docx

A user may ask you to create, edit, or analyze the contents of a .docx file. A .docx file is essentially a ZIP archive containing XML files and other resources that you can read or edit. You have different tools and workflows available for different tasks.

Reading/Analyzing Content

Use "Text extraction" or "Raw XML access" sections below

Creating New Document

Use "Creating a new Word document" workflow

Editing Existing Document

• Your own document + simple changes

Use "Basic OOXML editing" workflow

• Someone else's document

Use "Redlining workflow" (recommended default)

• Legal, academic, business, or government docs

Use "Redlining workflow" (required)

Text extraction

If you just need to read the text contents of a document, you should convert the document to markdown using pandoc. Pandoc provides excellent support for preserving document structure and can show tracked changes:

```bash

# Convert document to markdown with tracked changes

pandoc --track-changes=all path-to-file.docx -o output.md

# Options: --track-changes=accept/reject/all

```

Raw XML access

You need raw XML access for: comments, complex formatting, document structure, embedded media, and metadata. For any of these features, you'll need to unpack a document and read its raw XML contents.

#### Unpacking a file

python ooxml/scripts/unpack.py

#### Key file structures

• word/document.xml - Main document contents
• word/comments.xml - Comments referenced in document.xml
• word/media/ - Embedded images and media files
• Tracked changes use (insertions) and (deletions) tags

When creating a new Word document from scratch, use docx-js, which allows you to create Word documents using JavaScript/TypeScript.

Workflow

1. MANDATORY - READ ENTIRE FILE: Read [docx-js.md](docx-js.md) (~500 lines) completely from start to finish. NEVER set any range limits when reading this file. Read the full file content for detailed syntax, critical formatting rules, and best practices before proceeding with document creation.
2. Create a JavaScript/TypeScript file using Document, Paragraph, TextRun components (You can assume all dependencies are installed, but if not, refer to the dependencies section below)
3. Export as .docx using Packer.toBuffer()

When editing an existing Word document, use the Document library (a Python library for OOXML manipulation). The library automatically handles infrastructure setup and provides methods for document manipulation. For complex scenarios, you can access the underlying DOM directly through the library.

Workflow

1. MANDATORY - READ ENTIRE FILE: Read [ooxml.md](ooxml.md) (~600 lines) completely from start to finish. NEVER set any range limits when reading this file. Read the full file content for the Document library API and XML patterns for directly editing document files.
2. Unpack the document: python ooxml/scripts/unpack.py
3. Create and run a Python script using the Document library (see "Document Library" section in ooxml.md)
4. Pack the final document: python ooxml/scripts/pack.py

The Document library provides both high-level methods for common operations and direct DOM access for complex scenarios.

This workflow allows you to plan comprehensive tracked changes using markdown before implementing them in OOXML. CRITICAL: For complete tracked changes, you must implement ALL changes systematically.

Batching Strategy: Group related changes into batches of 3-10 changes. This makes debugging manageable while maintaining efficiency. Test each batch before moving to the next.

Principle: Minimal, Precise Edits

When implementing tracked changes, only mark text that actually changes. Repeating unchanged text makes edits harder to review and appears unprofessional. Break replacements into: [unchanged text] + [deletion] + [insertion] + [unchanged text]. Preserve the original run's RSID for unchanged text by extracting the element from the original and reusing it.

Example - Changing "30 days" to "60 days" in a sentence:

```python

# BAD - Replaces entire sentence

'The term is 30 days.The term is 60 days.'

# GOOD - Only marks what changed, preserves original for unchanged text

'The term is 3060 days.'

```

Tracked changes workflow

1. Get markdown representation: Convert document to markdown with tracked changes preserved:

```bash

pandoc --track-changes=all path-to-file.docx -o current.md

```

1. Identify and group changes: Review the document and identify ALL changes needed, organizing them into logical batches:

Location methods (for finding changes in XML):

- Section/heading numbers (e.g., "Section 3.2", "Article IV")

- Paragraph identifiers if numbered

- Grep patterns with unique surrounding text

- Document structure (e.g., "first paragraph", "signature block")

- DO NOT use markdown line numbers - they don't map to XML structure

Batch organization (group 3-10 related changes per batch):

- By section: "Batch 1: Section 2 amendments", "Batch 2: Section 5 updates"

- By type: "Batch 1: Date corrections", "Batch 2: Party name changes"

- By complexity: Start with simple text replacements, then tackle complex structural changes

- Sequential: "Batch 1: Pages 1-3", "Batch 2: Pages 4-6"

1. Read documentation and unpack:

- MANDATORY - READ ENTIRE FILE: Read [ooxml.md](ooxml.md) (~600 lines) completely from start to finish. NEVER set any range limits when reading this file. Pay special attention to the "Document Library" and "Tracked Change Patterns" sections.

- Unpack the document: python ooxml/scripts/unpack.py

To visually analyze Word documents, convert them to images using a two-step process:

1. Convert DOCX to PDF:

```bash

soffice --headless --convert-to pdf document.docx

```

1. Convert PDF pages to JPEG images:

```bash

pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 document.pdf page

```

This creates files like page-1.jpg, page-2.jpg, etc.

Options:

• -r 150: Sets resolution to 150 DPI (adjust for quality/size balance)
• -jpeg: Output JPEG format (use -png for PNG if preferred)
• -f N: First page to convert (e.g., -f 2 starts from page 2)
• -l N: Last page to convert (e.g., -l 5 stops at page 5)
• page: Prefix for output files

Example for specific range:

```bash

pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 -f 2 -l 5 document.pdf page # Converts only pages 2-5

```

IMPORTANT: When generating code for DOCX operations:

• Write concise code
• Avoid verbose variable names and redundant operations
• Avoid unnecessary print statements

Required dependencies (install if not available):

• pandoc: sudo apt-get install pandoc (for text extraction)
• docx: npm install -g docx (for creating new documents)
• LibreOffice: sudo apt-get install libreoffice (for PDF conversion)
• Poppler: sudo apt-get install poppler-utils (for pdftoppm to convert PDF to images)
• defusedxml: pip install defusedxml (for secure XML parsing)