docx

What this skill does

# DOCX creation, editing, and analysis

## Overview

A user may ask you to create, edit, or analyse 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.

## Workflow Decision Tree

### Reading/Analysing 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)

## Reading and analysing content

### 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 <office_file> <output_directory>`

#### 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 `<w:ins>` (insertions) and `<w:del>` (deletions) tags

## Creating a new Word document

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()

## Editing an existing Word document

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 <office_file> <output_directory>`
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 <input_directory> <office_file>`

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

## Redlining workflow for document review

Use this workflow when editing someone else's document or any formal/professional document. It implements tracked changes (redlining) so the document owner can review and accept/reject each change.

**Key principles**: Group changes into batches of 3-10. Only mark text that actually changes - never replace entire sentences when only a word changes. Preserve original run RSIDs for unchanged text.

**MANDATORY**: Before starting, read the full workflow in [`references/redlining-workflow.md`](references/redlining-workflow.md) for the complete step-by-step process, batching strategies, minimal edit principles with examples, and verification steps.

**Quick summary of steps**: Convert to markdown, identify and group changes, read ooxml.md, unpack document, implement changes in batches using the Document library, pack the result, and verify all changes.

## Converting Documents to Images

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

1. **Convert DOCX to PDF**:
   ```bash
   soffice --headless --convert-to pdf document.docx
   ```

2. **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
```

## Code Style Guidelines

**IMPORTANT**: When generating code for DOCX operations:
- Write concise code
- Avoid verbose variable names and redundant operations
- Avoid unnecessary print statements

## Dependencies

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)