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}

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

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.

Answer 3

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);

Answer 4

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');

Answer 5

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}", "[email protected]", $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();
    }