Route: Edit Existing Document

Workflow Overview

1. Receive .docx (or .doc → convert)
2. Unpack → working directory
3. Analyze structure (document.xml, styles.xml)
4. Plan changes → batch by type
5. Implement via Document library (Python)
6. Pack → output.docx
7. Verify (pandoc or visual)

Step 0: Format Conversion

# .doc → .docx
libreoffice --headless --convert-to docx input.doc

Step 1: Unpack

mkdir -p work_dir && cd work_dir && unzip ../input.docx

Key files: word/document.xml (content), word/styles.xml (styles), word/numbering.xml (lists), word/media/ (images), [Content_Types].xml, word/_rels/document.xml.rels

Step 2: Plan Changes

Group changes into batches, process in order:

Structural — Add/remove sections, reorder paragraphs
Style — Font, size, color modifications
Text — Find/replace, fix typos
Table — Add/remove rows/columns, update data
Image — Replace/add images

Step 3: Implement

Load references/ooxml.md for the full Document library API. Key patterns:

from scripts.document import Document

doc = Document('work_dir')

# Text replacement with tracked changes
node = doc["word/document.xml"].get_node(tag="w:r", contains="old text")
rpr = tags[0].toxml() if (tags := node.getElementsByTagName("w:rPr")) else ""
replacement = f'<w:del><w:r>{rpr}<w:delText>old text</w:delText></w:r></w:del><w:ins><w:r>{rpr}<w:t>new text</w:t></w:r></w:ins>'
doc["word/document.xml"].replace_node(node, replacement)

doc.save()

Step 4: Pack

cd work_dir && zip -r ../output.docx . -x ".*"

Step 5: Verify

pandoc output.docx -t plain -o /dev/stdout | head -50
# or visual
libreoffice --headless --convert-to pdf output.docx

Template Matching Workflow

When user says "use this format" or provides a template:

Unpack template, extract styles.xml, numbering.xml
Analyze font/size/spacing/margins
Copy styles.xml into target document
Match heading hierarchy and spacing

Multi-File Merge

Use first document as base
Extract content from additional documents
Insert with page breaks between sections
Merge styles (prefer base document's)
Re-number figures/tables sequentially

Redlining (Tracked Changes) — Default for Revisions

When user asks for revisions, default to tracked changes so they can review:

doc = Document('work_dir', track_revisions=True)
# ... make changes using replace_node with <w:del>/<w:ins>
doc.save()

Ask user if they want clean output or tracked changes only if ambiguous.

Common Operations Quick Reference

Operation	Approach
Replace text	`get_node` + `replace_node` with tracked changes
Change font	Modify `<w:rFonts>` in run properties
Add paragraph	`insert_after` with `<w:p>` element
Delete paragraph	`suggest_deletion` on `<w:p>`
Add table row	Clone `<w:tr>`, modify cells
Update header	Edit `word/headerN.xml`
Change margins	Edit `<w:pgMar>` in `<w:sectPr>`
Add image	See `references/ooxml.md` image insertion pattern
Add comment	`doc.add_comment(start, end, text)`

3.2 KiB Executable File Raw Blame History