = 
        new Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties();
    setTextStyle.Style = documentEditor.Styles.FindByName("RedStyle");
    documentBody.FindText("RedStyle").SetTextProperties(setTextStyle);

    // change character spacing
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties setCharacterSpacing = 
        new Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties();
    setCharacterSpacing.CharacterSpacing = 2;
    documentBody.FindText("spacing is 2pt").FindText("spacing").SetTextProperties(setCharacterSpacing);
    setCharacterSpacing.CharacterSpacing = -1;
    documentBody.FindText("spacing is -1pt").FindText("spacing").SetTextProperties(setCharacterSpacing);

    // change character horizontal scaling
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties setCharacterHorizontalScaling = 
        new Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties();
    setCharacterHorizontalScaling.CharacterHorizontalScaling = 0.5f;
    documentBody.FindText("horizontal scaling is 0.5").FindText("horizontal scaling").SetTextProperties(setCharacterHorizontalScaling);
    setCharacterHorizontalScaling.CharacterHorizontalScaling = 2;
    documentBody.FindText("horizontal scaling is 2").FindText("horizontal scaling").SetTextProperties(setCharacterHorizontalScaling);

    //
    // 3. Change paragraph properties.
    //
    // set paragraph justification
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlParagraphProperties justificationParagraphProperties = 
        new Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlParagraphProperties();
    justificationParagraphProperties.Justification = Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlParagraphJustification.Left;
    documentBody.FindText("Left Justification").SetParagraphProperties(justificationParagraphProperties);
    justificationParagraphProperties.Justification = Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlParagraphJustification.Center;
    documentBody.FindText("Center Justification").SetParagraphProperties(justificationParagraphProperties);
    justificationParagraphProperties.Justification = Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlParagraphJustification.Right;
    documentBody.FindText("Right Justification").SetParagraphProperties(justificationParagraphProperties);

    // set paragraph properties
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlParagraphProperties indentationParagraphProperties = 
        new Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlParagraphProperties();
    indentationParagraphProperties.SpacingBeforeParagraph = 10;
    indentationParagraphProperties.FirstLineIndentation = 50;
    indentationParagraphProperties.RightIndentation = 50;
    indentationParagraphProperties.LeftIndentation = 100;
    indentationParagraphProperties.FillColor = System.Drawing.Color.LightBlue;
    indentationParagraphProperties.Justification = Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlParagraphJustification.Both;
    documentBody.FindText("This paragraph has left indentation 100pt").SetParagraphProperties(indentationParagraphProperties);

    //
    // 4. Copy table row
    //

    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlDocumentTable table = documentTables[0];
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlDocumentTableRow templateRow = table[1];
    System.Drawing.Color[] colors = new System.Drawing.Color[] { System.Drawing.Color.Red, System.Drawing.Color.Green, 
        System.Drawing.Color.Blue, System.Drawing.Color.Orange, System.Drawing.Color.Yellow };
    for (int i = 0; i < colors.Length; i++)
    {
        // insert copy of template row before template row
        Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlDocumentTableRow rowCopy = 
            (Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlDocumentTableRow)templateRow.InsertCopyBeforeSelf();

        // set row data
        rowCopy[0].Text = string.Format("Copy {0} ({1})", i, colors[i]);
        rowCopy["[cell1]"] = string.Format("cell data {0}", i);

        // set cell colors
        rowCopy[1].SetFillColor(colors[i]);
        rowCopy[2].SetFillColor(colors[i]);

        // if color has odd index in colors array
        if ((i % 2) == 1)
        {
            // set row height to 10mm
            rowCopy.Height = Vintasoft.Imaging.Utils.UnitOfMeasureConverter.ConvertToPoints(10, Vintasoft.Imaging.UnitOfMeasure.Millimeters);
        }
    }

    // remove template row
    templateRow.Remove();


    //
    // 5. Copy table border properties from another table.
    //

    // get cell border templates
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlDocumentTable bordersTemplateTable = 
        documentTables[1];
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlDocumentTableCell boldBorderTemplate =
        bordersTemplateTable.FindCell("[bold]");
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlDocumentTableCell colorBorderTemplate = 
        bordersTemplateTable.FindCell("[color]");

    // remove border template table
    bordersTemplateTable.Remove();

    // get test table
    table = documentTables[2];

    // set borders from template cells
    table.FindRow("[bold_row]").SetBorder(boldBorderTemplate);
    table.FindCell("[bold_cell]").SetBorder(boldBorderTemplate);
    table.FindRow("[color_row]").SetBorder(colorBorderTemplate);
    table.FindCell("[color_cell]").SetBorder(colorBorderTemplate);

    // set outside border inside table
    table.SetOutsideBorder(table.FindCell("[bold_first]"), table.FindCell("[bold_last]"), boldBorderTemplate);

    //
    // 6. Set hyperlink in text.
    //
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextContent hyperlinkTextContent = documentBody.FindText("VintaSoft Web Site");
    documentEditor.SetHyperlink(hyperlinkTextContent, "https://www.vintasoft.com");
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties hyperlinkTextProperties = 
        new Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties();
    hyperlinkTextProperties.IsUnderline = true;
    hyperlinkTextProperties.Color = System.Drawing.Color.Blue;
    hyperlinkTextContent.SetTextProperties(hyperlinkTextProperties);

    //
    // 7. Change and delete image.
    //

    // find image after text "image must be inverted:"
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlDocumentImage imageElement =
        documentBody.FindText("image must be inverted:").FindAfter<Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlDocumentImage>();
    // gets as VintasoftImage from image element
    using (Vintasoft.Imaging.VintasoftImage image = imageElement.GetImage())
    {
        // invert image
        Vintasoft.Imaging.ImageProcessing.Color.InvertCommand invert = 
            new Vintasoft.Imaging.ImageProcessing.Color.InvertCommand();
        invert.ExecuteInPlace(image);

        // set image of image element as new resource
        imageElement.SetImage(image, true);
    }

    // remove image that is located after "image must be deleted:" text
    documentBody.FindText("image must be deleted:").FindAfter<Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlDocumentImage>().Remove();
}

// Creates the color text properties
private static Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties CreateColorTextProperties(System.Drawing.Color color)
{
    Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties result = 
        new Vintasoft.Imaging.Office.OpenXml.Editor.OpenXmlTextProperties();
    result.Color = color;
    return result;
}