Go DOCX Text Processor

A powerful Go library for extracting and manipulating text in Microsoft Word (DOCX) files, with zero external dependencies. Transform your documents using Go templates or custom replacers while maintaining document structure.

✨ Features

• Text extraction from DOCX files
• Text modification using Go templates or custom replacers
• Support for:
  • Main document body
  • Headers and footers
  • Tables and cells
  • Bullet points and numbered lists
• Zero external dependencies
• Efficient (single pass processing)
• OOXML standard compliant
• MIT License

🚀 Installation

go get github.com/xavier268/mydocx

📖 Quick Start

Text Extraction

import "github.com/xavier268/mydocx"

func main() {
    // Extract text from all document parts (main body, headers, footers)
    content, err := mydocx.ExtractText("document.docx")
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }

    // content is a map[string][]string where:
    // - key is the container name (e.g., "word/document.xml", "word/footer1.xml")
    // - value is a slice of strings, one for each paragraph
    for container, paragraphs := range content {
        fmt.Printf("Content from %s:\n", container)
        for _, para := range paragraphs {
            fmt.Println(para)
        }
    }
}

Using Go Templates

import "github.com/xavier268/mydocx"

func main() {
    // Define template data
    data := struct {
        Name    string
        Company string
        Date    string
    }{
        Name:    "John Doe",
        Company: "ACME Corp",
        Date:    time.Now().Format("2006-01-02"),
    }

    // Create a template-based replacer
    replacer := mydocx.NewTplReplacer(data)

    // Modify the document
    err := mydocx.ModifyText("template.docx", replacer, "output.docx")
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
}

Custom Replacer

// Define your custom replacer
func myReplacer(container, text string) []string {
    // container: "word/document.xml", "word/footer1.xml", etc.
    // text: original paragraph text
    // Return:
    // - empty slice to remove the paragraph
    // - slice with multiple strings to create multiple paragraphs
    // - slice with one string to replace paragraph content
    
    switch {
    case strings.Contains(text, "DELETE"):
        return []string{} // Remove paragraph
    case strings.Contains(text, "DUPLICATE"):
        return []string{text, text} // Duplicate paragraph
    default:
        return []string{strings.ToUpper(text)} // Convert to uppercase
    }
}

// Use your replacer
err := mydocx.ModifyText("input.docx", myReplacer, "output.docx")

🔧 Advanced Features

Template Functions

Built-in Functions

All go template functions are available. In addition, the following built-in functions are always available :

• {{nl}} - Inserts a new paragraph
• {{version}} - Returns version information
• {{copyright}} - Returns copyright text
• {{date}}- Returns the current date, as 2006-02-10
• {{join}} - Expects an array of strings and a delimiter string, returns a single concatenated string with the delimiter (see go function strings.Join)
• {{keepEmpty}} - From this point, will never remove a paragraph that becomes empty after modification.
• {{removeEmpty}}- From this point, non empty paragraphs that become empty after Replacer is applied are removed. This is the default.

Register Custom Functions

// Register a custom function
mydocx.RegisterTplFunction("upper", strings.ToUpper)

// Use in template
// {{upper .Name}}

Template Guidelines

1. Each paragraph is an independent template

2. Templates cannot span across paragraphs

3. Valid example:

   Hello {{.Name}}!
   Your order #{{.OrderID}} has been processed.
   

4. Invalid example:

   Hello {{if .Premium}}
   Premium customer {{.Name}}!
   {{else}}
   Valued customer {{.Name}}!
   {{end}}
   

🔄 Paragraph Management

With Custom Replacer

The Replacer function controls paragraph creation and removal through its return value:

type Replacer func(container string, text string) []string

1. Remove Paragraph

   // Return empty slice to remove the paragraph (unless {{keepEmpty}} was called earlier)
   func myReplacer(container, text string) []string {
       if strings.Contains(text, "DELETE") {
           return []string{} // Paragraph will be removed
       }
       return []string{text}
   }

2. Create Multiple Paragraphs

   // Return multiple strings to create multiple paragraphs
   func myReplacer(container, text string) []string {
       if strings.Contains(text, "DUPLICATE") {
           // Creates three identical paragraphs with the same formatting
           return []string{text, text, text}
       }
       return []string{text}
   }

Each new paragraph inherits the formatting of the original paragraph.

With Go Templates

When using the template-based replacer (NewTplReplacer), paragraph management is controlled by newlines in the template output:

1. Remove Paragraph

   {{if .ShouldDelete}}{{else}}Original content{{end}}
   

   If .ShouldDelete is true, the empty output will remove the paragraph (unless {{keepEmpty}} was called before).

2. Create Multiple Paragraphs

   {{.Title}}
   Items:
   {{range .Items}} - {{.}}{{nl}}{{end}}
   Contact: {{.Contact}}
   

The {{nl}} function inserts a newline, and the template output is split on newlines to create new paragraphs. Each resulting paragraph inherits the formatting of the original paragraph. Notice how {{range}} ... {{end}} fits within a single source paragraph but will create multiple paragraphs !

Paragraph Creation Rules

1. Initially empty paragraphs

   • Initially empty paragraphs are always left unchanged

2. Empty Result

   • If the Replacer returns an empty slice → paragraph is removed
   • If a template produces empty output → paragraph is removed
     Note : this is the default, it can be changed with {{keepEmpty}}

3. Multiple Paragraphs

   • Custom Replacer: Each string in the returned slice becomes a new paragraph
   • Template: Output is split on newlines (\n), each line becomes a new paragraph
   • All new paragraphs inherit formatting from the original paragraph

4. Examples with Templates

   // Template in document
   Dear {{.Name}},
   {{if .Premium}}Thank you for being a premium member!{{end}}
   Your balance is ${{.Balance}}.
   

   This template could produce:

   Dear John Doe,
   Thank you for being a premium member!
   Your balance is $100.
   

   Or (if not premium):

   Dear John Doe,
   Your balance is $100.
   

⚙️ Technical Details

Word Run Management

Microsoft Word splits text into "runs" - segments sharing the same formatting. This creates challenges for text replacement:

Example: "Hello {{.Name}}!" might be split into:
Run 1: "Hello "
Run 2: "{{.Name"
Run 3: "}}!"

Our solution:

1. Consolidates all runs in a paragraph into the first run
2. Processes the complete text with a Replacer
3. Creates new paragraphs for each line in the result

⚠️ Important: Due to this approach, the entire paragraph will inherit the formatting from its beginning.

Tables and Lists

• Tables and lists are fully supported
• Each cell must contain at least one paragraph (even if empty)
• Word will show an error when opening files with empty cells but can recover

🚨 Limitations

1. Formatting

   • Paragraph formatting is unified based on the first run
   • In-paragraph formatting variations are lost

2. Template Boundaries

   • Templates must be contained within a single paragraph
   • Cross-paragraph templates are not supported

3. Table Cells

   • Avoid creating completely empty cells
   • Always include at least one (empty) paragraph in cells

📚 Resources

• Go Template Documentation
• Example Files
• API Documentation

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

📝 License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details