Frequently asked questions about Word document

13 Jun 202410 minutes to read

The frequently asked questions about Word document manipulation using DocIO are listed below.

How to open a document from stream using DocIO?

A document can be opened as stream by using HttpWebResponse. This stream does not support seek operation and so the contents should be read manually to get the position and length of the stream. The following code illustrates how to load the document from stream.

//Gets the document as stream
HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create("https://www.swiftview.com/tech/letterlegal5.doc");
HttpWebResponse response = (HttpWebResponse)request.GetResponse();
Stream stream = response.GetResponseStream();
//Converts it to byte array
byte[] buffer = ReadFully(stream, 32768);
//Stores bytes into the memory stream.
MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream();
ms.Write(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
ms.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
stream.Close();
//Creates a new document.
WordDocument document = new WordDocument();
//Opens the template document from the MemoryStream.
document.Open(ms, FormatType.Doc);
//Saves and closes the document
document.Save("Sample.docx", FormatType.Docx);
document.Close();
'Gets the document as stream
Dim request As HttpWebRequest = DirectCast(WebRequest.Create("https://www.swiftview.com/tech/letterlegal5.doc"), HttpWebRequest)
Dim response As HttpWebResponse = DirectCast(request.GetResponse(), HttpWebResponse)
Dim stream As Stream = response.GetResponseStream()
'Converts it to byte array
Dim buffer As Byte() = ReadFully(stream, 32768)
'Stores bytes into the memory stream.
Dim ms As New MemoryStream()
ms.Write(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)
ms.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin)
stream.Close()
'Creates a new document.
Dim document As New WordDocument ()
'Opens the template document from the MemoryStream.
document.Open(ms, FormatType.Doc)
'Saves and closes the document
document.Save("Sample.docx", FormatType.Docx)
document.Close()

The following code illustrates the method used to read the stream and convert the stream to bytes.

public static byte[] ReadFully(Stream stream, int initialLength)
{
    //When an unhelpful initial length has been passed, just use 32K.
    if (initialLength < 1)
        initialLength = 32768;
    byte[] buffer = new byte[initialLength];
    int read = 0;
    int chunk;
    while ((chunk = stream.Read(buffer, read, buffer.Length - read)) > 0)
    {
        read += chunk;
        //After reaching the end of the buffer, check and see whether you can find any information.
        if (read == buffer.Length)
        {
            int nextByte = stream.ReadByte();
            //End of stream? Then, you are done.
            if (nextByte == -1)            
                return buffer;
            //Resize the buffer, put in the byte you have just read, and continue.
            byte[] newBuffer = new byte[buffer.Length * 2];
            Array.Copy(buffer, newBuffer, buffer.Length);
            newBuffer[read] = (byte)nextByte;
            buffer = newBuffer;
            read++;
        }
    }
    //Buffer is now too big. Shrink it.
    byte[] ret = new byte[read];
    Array.Copy(buffer, ret, read);
    return ret;
}
Public Shared Function ReadFully(stream As Stream, initialLength As Integer) As Byte()
    'When an unhelpful initial length has been passed, just use 32K.
    If initialLength < 1 Then initialLength = 32768
    Dim buffer As Byte() = New Byte(initialLength - 1) {}
    Dim read As Integer = 0
    Dim chunk As Integer
    chunk = stream.Read(buffer, read, buffer.Length - read)
    While (chunk > 0)
        read += chunk
        'After reaching the end of the buffer, check and see whether you can find any information.
        If read = buffer.Length Then 
            Dim nextByte As Integer = stream.ReadByte()
            'End of stream? Then, you are done.
            If nextByte = -1 Then Return buffer
            'Resize the buffer, put in the byte you have just read, and continue.
            Dim newBuffer As Byte() = New Byte(buffer.Length * 2 - 1) {}
            Array.Copy(buffer, newBuffer, buffer.Length)
            newBuffer(read) = CByte(nextByte)
            buffer = newBuffer
            read += 1
        End If
    End While
    'Buffer is now too big. Shrink it.
    Dim ret As Byte() = New Byte(read - 1) {}
    Array.Copy(buffer, ret, read)
    Return ret
End Function

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

How to attach a Template to a Word document?

The following code illustrates how to set the template for the document.

//Loads a source document
WordDocument document = new WordDocument("Template.docx"); 
//Attaches the template document to the source document
document.AttachedTemplate.Path = @"D:/Data/Template.docx";
//Updates the styles of the document from the attached template each time the document is opened
document.UpdateStylesOnOpen = true;
//Saves and closes the document
document.Save("Sample.docx", FormatType.Docx);
document.Close();
'Loads a source document
Dim document As New WordDocument("Template.docx")
'Attaches the template document to the source document
document.AttachedTemplate.Path = "D:/Data/Template.docx"
'Updates the styles of the document from the attached template each time the document is opened
document.UpdateStylesOnOpen = True
'Saves and closes the document
document.Save("Sample.docx", FormatType.Docx)
document.Close()

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

How to check the compatibility mode of the Word document?

The CompatibilityMode of a Word document can also be determined. The following code example illustrates how to check the compatibility mode of the Word document.

//Load an existing Word document.
using (WordDocument document = new WordDocument("Input.docx", FormatType.Docx))
{
    //Get the compatibility mode.
    CompatibilityMode compatibilityMode = document.Settings.CompatibilityMode;
    Console.WriteLine(compatibilityMode);
    //Save a Word document.
    document.Save("Sample.docx", FormatType.Docx);
}
'Load an existing Word document.
Using document As WordDocument = New WordDocument("Input.docx", FormatType.Docx)
    'Get the compatibility mode.
    CompatibilityMode compatibilityMode = document.Settings.CompatibilityMode
    Console.WriteLine(compatibilityMode)
    'Save a Word document.
    document.Save("Sample.docx", FormatType.Docx)
End Using

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

Which units does Essential DocIO uses for measurement properties such as size, margins, etc, in a Word document?

Essential DocIO library uses Points for measurement properties in a Word document.