Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

Show Gist options
  • Save adejones/a6d42984f66ea9990d78974531863bee to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Save adejones/a6d42984f66ea9990d78974531863bee to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
def docx_replace(doc, data):
paragraphs = list(doc.paragraphs)
for t in doc.tables:
for row in t.rows:
for cell in row.cells:
for paragraph in cell.paragraphs:
paragraphs.append(paragraph)
for p in paragraphs:
for key, val in data.items():
key_name = '${{{}}}'.format(key) # use placeholders in the form ${PlaceholderName}
if key_name in p.text:
inline = p.runs
# Replace strings and retain the same style.
# The text to be replaced can be split over several runs so
# search through, identify which runs need to have text replaced
# then replace the text in those identified
started = False
key_index = 0
# found_runs is a list of (inline index, index of match, length of match)
found_runs = list()
found_all = False
replace_done = False
for i in range(len(inline)):
# case 1: found in single run so short circuit the replace
if key_name in inline[i].text and not started:
found_runs.append((i, inline[i].text.find(key_name), len(key_name)))
text = inline[i].text.replace(key_name, str(val))
inline[i].text = text
replace_done = True
found_all = True
break
if key_name[key_index] not in inline[i].text and not started:
# keep looking ...
continue
# case 2: search for partial text, find first run
if key_name[key_index] in inline[i].text and inline[i].text[-1] in key_name and not started:
# check sequence
start_index = inline[i].text.find(key_name[key_index])
check_length = len(inline[i].text)
for text_index in range(start_index, check_length):
if inline[i].text[text_index] != key_name[key_index]:
# no match so must be false positive
break
if key_index == 0:
started = True
chars_found = check_length - start_index
key_index += chars_found
found_runs.append((i, start_index, chars_found))
if key_index != len(key_name):
continue
else:
# found all chars in key_name
found_all = True
break
# case 2: search for partial text, find subsequent run
if key_name[key_index] in inline[i].text and started and not found_all:
# check sequence
chars_found = 0
check_length = len(inline[i].text)
for text_index in range(0, check_length):
if inline[i].text[text_index] == key_name[key_index]:
key_index += 1
chars_found += 1
else:
break
# no match so must be end
found_runs.append((i, 0, chars_found))
if key_index == len(key_name):
found_all = True
break
if found_all and not replace_done:
for i, item in enumerate(found_runs):
index, start, length = [t for t in item]
if i == 0:
text = inline[index].text.replace(inline[index].text[start:start + length], str(val))
inline[index].text = text
else:
text = inline[index].text.replace(inline[index].text[start:start + length], '')
inline[index].text = text
# print(p.text)
# usage
doc = docx.Document('path/to/template.docx')
docx_replace(doc, dict(ItemOne='replacement text', ItemTwo="Some replacement text\nand some more")
doc.save('path/to/destination.docx')
@handhikadj
Copy link

this doesn't work

@adejones
Copy link
Author

adejones commented Feb 4, 2021

this doesn't work

@handhikadj I haven’t needed this code for a couple of years so the docx module may have changed since writing. What are you referring to?

@dsolisav
Copy link

dsolisav commented May 1, 2021

Greetings! Do you have any updates on this code? I've been trying to use this but I'm afraid it doesn't work anymore. I tried to use the code with the usage described in the comments, but it simply does nothing.

@scottzach1
Copy link

Redirected from https://stackoverflow.com/a/55733040
Code snipped works great thank you! 😄

@GastonDonnet
Copy link

Updated to support multiple replaces of the same KEY in a PARAGRAPH
https://gist.github.com/GastonDonnet/cff16e773a6245e536f957bd8b5eba6c

@heimoshuiyu
Copy link

heimoshuiyu commented Jan 25, 2022

Update to support words cross multiple runs

https://gist.github.com/heimoshuiyu/671a4dfbd13f7c279e85224a5b6726c0

@ivanbicalho
Copy link

Hello folks! I tried this code for a complex document I have, but unfortunately I got an out of index exception. But based on this solution I developed a new one, put it in a repo and published a new package on PyPI. Feel free to check all the information there and contribute. I described the strategy I used to ensure that the format is maintained.

The repo is: https://github.com/ivanbicalho/python-docx-replace

But if you prefer, you can install and use it:

pip3 install python-docx-replace
from python_docx_replace.docx_replace import docx_replace

# get your document using python-docx
doc = Document("document.docx")

# call the replace function with your key value pairs
docx_replace(doc, name="Ivan", phone="+55123456789")

# do whatever you want after that, usually save the document
doc.save("replaced.docx")

@marcopin
Copy link

Hello folks! I tried this code for a complex document I have, but unfortunately I got an out of index exception. But based on this solution I developed a new one, put it in a repo and published a new package on PyPI. Feel free to check all the information there and contribute. I described the strategy I used to ensure that the format is maintained.

The repo is: https://github.com/ivanbicalho/python-docx-replace

But if you prefer, you can install and use it:

pip3 install python-docx-replace
from python_docx_replace.docx_replace import docx_replace

# get your document using python-docx
doc = Document("document.docx")

# call the replace function with your key value pairs
docx_replace(doc, name="Ivan", phone="+55123456789")

# do whatever you want after that, usually save the document
doc.save("replaced.docx")

This does not work with tables in header/footer/body

@ivanbicalho
Copy link

@marcopin
Copy link

Hey @marcopin, it was fixed in 0.4.2. https://pypi.org/project/python-docx-replace

Great news!

Good job!

@petar555
Copy link

petar555 commented Mar 2, 2024

This is awesome, thank you!

@satyajitnayk
Copy link

There is a npm pkg name edit-office-file which can search & replace multiple text strings inside a DOCX file as well other office files.

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment