Read and replace contents in .docx (Word) file

Question

I need to replace content in some word documents based on User input. I am trying to read a template file (e.g. "template.docx"), and replace First name {fname}, Address {address} etc.

template.docx:

To,
The Office,
{officeaddress}
Sub:  Authorization Letter
Sir / Madam,

I/We hereby authorize  to  {Ename}  whose signature is attested here below, to submit application and collect Residential permit for {name}  
Kindly allow him to support our International assignee

{name}                                          {Ename}

Is there a way to do the same in Laravel 5.3?

I am trying to do with phpword, but I can only see code to write new word files - but not read and replace existing ones. Also, when I simply read and write, the formatting is messed up.

Code:

$file = public_path('template.docx');
$phpWord = \PhpOffice\PhpWord\IOFactory::load($file);

$phpWord->save('b.docx');

b.docx

To,
The Office,
{officeaddress}

Sub: 
 Authorization Letter
Sir / Madam,


I/We hereby authorize 
 to

{Ename}


whose signature is attested here below, to submit a
pplication and collect Residential permit
 for 
{name}

Kindly allow him to support our International assignee


{name}













{
E
name}

This package can do it: https://github.com/guiguidoc/laravel-phpword https://github.com/PHPOffice/PHPWord — Robin Dirksen, Dec 23 '16 at 06:25
here is the example for the reading from a .docx file: https://github.com/PHPOffice/PHPWord/blob/develop/samples/Sample_11_ReadWord2007.php — Raghavendra N, Dec 23 '16 at 06:27

Santosh Achari · Answer 1 · 2016-12-23T12:06:51.053

This is the working version to @addweb-solution-pvt-ltd 's answer.

//This is the main document in  Template.docx file.
$file = public_path('template.docx');

$phpword = new \PhpOffice\PhpWord\TemplateProcessor($file);

$phpword->setValue('{name}','Santosh');
$phpword->setValue('{lastname}','Achari');
$phpword->setValue('{officeAddress}','Yahoo');

$phpword->saveAs('edited.docx');

However, not all of the {name} fields are changing. Not sure why.

Alternatively:

// Creating the new document...
$zip = new \PhpOffice\PhpWord\Shared\ZipArchive();

//This is the main document in a .docx file.
$fileToModify = 'word/document.xml';

$file = public_path('template.docx');
$temp_file = storage_path('/app/'.date('Ymdhis').'.docx');
copy($template,$temp_file);

if ($zip->open($temp_file) === TRUE) {
    //Read contents into memory
    $oldContents = $zip->getFromName($fileToModify);

    echo $oldContents;

    //Modify contents:
    $newContents = str_replace('{officeaddqress}', 'Yahoo \n World', $oldContents);
    $newContents = str_replace('{name}', 'Santosh Achari', $newContents);

    //Delete the old...
    $zip->deleteName($fileToModify);
    //Write the new...
    $zip->addFromString($fileToModify, $newContents);
    //And write back to the filesystem.
    $return =$zip->close();
    If ($return==TRUE){
        echo "Success!";
    }
} else {
    echo 'failed';
}

Works well. Still trying to figure how to save it as a new file and force a download.

NOT working, showing ERROR.... `Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function public_path()` — Kamlesh, Mar 27 '23 at 05:02
May be check the version of Laravel. This was built on an older version of Laravel. — Santosh Achari, Mar 31 '23 at 10:50

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 06 '17 at 05:41

I have same task to edit .doc or .docx file in php, i have use this code for it.

Reference : http://www.onlinecode.org/update-docx-file-using-php/

    $full_path = 'template.docx';
    //Copy the Template file to the Result Directory
    copy($template_file_name, $full_path);

    // add calss Zip Archive
    $zip_val = new ZipArchive;

    //Docx file is nothing but a zip file. Open this Zip File
    if($zip_val->open($full_path) == true)
    {
        // In the Open XML Wordprocessing format content is stored.
        // In the document.xml file located in the word directory.

        $key_file_name = 'word/document.xml';
        $message = $zip_val->getFromName($key_file_name);               

        $timestamp = date('d-M-Y H:i:s');

        // this data Replace the placeholders with actual values
        $message = str_replace("{officeaddress}", "onlinecode org", $message);
        $message = str_replace("{Ename}", "ingo@onlinecode.org", $message); 
        $message = str_replace("{name}", "www.onlinecode.org", $message);   

        //Replace the content with the new content created above.
        $zip_val->addFromString($key_file_name, $message);
        $zip_val->close();
    }

AddWeb Solution Pvt Ltd · Answer 3 · 2016-12-23T10:15:05.500

2

To read and replace content from Doc file, you can use PHPWord package and download this package using composer command:

composer require phpoffice/phpword

As per version v0.12.1, you need to require the PHP Word Autoloader.php from src/PHPWord folder and register it

require_once 'src/PhpWord/Autoloader.php';
\PhpOffice\PhpWord\Autoloader::register();

1) Open document

$template = new \PhpOffice\PhpWord\TemplateProcessor('YOURDOCPATH');

2) Replace string variables for single

$template->setValue('variableName', 'MyVariableValue');

3) Replace string variables for multi occurrence
- Clone your array placeholder to the count of your array

$template->cloneRow('arrayName', count($array));

- Replace variable value

for($number = 0; $number < count($array); $number++) {
    $template->setValue('arrayName#'.($number+1), htmlspecialchars($array[$number], ENT_COMPAT, 'UTF-8'));
}

4) Save the changed document

$template->saveAs('PATHTOUPDATED.docx');

UPDATE
You can pass limit as third parameter into $template->setValue($search, $replace, $limit) to specifies how many matches should take place.

edited Dec 23 '16 at 10:15

answered Dec 23 '16 at 07:07

AddWeb Solution Pvt Ltd

21,025
5
26
57

1

setValue(), is not always working. Does formatting make a difference? Also the documentation mentions variables as in the macros. – Santosh Achari Dec 23 '16 at 11:33
the solution of AddWeb is not working at all. There is not error but the template is saved as a new document with no change at all. Instead I used @SantoshAchari solution with str_replace. Nevertheless there are still some placeholders not replaced. still checking why. – DvdEnde Sep 13 '17 at 12:18
@DvdEnde it seems it is highly dependent on the version of Microsoft Word. In my case it worked off the sample word documents in PHPWord which seems to be word 2003. – Santosh Achari Sep 14 '17 at 03:43
Solution NOT working – Kamlesh Mar 27 '23 at 04:57

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 20 '18 at 18:42

1

If you find simple solution you can use this library

Example: This code will replace $search to $replace in $pathToDocx file

$docx = new IRebega\DocxReplacer($pathToDocx);

$docx->replaceText($search, $replace);

answered Feb 20 '18 at 18:42

Igor Rebega

88
8

1

Extension is no longer supported. – Guilherme Sampaio Jun 22 '22 at 12:39

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 05 '22 at 15:13

Library phpoffice/phpword working is ok.

For correct working you must use the right symbols in your Word document, like that:

${name}
${lastname}
${officeAddress}

and for method "setValue" you need to use only names, like:

'name'
'lastname'
'officeAddress'

Very good working within Laravel, Lumen, and other frameworks

Example:

//This is the main document in  Template.docx file.
$file = public_path('template.docx');

$phpword = new \PhpOffice\PhpWord\TemplateProcessor($file);

$phpword->setValue('name','Santosh');
$phpword->setValue('lastname','Achari');
$phpword->setValue('officeAddress','Yahoo');

$phpword->saveAs('edited.docx');

Read and replace contents in .docx (Word) file

5 Answers5

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