DOCX Processing Skill

Overview

This skill enables comprehensive Word document operations through multiple specialized workflows for reading, creating, and editing documents.

Core Capabilities

• Reading & Analysis: Extract text via pandoc or access raw XML for comments, formatting, and metadata
• Document Creation: Use python-docx to build new documents from scratch
• Document Editing: Employ OOXML manipulation for complex modifications
• Tracked Changes: Implement redlining workflow for professional document editing

Reading Documents

Extract Text with Pandoc

pandoc document.docx -t plain -o output.txt
pandoc document.docx -t markdown -o output.md

Python Text Extraction

from docx import Document

doc = Document("document.docx")
for para in doc.paragraphs:
    print(para.text)

Extract Tables

from docx import Document

doc = Document("document.docx")
for table in doc.tables:
    for row in table.rows:
        for cell in row.cells:
            print(cell.text, end="\t")
        print()

Creating Documents

Basic Document Creation

from docx import Document
from docx.shared import Pt, Inches

doc = Document()

# Add heading
doc.add_heading("Document Title", level=0)

# Add paragraph with formatting
para = doc.add_paragraph()
run = para.add_run("Bold text")
run.bold = True

para.add_run(" and ")
run = para.add_run("italic text")
run.italic = True

# Add styled paragraph
doc.add_paragraph("Normal paragraph text.")

doc.save("output.docx")

Add Tables

from docx import Document
from docx.shared import Inches

doc = Document()

table = doc.add_table(rows=3, cols=3)
table.style = 'Table Grid'

# Fill cells
for i, row in enumerate(table.rows):
    for j, cell in enumerate(row.cells):
        cell.text = f"Row {i+1}, Col {j+1}"

doc.save("output.docx")

Add Images

from docx import Document
from docx.shared import Inches

doc = Document()
doc.add_heading("Document with Image", level=0)
doc.add_picture("image.png", width=Inches(4))
doc.add_paragraph("Caption for the image.")

doc.save("output.docx")

Advanced Formatting

from docx import Document
from docx.shared import Pt, RGBColor
from docx.enum.text import WD_ALIGN_PARAGRAPH

doc = Document()

# Custom heading
heading = doc.add_heading(level=1)
run = heading.add_run("Custom Styled Heading")
run.font.size = Pt(24)
run.font.color.rgb = RGBColor(0x2E, 0x74, 0xB5)

# Centered paragraph
para = doc.add_paragraph("Centered text")
para.alignment = WD_ALIGN_PARAGRAPH.CENTER

# Bulleted list
doc.add_paragraph("First item", style='List Bullet')
doc.add_paragraph("Second item", style='List Bullet')
doc.add_paragraph("Third item", style='List Bullet')

doc.save("output.docx")

Editing Documents

Modify Existing Document

from docx import Document

doc = Document("existing.docx")

# Replace text in paragraphs
for para in doc.paragraphs:
    if "old text" in para.text:
        for run in para.runs:
            run.text = run.text.replace("old text", "new text")

doc.save("modified.docx")

Add Content to Existing Document

from docx import Document

doc = Document("existing.docx")

# Add new paragraph at end
doc.add_paragraph("New paragraph added.")

# Add new section
doc.add_page_break()
doc.add_heading("New Section", level=1)
doc.add_paragraph("Content for new section.")

doc.save("modified.docx")

Redlining Workflow

For legal, academic, or government documents requiring tracked changes:

Step 1: Convert to Markdown

pandoc document.docx -t markdown -o document.md

Step 2: Plan Changes

Document the specific changes needed before implementation.

Step 3: Apply Changes in Batches

Apply 3-10 related modifications at a time, preserving formatting.

Step 4: Validate Changes

Ensure original formatting and unchanged content are preserved.

Key Principle

When modifying text like "30 days" to "60 days", only mark the changed portion while preserving unchanged runs with their original RSID attributes.

Extract Metadata

from docx import Document

doc = Document("document.docx")
props = doc.core_properties

print(f"Title: {props.title}")
print(f"Author: {props.author}")
print(f"Created: {props.created}")
print(f"Modified: {props.modified}")
print(f"Last Modified By: {props.last_modified_by}")

Working with Headers/Footers

from docx import Document

doc = Document()

# Add header
section = doc.sections[0]
header = section.header
header_para = header.paragraphs[0]
header_para.text = "Document Header"

# Add footer
footer = section.footer
footer_para = footer.paragraphs[0]
footer_para.text = "Page Footer"

doc.save("with_header_footer.docx")

Dependencies

pip install python-docx

System tools:

• Pandoc (for format conversion)
• LibreOffice (for PDF conversion)

Version History

• 1.0.0 (2024-10-15): Initial release with python-docx, pandoc integration, redlining workflow