DocX v1.0.0.8 released

DocX version 1.0.0.8 is now available for download from here. So what's new in this version? Why should you download it?

The biggest addition to this version of DocX is a better method of building highly formatted Paragraphs. This new method is a fluent interface and it was proposed by one of DocX's users Morten Bjerre. So what is a fluent interface? This Wikipedia article explains fluent interfaces quite well.

Here is an example of how this new addition to DocX makes building highly formatted Paragraphs easier and more intuitive. Lets say that we want to create a document that looks like this.

This can now be accomplished with the below code.

// Create a document.
using (DocX document = DocX.Create(@"Test.docx"))
{
 // Insert a new Paragraphs.
 Paragraph p = document.InsertParagraph();

 p.Append("I am ").Append("bold").Bold()
 .Append(" and I am ")
 .Append("italic").Italic().Append(".")
 .AppendLine("I am ")
 .Append("Arial Black")
 .Font(new FontFamily("Arial Black"))
 .Append(" and I am not.")
 .AppendLine("I am ")
 .Append("BLUE").Color(Color.Blue)
 .Append(" and I am")
 .Append("Red").Color(Color.Red).Append(".");

 // Save this document.
 document.Save();
}// Release this document from memory.

This version of DocX also contains three new features that were added by a user Joel Folkerts. Joel is the first user to post working and tested code for inclusion in DocX. These new features are listed below.

1. Row.Height property
2. Cell.Width property
3. Row.MergeCells

Row.Height and Cell.Width are self explanatory but here is an example of using Row.MergeCells. Lets say we have the following Table.

We can merge the cells {1-3} and the cells {6-8} on row 1 to get the following table.This can now be accomplished in DocX with the following code.

// Load a document.
using (DocX document = DocX.Load(@"Test.docx"))
{
 // Grab the first Table.
 Table t = document.Tables[0];

 // Grab the first Row of this Table.
 Row r = t.Rows[1];

 // Merge the cells 1-3 into one new cell.
 r.MergeCells(1, 3);

 // Merge the cells 4-6
 r.MergeCells(4, 6);

 // Save all changes made to this document.
 document.Save();
}// Release this document from memory.

I have also added a new feature that was requested by a user Mathetes. This new feature allows TextReplace() to take a Formatting object as an extra parameter and it then only returns text that matches both the input string and that format. Another new extra parameter for this function is  a new Formatting object to be applied to the inserted text.

// Load a document.
using (DocX document = DocX.Load(@"Test.docx"))
{
 // The formatting to match.
 Formatting matchFormatting = new Formatting();
 matchFormatting.Size = 10;
 matchFormatting.Italic = true;
 matchFormatting.FontFamily =
 new FontFamily("Times New Roman");

 // The new formatting to apply.
    Formatting newFormatting = new Formatting();
 newFormatting.Size = 22;
 newFormatting.UnderlineStyle =
 UnderlineStyle.dotted;
 newFormatting.Bold = true;

 // Iterate through the paragraphs
 foreach (Paragraph p in document.Paragraphs)
 {
      p.ReplaceText
      (
          "wrong", "right", false,
          RegexOptions.IgnoreCase,
          newFormatting, matchFormatting,
          MatchFormattingOptions.SubsetMatch
       );
 }

 // Save all changes made to this document.
 document.Save();
}// Release this document from memory.

I want to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to Morten Bjerre, Joel Folkerts and Mathetes. You have all enhanced DocX greatly with the features that you have added to this version.

If anyone out there reading this wants to suggest a new feature, please send it my way. I will try my best to include it in a future version for DocX.

happy coding,
Cathal

DocX v1.0.0.7 released

I have just uploaded DocX version 1.0.0.7 to docx.codeplex.com. This version comes with an extra optional download “Advance – Invoice Example.zip”.

“Advance – Invoice Example.zip” is a zipped Visual Studio 2008 solution that I created to demonstrate how far DocX has evolved since version 1.0.0.1. The first time that you run InvoiceExample.exe it will check for the existence of a document called “InvoiceTemplate.docx”, because this is the first execution this document will not exist, so it is created.

Figure 1.0 - InvoiceTemplate.docx created by first run of InvoiceExample.exe

It is important to note that everything you see in the above screenshot was created by DocX. If you now run InvoiceExample.exe again the document “InvoiceTemplate.docx” is found and it is now used to create an invoice for a factitious company called “The Happy Builder”.

Figure 1.1 - Invoice_The_Happy_Builder.docx created by second run of InvoiceExample.exe

As you can see DocX has loaded the document “InvoiceTemplate.docx” into memory and customized it. This was done by setting custom property values, inserting an image, creating a picture from this image, and replacing a Table with a new Table that contains data from a data source.

This example is intended for an experienced user of DocX. A first time user may find this solution overwhelming. Over the next few days, I am going to create a video tutorial called "Getting started with DocX". This video will be targeted at the first time user of DocX.

I hope that from this example you can see how quickly Docx is growing and also how useful it is becoming. As always if you would like to report a bug, request a feature or even just say hi, please email me at coffey.cathal@gmail.com.

happy coding,
Cathal

DocX is completely free, but if you have found it useful and you would like to make a donation you can do so via paypal.

DocX version 1.0.0.6 released

Hi again, sorry it has been so long since my last post. My progress in the physical world has slowed my progress in the digital.

This newest version of DocX brings many bug fixes and also two new features. Firstly, I would like to thank the following people for taking the time to email me with bugs and feature requests. Without your interest and feedback, DocX would not progress.

Many thanks to: John Marsh, Francesco, Johan Laagland, Gaspar, Brian (chicken), Jianbang, Christopher W. Steelman, Peter Thompson, Brian Minert.

New features

1) InsertDocProperty(CustomProperty cp)

CustomProperties are displayed in a document using fields of type DocProperty. Until this version, DocX was capable of adding a CustomProperty to a document, but it was not capable of displaying these CustomProperties. As of DocX version 1.0.0.6, this is now possible, below is an example.

// Load a document
using (DocX document = DocX.Create(@"Test.docx"))
{
   // Create a custom property.
   CustomProperty name = new CustomProperty("name", "Cathal Coffey");

   // Add this custom property to this document.
   document.AddCustomProperty(name);

   // Insert a new paragraph.
    Paragraph p = document.InsertParagraph("Author: ", false);

   // Insert a field of type document property to display the custom property name
   p.InsertDocProperty(name);

   // Save all changes made to this document.
   document.Save();
}// Release this document from memory.

The above code example will create the following document. Please note that the text 'Cathal Coffey'
is being displayed by a field, this field's value is controlled by the CustomProperty 'name'.

2) FindAll(string str)

This version of DocX allows you to search a document for a string. The function
FindAll(string str) returns a list containing all of the start indexes of the found string.
Below is an example of this new function.

// Load a document
using (DocX document = DocX.Load(@"Test.docx"))
{
  // Loop through the paragraphs in this document.
  foreach (Paragraph p in document.Paragraphs)
  {
      // Find all instances of 'go' in this paragraph.
      List<int> gos = document.FindAll("go");

      /*
       * Insert 'don't' in front of every instance of 'go' in this document to produce         * 'don't go'. An important trick here is to do the inserting in reverse document         * order. If you inserted in document order, every insert would shift the index         * of the remaining matches.
       */
      gos.Reverse();
      foreach (int index in gos)
      {
         p.InsertText(index, "don't ", true);
      }
  }

  // Save all changes made to this document.
  document.Save();
}// Release this document from memory.

If the above code is run on this document (Drawing in red is to illustrate the index's of each instance of 'go').

Then the following document is produced.

As you can see, 'don't' was inserted at the original index of each instance of 'go'.

DocX is completely free, but if you have found it useful and you would like to make a donation you can do so via paypal.

As always, please contact me if you find any bugs, have any feature requests or just want to provide feedback.

happy coding,
Cathal