C#: Modify Content Controls in a Word Document

In a Word document, content controls allow the content of the document to be dynamically updated and modified, providing users with more flexible editing and management options. Through content controls, users can easily insert, delete, or modify content in specific sections without altering the overall structure of the document. This article will explain how to use Spire.Doc for .NET to modify content controls in a Word document within a C# project.

Install Spire.Doc for .NET

To begin with, you need to add the DLL files included in the Spire.Doc for .NET package as references in your .NET project. The DLL files can be either downloaded from this link or installed via NuGet.

PM> Install-Package Spire.Doc

Modify Content Controls in the Body using C#

In Spire.Doc, the object type for content controls in the body is StructureDocumentTag. You can iterate through the collection of child objects in Section.Body to find objects of type StructureDocumentTag and then modify them. Here are the detailed steps:

  • Create a Document object.
  • Load a document using the Document.LoadFromFile() method.
  • Access the body of a section in the document using Section.Body.
  • Iterate through the collection of child objects in the body, Body.ChildObjects, to find objects of type StructureDocumentTag.
  • Access the StructureDocumentTag.ChildObjects collection and perform the necessary modification operations based on the type of child objects.
  • Save the document using the Document.SaveToFile() method.
  • C#
using Spire.Doc;
using Spire.Doc.Documents;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace SpireDocDemo
{
    internal class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Create a new document object
            Document doc = new Document();

            // Load document content from a file
            doc.LoadFromFile("Sample1.docx");

            // Get the body of the document
            Body body = doc.Sections[0].Body;

            // Create lists for paragraphs and tables
            List<Paragraph> paragraphs = new List<Paragraph>();
            List<Table> tables = new List<Table>();
            for (int i = 0; i < body.ChildObjects.Count; i++)
            {
                // Get the document object
                DocumentObject documentObject = body.ChildObjects[i];

                // If it is a StructureDocumentTag object
                if (documentObject.DocumentObjectType == DocumentObjectType.StructureDocumentTag)
                {
                    StructureDocumentTag structureDocumentTag = (StructureDocumentTag)documentObject;

                    // If the tag is "c1" or the alias is "c1"
                    if (structureDocumentTag.SDTProperties.Tag == "c1" || structureDocumentTag.SDTProperties.Alias == "c1")
                    {
                        for (int j = 0; j < structureDocumentTag.ChildObjects.Count; j++)
                        {
                            // If it is a paragraph object
                            if (structureDocumentTag.ChildObjects[j].DocumentObjectType == DocumentObjectType.Paragraph)
                            {
                                Paragraph paragraph = (Paragraph)structureDocumentTag.ChildObjects[j];
                                paragraphs.Add(paragraph);
                            }

                            // If it is a table object
                            if (structureDocumentTag.ChildObjects[j].DocumentObjectType == DocumentObjectType.Table)
                            {
                                Table table = (Table)structureDocumentTag.ChildObjects[j];
                                tables.Add(table);
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }

            // Modify the text content of the first paragraph
            paragraphs[0].Text = "Spire.Doc for .NET is a totally independent .NET Word class library which doesn't require Microsoft Office installed on system.";

            // Reset the cells of the first table
            tables[0].ResetCells(5, 4);

            // Save the modified document to a file
            doc.SaveToFile("ModifyBodyContentControls.docx", FileFormat.Docx2016);

            // Release document resources
            doc.Dispose();
        }
    }
}

C#: Modify Content Controls in a Word Document

Modify Content Controls within Paragraphs using C#

In Spire.Doc, the object type for content controls within paragraphs is StructureDocumentTagInline. To modify them, you need to iterate through the collection of child objects of Paragraph.ChildObjects, find objects of type StructureDocumentTagInline, and then make the necessary modifications. Here are the detailed steps:

  • Create a Document object.
  • Load a document using the Document.LoadFromFile() method.
  • Access the body of a section in the document using Section.Body.
  • Get the first paragraph of the body using Body.Paragraphs[0].
  • Iterate through the collection of child objects of the paragraph, Paragraph.ChildObjects, to find objects of type StructureDocumentTagInline.
  • Access the collection of child objects of StructureDocumentTagInline, StructureDocumentTagInline.ChildObjects, and perform the required modifications based on the type of the child objects.
  • Save the document using the Document.SaveToFile() method.
  • C#
using Spire.Doc;
using Spire.Doc.Documents;
using Spire.Doc.Fields;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace SpireDocDemo
{
    internal class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Create a new Document object
            Document doc = new Document();

            // Load document content from a file
            doc.LoadFromFile("Sample2.docx");

            // Get the body of the document
            Body body = doc.Sections[0].Body;

            // Get the first paragraph in the body
            Paragraph paragraph = body.Paragraphs[0];

            // Iterate through child objects in the paragraph
            for (int i = 0; i < paragraph.ChildObjects.Count; i++)
            {
                // Check if the child object is StructureDocumentTagInline
                if (paragraph.ChildObjects[i].DocumentObjectType == DocumentObjectType.StructureDocumentTagInline)
                {
                    // Convert the child object to StructureDocumentTagInline type
                    StructureDocumentTagInline structureDocumentTagInline = (StructureDocumentTagInline)paragraph.ChildObjects[i];

                    // Check if the Tag or Alias property is "text1"
                    if (structureDocumentTagInline.SDTProperties.Tag == "text1" || structureDocumentTagInline.SDTProperties.Alias == "text1")
                    {
                        // Iterate through child objects in the StructureDocumentTagInline object
                        for (int j = 0; j < structureDocumentTagInline.ChildObjects.Count; j++)
                        {
                            // Check if the child object is a TextRange object
                            if (structureDocumentTagInline.ChildObjects[j].DocumentObjectType == DocumentObjectType.TextRange)
                            {
                                // Convert the child object to TextRange type
                                TextRange range = (TextRange)structureDocumentTagInline.ChildObjects[j];

                                // Set the text content to a specified content
                                range.Text = "97-2003/2007/2010/2013/2016/2019";
                            }
                        }
                    }

                    // Check if the Tag or Alias property is "logo1"
                    if (structureDocumentTagInline.SDTProperties.Tag == "logo1" || structureDocumentTagInline.SDTProperties.Alias == "logo1")
                    {
                        // Iterate through child objects in the StructureDocumentTagInline object
                        for (int j = 0; j < structureDocumentTagInline.ChildObjects.Count; j++)
                        {
                            // Check if the child object is an image
                            if (structureDocumentTagInline.ChildObjects[j].DocumentObjectType == DocumentObjectType.Picture)
                            {
                                // Convert the child object to DocPicture type
                                DocPicture docPicture = (DocPicture)structureDocumentTagInline.ChildObjects[j];

                                // Load a specified image
                                docPicture.LoadImage("Doc-NET.png");

                                // Set the width and height of the image
                                docPicture.Width = 100;
                                docPicture.Height = 100;
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }

            // Save the modified document to a new file
            doc.SaveToFile("ModifiedContentControlsInParagraph.docx", FileFormat.Docx2016);

            // Release resources of the Document object
            doc.Dispose();
        }
    }
}

C#: Modify Content Controls in a Word Document

Modify Content Controls Wrapping Table Rows using C#

In Spire.Doc, the object type for a table row content control is StructureDocumentTagRow. To modify it, you need to iterate through the child objects collection of Table.ChildObjects, find objects of type StructureDocumentTagRow, and then make the necessary modifications. Here are the detailed steps:

  • Create a Document object.
  • Load a document using the Document.LoadFromFile() method.
  • Access the body of a section using Section.Body.
  • Get the first table in the body using Body.Tables[0].
  • Iterate through the child objects collection of the table, Table.ChildObjects, to find objects of type StructureDocumentTagRow.
  • Access the collection of cells in the StructureDocumentTagRow.Cells table row content control and make the required modifications to the cell contents.
  • Save the document using the Document.SaveToFile() method.
  • C#
using Spire.Doc;
using Spire.Doc.Documents;
using Spire.Doc.Fields;

namespace SpireDocDemo
{
    internal class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Create a new document object
            Document doc = new Document();

            // Load the document from a file
            doc.LoadFromFile("Sample3.docx");

            // Get the body of the document
            Body body = doc.Sections[0].Body;

            // Get the first table
            Table table = (Table)body.Tables[0];

            // Iterate through the child objects in the table
            for (int i = 0; i < table.ChildObjects.Count; i++)
            {
                // Check if the child object is of type StructureDocumentTagRow
                if (table.ChildObjects[i].DocumentObjectType == DocumentObjectType.StructureDocumentTagRow)
                {
                    // Convert the child object to a StructureDocumentTagRow object
                    StructureDocumentTagRow structureDocumentTagRow = (StructureDocumentTagRow)table.ChildObjects[i];

                    // Check if the Tag or Alias property of the StructureDocumentTagRow is "row1"
                    if (structureDocumentTagRow.SDTProperties.Tag == "row1" || structureDocumentTagRow.SDTProperties.Alias == "row1")
                    {
                        // Clear the paragraphs in the cell
                        structureDocumentTagRow.Cells[0].Paragraphs.Clear();

                        // Add a paragraph in the cell and set the text
                        TextRange textRange = structureDocumentTagRow.Cells[0].AddParagraph().AppendText("Arts");
                        textRange.CharacterFormat.TextColor = System.Drawing.Color.Blue;
                    }
                }
            }

            // Save the modified document to a file
            doc.SaveToFile("ModifiedTableRowContentControl.docx", FileFormat.Docx2016);

            // Release document resources
            doc.Dispose();
        }
    }
}

C#: Modify Content Controls in a Word Document

Modify Content Controls Wrapping Table Cells using C#

In Spire.Doc, the object type for the content control in a table cell is StructureDocumentTagCell. You need to iterate through the collection of child objects in TableRow.ChildObjects, find objects of type StructureDocumentTagCell, and then perform operations on them. Here are the detailed steps:

  • Create a Document object.
  • Load a document using the Document.LoadFromFile() method.
  • Get the body of a section using Section.Body.
  • Get the first table in the body using Body.Tables[0].
  • Iterate through the collection of table rows Table.Rows, accessing each TableRow object.
  • Iterate through the collection of child objects in the table row TableRow.ChildObjects, finding objects of type StructureDocumentTagCell.
  • Access the collection of paragraphs in the StructureDocumentTagCell content control cell, and perform the necessary modifications to the content.
  • Save the document using the Document.SaveToFile() method.
  • C#
using Spire.Doc;
using Spire.Doc.Documents;
using Spire.Doc.Fields;

namespace SpireDocDemo
{
    internal class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
             // Create a new document object
            Document doc = new Document();

            // Load the document from a file
            doc.LoadFromFile("Sample4.docx");

            // Get the body of the document
            Body body = doc.Sections[0].Body;

            // Get the first table in the document
            Table table = (Table)body.Tables[0];

            // Iterate through the rows of the table
            for (int i = 0; i < table.Rows.Count; i++)
            {
                // Iterate through the child objects in each row
                for (int j = 0; j < table.Rows[i].ChildObjects.Count; j++)
                {
                    // Check if the child object is a StructureDocumentTagCell
                    if (table.Rows[i].ChildObjects[j].DocumentObjectType == DocumentObjectType.StructureDocumentTagCell)
                    {
                        // Convert the child object to StructureDocumentTagCell type
                        StructureDocumentTagCell structureDocumentTagCell = (StructureDocumentTagCell)table.Rows[i].ChildObjects[j];

                        // Check if the Tag or Alias property of structureDocumentTagCell is "cell1"
                        if (structureDocumentTagCell.SDTProperties.Tag == "cell1" || structureDocumentTagCell.SDTProperties.Alias == "cell1")
                        {
                            // Clear the paragraphs in the cell
                            structureDocumentTagCell.Paragraphs.Clear();

                            // Add a new paragraph and add text to it
                            TextRange textRange = structureDocumentTagCell.AddParagraph().AppendText("92");
                            textRange.CharacterFormat.TextColor = System.Drawing.Color.Blue;
                        }
                    }
                }
            }

            // Save the modified document to a new file
            doc.SaveToFile("ModifiedTableCellContentControl.docx", FileFormat.Docx2016);

            // Dispose of the document object
            doc.Dispose();
        }
    }
}

C#: Modify Content Controls in a Word Document

Modify Content Controls within Table Cells using C#

This case demonstrates modifying content controls within paragraphs in table cells. You need to first access the collection of paragraphs in the cell TableCell.Paragraphs, then iterate through the collection of child objects in each paragraph Paragraph.ChildObjects, find objects of type StructureDocumentTagInline, and make modifications to them. Here are the detailed steps:

  • Create a Document object.
  • Load a document using the Document.LoadFromFile() method.
  • Get the body of a section using Section.Body.
  • Get the first table in the body using Body.Tables[0].
  • Iterate through the collection of table rows Table.Rows, accessing each TableRow object.
  • Iterate through the collection of cells in the table row TableRow.Cells, accessing each TableCell object.
  • Iterate through the collection of paragraphs in the cell TableCell.Paragraphs, accessing each Paragraph object.
  • Iterate through the collection of child objects in the paragraph Paragraph.ChildObjects, finding objects of type StructureDocumentTagInline.
  • Access the ChildObjects collection of the StructureDocumentTagInline object, and perform the necessary modifications based on the type of the child objects.
  • Save the document using the Document.SaveToFile() method.
  • C#
using Spire.Doc;
using Spire.Doc.Documents;
using Spire.Doc.Fields;

namespace SpireDocDemo
{
    internal class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Create a new Document object
            Document doc = new Document();

            // Load document content from file
            doc.LoadFromFile("Sample5.docx");

            // Get the body of the document
            Body body = doc.Sections[0].Body;

            // Get the first table
            Table table = (Table)body.Tables[0];

            // Iterate through the rows of the table
            for (int r = 0; r < table.Rows.Count; r++)
            {
                // Iterate through the cells in the table row
                for (int c = 0; c < table.Rows[r].Cells.Count; c++)
                {
                    // Iterate through the paragraphs in the cell
                    for (int p = 0; p < table.Rows[r].Cells[c].Paragraphs.Count; p++)
                    {
                        // Get the paragraph object
                        Paragraph paragraph = table.Rows[r].Cells[c].Paragraphs[p];

                        // Iterate through the child objects in the paragraph
                        for (int i = 0; i < paragraph.ChildObjects.Count; i++)
                        {
                            // Check if the child object is of type StructureDocumentTagInline
                            if (paragraph.ChildObjects[i].DocumentObjectType == DocumentObjectType.StructureDocumentTagInline)
                            {
                                // Convert to StructureDocumentTagInline object
                                StructureDocumentTagInline structureDocumentTagInline = (StructureDocumentTagInline)paragraph.ChildObjects[i];

                                // Check if the Tag or Alias property of StructureDocumentTagInline is "test1"
                                if (structureDocumentTagInline.SDTProperties.Tag == "test1" || structureDocumentTagInline.SDTProperties.Alias == "test1")
                                {
                                    // Iterate through the child objects of StructureDocumentTagInline
                                    for (int j = 0; j < structureDocumentTagInline.ChildObjects.Count; j++)
                                    {
                                        // Check if the child object is of type TextRange
                                        if (structureDocumentTagInline.ChildObjects[j].DocumentObjectType == DocumentObjectType.TextRange)
                                        {
                                            // Convert to TextRange object
                                            TextRange textRange = (TextRange)structureDocumentTagInline.ChildObjects[j];

                                            // Set the text content
                                            textRange.Text = "89";

                                            // Set text color
                                            textRange.CharacterFormat.TextColor = System.Drawing.Color.Blue;
                                        }
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }

            // Save the modified document to a new file
            doc.SaveToFile("ModifiedContentControlInParagraphOfTableCell.docx", FileFormat.Docx2016);

            // Dispose of the Document object resources
            doc.Dispose();
        }
    }
}

C#: Modify Content Controls in a Word Document

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