Can I convert .docx Word documents using the DocX .NET Library?

Question

I am currently attempting to convert a couple of .NET desktop applications that I have developed into a web application harnessing AngularJS and RESTful services.

One of the key components of these applications is in their ability to generate Word documents on the fly using a .dotx Word template. I am currently exploring the possibility of using a third party library called DocX to generate these Word documents without resorting to using a template.

I guess my question is: Can I use this library to read an existing Word document in .docx format and generate a source code representation of the document? If this is possible could someone point me in the direction of any code samples that I could use? I have looked around and have been unable to find anything that could help me get started.

Answer 1

Generating code representation of the document and using it with DocX seems like a time consuming effort to me. Why not using a template instead and fill it with data at runtime?

I have some experience with Docentric, which is 3rd party OpenXML toolkit. It features an Word Add-in for template design and libraries for document generation and manipulation. It took me less then a week to generate pretty complex documents. If I was in your shoes I would definitely try some 3rd party toolkits. They cost money, but save time so do some math and see it they can be useful for you.

Answer 2

It is possible to read an existing Word document in .docx format with following code

DocX document = DocX.Load(filename)

While it is impossible to generate a source code representation of a document.