Using R to Automate Filename Retrieval in a Microsoft Word Table

Question

I have a large table within a Microsoft Word document.

The majority of rows, but not all, have a single Microsoft Word file attached.

My job is to go into each row and manually type in the file name where an attachment is provided.

Is there any way to automate this task using an R package? For example, for each row that has a file attachment, automatically pull the filename and record it in the field directly to its left?

This is what the table looks like. The files are in the most right column. The column to its left is where I am going to be typing the filenames.

I've tried importing the docx file using the docxtractr package, but it is not reading in the filenames properly. Instead, it is replacing them with \s.

ievs_raw <- read_docx("ievs-raw.docx")

tbls <- docx_extract_all_tbls(real_world)

view(as.data.frame.list(tbls))

Produces the following output with \s where there should be filenames like CAP_ATT_H.11.114.docx etc.:

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 27 '20 at 13:33

I wasn't able to figure this out using an R package, but the kind people at the Microsoft Community Forum helped out by providing a super useful Visual Basic Macro. What's great about this is it can accommodate cases where there is more than 1 attachment in a particular row.

Sub ObjectNames()
    Dim ILS As InlineShape
    Dim nObj As Long
    Dim strName As String
    Dim col As Long
    Dim row As Long
    
    With ActiveDocument.Tables(1)
        col = .Columns.Count
        For row = 1 To .Rows.Count
            strName = ""
            
            # loop through all shapes in this row's last cell
            # (if there are none, the loop does nothing)
            For nObj = 1 To .Cell(row, col).Range.InlineShapes.Count
                Set ILS = .Cell(row, col).Range.InlineShapes(nObj)
                If Not ILS.OLEFormat Is Nothing Then
                    # build up a string with as many names as
                    # there are embedded objects, separated by
                    # paragraph marks (vbCr)
                    If nObj > 1 Then strName = strName & vbCr
                    strName = strName & ILS.OLEFormat.IconLabel
                End If
            Next nObj
            
            If Len(strName) > 0 Then
                .Cell(row, col - 1).Range.Text = strName
            End If
        Next row
    End With
End Sub

Using R to Automate Filename Retrieval in a Microsoft Word Table

1 Answers1