NAME
OpenOffice::OODoc::Text - The text processing submodule of OpenOffice::OODoc
DESCRIPTION
This man chapter describes the text-oriented methods of OpenOffice::OODoc, implemented by the OpenOffice::OODoc::Text class, and inherited by the OpenOffice::OODoc::Document class.
This class should not be explictly used in an ordinary application, because all its features are available in the OpenOffice::OODoc::Document class, in combination with other features. Practically, the present manual is provided to describe the text-oriented features of OpenOffice::OODoc::Document (knowing that these features are technically supported by the OpenOffice::OODoc::Text component of the API).
These features are text-oriented, but can be used against any class document, such as spreadsheets or presentations as well as text documents.
The OpenOffice::OODoc::Text class is a specialist derivative of OpenOffice::OODoc::XPath for XML elements which describe the text content of OpenOffice.org documents. Here, "text content" means containers that can host text content (i.e. tables, lists...) as well as flat text.
Knowing that the "styles.xml" member of an OpenOffice.org file can contain text (because some style definitions, such as page headers or footers, can contain text), the presently described features can be used against this member as well as the "content.xml" member.
This module Should be used in combination with OpenOffice::OODoc::Styles, via the OpenOffice::OODoc::Document class, if the application has to handle detailed presentation parameters of text elements. This is because such parameters are held in styles elements and not in the text elements themselves, according to the principle of separation of content and presentation which is one of the foundations of the OpenDocument format.
Methods
Constructor : OpenOffice::OODoc::Text->new(<parameters>)
Short Form: ooText(<parameters>)
See OpenOffice::OODoc::XPath->new
The XML member loaded by default is 'content.xml'. The most common
creation method is like this:
my $doc = ooText(file => 'my_file.sxw');
This constructor should generally not be called directly, because it's
inherited by ooDocument().
Other parameters can be supplied as options (see the properties list
at the end of the chapter).
Example:
my %delim =
(
'text:h' =>
{
begin => '\sect{',
end => '}'
},
'text:list-item' =>
{
begin => '\item'
}
'text:footnote-body' =>
{
begin => '\footnote{',
end => '}'
}
);
my $doc = ooText
(
file => 'filename.sxw',
paragraph_style => 'My Paragraphs',
header_style => 'My Headers',
delimiters => { %delim }
);
This technique gives the default styles to be used when creating new
text elements. It also gives the particular delimiters (in this case
LaTeX style markers) to be used at the beginning or end of some
elements (in this case headers, list elements, footers) where the
text is to be exported "as is". See the getText method of
OODoc::Text for information about exporting text.appendBodyElement(element [, options])
Copies an existing element of any type and appends it to the end of
the document body. No new element is created.appendDrawPage([options])
In a presentation or drawing document, appends a new page at the en
of the document.
Possible options are:
name => page name (unique)
id => page numeric ID (unique)
style => page style name
master => master page name
Returns the new draw page element if successful, undef if not.appendHeader([options])
Creates a new header of any level and appends it to the end of the
document.
Options are given as a hash [key => value]:
'text' => <header text>
'level' => header level, default is 1
'style' => header style, default is 'Heading 1'
Examples:
$doc->appendHeader(text => 'Next section');
adds the text 'Next section' as 'Header 1'.
$doc->appendHeader
(
text => 'Chapter Conclusion',
level => '2',
style => 'Heading 2'
);
adds a level 2 header to the end of the text body.
You can give any XML attribute to the new header except for style or
header level. In this case, the program must construct a hash
containing pairs of key-values for the attributes you want to create
and pass it using the 'attribute' option. Example:
my %attr = ( 'att1' => 'value1', 'att2' => 'value2' );
$doc->appendHeader
(
text => 'Attributes are important',
level => '1',
style => 'Chapter header',
attribute => %attr
);
If the 'text' option is empty, the header is created with an empty
content.
Note: this method can only be used with a new header i.e. it adds
while it creates. To add an already available element using
getHeader from the same document or from another document, use the
appendElement method instead which is inherited from OODoc::XPath.appendItem(list, text => text [,style => style ,[other_options]])
Adds a new item to a list (ordered or unordered).
The first argument is the existing list element (created using
getOrderedList or getUnorderedList, for example). Options are the
same as for appendParagraph.
If the 'style' option is absent, the element is inserted according
to the following rule:appendItemList([type => list_type, [style => style [, options]]])
Creates a new (empty) list and appends it to the end of the
document.
In OpenOffice.org 1 documents, an unordered list is the default,
and if the 'type' option is given with the value 'ordered', then an
ordered list is created. In Open Documents, the 'type' option is
ignored because there are generic lists only.
The 'style' options controls the list's style (as opposed to each
item's style). If absent, the list takes the default paragraph style
(see appendParagraph).
Like appendParagraph, this method actually creates a new list
element. To copy an existing list in the same document or in
another, use appendElement or replicateElement instead.appendParagraph(<options>)
Creates a new paragraph and appends it to the document.
Options:
'text' => <paragraph text>
'style' => <paragraph style>
An 'attribute' option is also available under the same conditions as
for the appendHeader method (see above) [19] .
If the 'text' option is empty, calling this method is the equivalent
of adding a line feed.
If the 'style' option is empty, the style from the 'paragraph_style'
property of the OODoc::Text instance is used.
By default, the new paragraph takes place at the end of the document.
But it's possible to attach it as the last child of an existing
text container (ex: a table cell). To do so, the container must be
provided through an 'attachment' option. For example, to append a new
paragraph in a table cell, one can write
my $cell = $doc->getCell("Table1", "B12");
$doc->appendParagraph
(
text => "The cell, reloaded",
attachment => $cell
);
Note: this method can only be used with a new paragraph i.e. it adds
while it creates. To add an already existing paragraph using
getParagraph from the same document or from another document, use
the appendElement or replicateElement methods instead which are
inherited from OODoc::XPath, or even appendText below.
Note: The repeated spaces are not properly processed, so any sequence
of spaces (whatever its length) in the 'text' string is replaced by a
single space in the target document. See setText() and extendText() in
OpenOffice::OODoc::XPath.appendRow(table [, options])
Appends a row to the end of the given table either by reference, by
logical name or by sequential number. By default, the new row is
simply an exact copy of the preceding row (in terms of content and
presentation). You can pass an options hash which will give certain
attributes to the created row, under the same conditions as for the
appendElement method of OODoc::XPath. The returned value is the
created row element.
Example:
open SRC, '<', 'data.txt';
my $table = $doc->getTable("Table1");
my ($h, $l) = $doc->getTableSize($table);
for (my $i = 0 ; my $record = <SRC> ; $i++)
{
last unless $record;
chomp $record;
my @data = split ';', $record;
my $row = $i < $h ?
$doc->getRow($table, $i) :
$doc->appendRow($table);
for (my $j = 0 ; $j < $l ; $j++)
{
$doc->cellValue($row, $j, $data[$j]);
}
}
The above program reads a CSV format data file sequentially (one
record per line, comma-separated fields). Each record is split and
put into a row in table Table1. On reading each new record, the
reference for the following row is loaded by getRow, until the total
number of rows is reached (total obtained previously using
getTableSize). If the table is already full, it is lengthened by a
row using appendRow. The internal loop loads the read data into the
row's cells (pre-existing or newly created). See the sections on
getTable, getRow, getTableSize and cellValue for a better
understanding of this example.
However, if good performance is what you are after, massive
repetition of this method is not recommended (e.g. for lengthening a
table dynamically, row by row, whilst loading external data into
it). Rather than running dozens or hundreds of successive
appendRows, it would be better for the application to read the total
number of records to be loaded (using, for example, select count if
from a relational database or otherwise preloading the data into an
ordinary Perl table) and create a table of appropriate size in
advance using insertTable or appendTable.appendTable(name, rows, columns [, options])
Creates a new table with the given name, number of rows and number
of columns, and appends it by default to the end of the document
body. The name must be unique within the document (the call is
rejected if the name already exists). Returns the created table
element if successful.
'rows' and/or 'columns', if omitted, are replaced by the 'max_rows'
and 'max_cols' properties of the document (see the properties below).
By default, the table is set to fit the entire width between the
left and right margins with equal sized columns, cells of type
string and without borders or background colour.
Possible options:
'table-style' => table style
'cell-type' => default cell type
'cell-style' => default cell style
'text-style' => default cell text style
The first option is the name of a table style [20] which defines
certain global properties for the table (width, background colour,
etc.).
The second option is the cells' default data type. The main types
available are string, float, currency, date, percentage. Caution: to
be properly treated as having a numeric format in OpenOffice.org, a
cell needs more than to be just marked 'numeric'. If the cell really
needs to be treated properly as a number, you must also give it a
cell style which itself refers to a number style. The cell-style
parameter can do this. However, even though the OODoc::Styles module
is there to otherwise help you create and add styles from a program,
this type of exercise can become very labour-intensive. We therefore
recommend using basic tables created in advance from document
templates or style libraries created from an office application,
rather than creating complex number tables from code.
The text-style option selects the paragraph style applicable to the
text displayed in each cell.
Once the table is created, you can obviously modify each cell's type
and style individually.
Example:
my $table = $doc->appendTable
(
"Rate", 22, 5,
'table-style' => 'Table1',
'text-style' => 'Text body'
);appendTableRow(table)
See appendRow.appendText(element_name [, <options>])
appendText(element [, <options])
Appends a text element, by default to the end of a document.
Two type of usage are possible:
If the 'attachment' option is used, which indicates an element
reference, the new element is attached as a "child" element of the
given element. This allows you to place text in special zones, other
than in the document body, which is not appropriate in all
applications.
This method should be used to append unusual text elements (i.e. not
paragraphs or headers) or existing elements (in its second usage
type) of any type.
Remember that:
$doc->appendText('text:p', text => 'My text'); [21]
is the same as:
$doc->appendParagraph(text => 'My text');bibliographyEntryContent(id [, key1 => value1, key2 => value2, ...])
Gets, and optionnally sets, the properties of a given (existing)
bibliographic entry. The optionally updated properties are provides
as a hash. The returned description is a hash.
The first argument can be either the logical identifier of the entry
(as it appears for the end-user) or a previously found bibliography
entry element (see getBibliographyElements()).
Example:
my %desc = $doc->bibliographyEntryContent
(
"GEN99",
author => 'Genicorp',
pages => 62
);
This sequence updates the "Author" and "Pages" values of the "GEN99"
entry, then returns all the content of the entry in %desc.
Caution: Several bibliography entries can have the same identifier.
This method processes one element at a time. In the example above,
only the first occurrence of the "GEN99" entries is updated. So, if
the user needs to ensure that all the entries with the same identifier
have the same content, the appropriate code should be something like:
my @entries = $doc->getBibliographyElements("^GEN99$");
foreach my $entry (@entries)
{
$doc->bibliographyEntryContent
(
$entry,
author => 'Genicorp',
pages => 62
)
}
Caution: This method allows the user to create any new property and
to put any value in any property, without control. So we recommend
you to have a look at the Open Office XML specification and/or the
OOo bibliographic project (http://bibliographic.openoffice.org) in
order to know the generally accepted properties.bookmarkElement(element, name [, offset])
Puts a bookmark in a text element.
Example:
my $paragaph = $doc->selectElementByContent
("Eragon and Saphira");
$doc->bookmarkElement($paragraph, 'Mark');
puts a bookmark identified by "Mark" in a paragraph where a given
text has been found (of course, the bookmark will remain even if
the text of the paragraph is changed later).
By default, the bookmark is put at the beginning of the text. But,
thanks to the optional offset, it can be put at any position within
the text of the bookmarked element.cellCurrency(table, row, column [, currency])
cellCurrency(cell [, currency])
Get/set the currency unit of a cell.
If a currency is provided, the cell value type is automatically
switched to 'currency'.cellFormula(table, row, column [, formula])
cellFormula(cell [, formula])
Accessor which returns the formula (or function) contained in the
given table cell. Returns undef if no formula is found in the cell.
The cell address is the same as for getCellValue().
If a formula is given as the last argument, it is put into the cell,
overwriting any existing formula. No check of the syntax is carried
out on the inserted formula. It is up to the application to insert a
formula which conforms to OpenOffice.org syntax. Example:
$doc->cellFormula(1,3,2, "sum <C2:C5>");
Note 1: inserting or replacing a formula does not directly modify
the value or text of the cell. Proper interpretation of a formula
does not happen until the fields are updated when the document is
reloaded into OpenOffice.org.
Note 2: syntax and functionality of cell formulae differ greatly
between the Writer and Calc applications.cellSpan(table, row, column [, span])
cellSpan(cell [, span])
In a spreadsheet document, get/set the span of a table cell,
knowing that this span can be one or more columns. The cell addressing
is the same as with getCell().
Example:
$doc->cellSpan($table, "B4", 3);
creates a 3-cell span from B4 in a spreadsheet.
This method works only for horizontal expansion.
The text of the covered cells (if any) is concatenated to the original
content of the expanded cell (as in OOo Writer or Calc).
Caution: when related to table cells, "span" has not the same
meaning as when related to flat text (see getSpan() and setSpan()).cellStyle(table, row, column [, stylename])
cellStyle(cell [, stylename])
Get or set the style of a table cell.cellValue(table, row, column [, value [, text]])
cellValue(cell [, value [, text]])
Without the "value" argument: see getCellValue().
With "value" (and, optionnally, "text"): see updateCell().cellValueType(table, row, column [, type])
cellValueType(cell [, type])
Get/set the data type of a table cell.
Note: If an application must convert a 'string' cell to a numeric
one and fill it with a numeric value, cellValueType() must be called
*before* cellValue(). Ex:
my $cell = $doc->getCell('Sheet1', 4, 8);
$doc->cellValueType($cell, 'float');
$doc->cellValue($cell, 12.34);columnStyle(column_element [, style])
columnStyle(table, column [, style])
Returns the style name of the given column or replaces it with a new
one. A column can be indicated either directly by reference or by
the pair [table, column number]. The table itself can be indicated
either by a table element, its number or its logical name. If the
'style' argument is given, it replaces the old column style.
Giving a column a style is actually the only way to control the
width of a column in a table.
Example:
$doc->columnStyle('Table1', 2, 'NewStyle');
Caution: columns are numbered beginning at 0.defaultOutputTerminator([chars])
Get or set the default terminator character for text export.
Example:
$doc->defaultOutputTerminator("\n");
After this instruction, a line-break will be appended at the end of
every paragraph or header exported by getText(), selectTextContent()
or other text extracting methods.
To reverse this behaviour, the user can call this method with an
empty string.
Without argument, returns the currently selecter terminator, if any.deleteBookmark(name)
Deletes the given bookmark (if defined).drawPageId(page [, new_id])
Returns the internal identifier of a presentation page, and changes
it if a second argument is provided. The page id is a positive
integer.
The first argument must comply to the same rules as with getDrawPage.drawPageName(page [, newname])
Returns the visible name of a presentation or drawing page.
The first agument can be a page order number, a page element or the
present page name (see getDrawPage). The page is renamed if a
second argument is provided. Example:
$doc->drawPageName("oldname", "newname");getBibliographyElements([id])
Returns the list of the bibliographic entry elements contained in the
document.
If an argument is provided, the returned list is restricted to the
bibliographic entries matching it (this argument can be a regex).
Example:
my @biblio = $doc->getBibliographyElements("^W3C");
returns the bibliographic entries where the identifier begins with
"W3C".getBookmark(name)
Returns the bookmark element (if defined) corresponding to the given
bookmark name.
If the bookmark covers a range of text (i.e. if it's not a position),
the returned element is the "bookmark start" one.getCell(table, row, column)
getCell(table, coord)
getCell(row, column)
Returns the element which represents the given cell. Possible
arguments are respectively: the table number or its reference in the
document, row number and column number. Each table cell contained in
the body of an OpenOffice.org document can be referenced in this
manner, as if it belonged to a single 3D table irrespective of the
rest of the document [22] .
If the cell is defined in the spreadsheet but covered (because of a
cell merge), the return value is undef.
The first argument can be either the sequential number of the table
(starting at 0), the logical name of the table, or a 'table' object
(which can be retrieved in advance using getTable). If it's a number
or a name, getTable() is automatically called by getCell() in order
to convert it in a 'table' object. However, if the first argument is
a row object (previously obtained via getRow()), the second one is
processed as the column number. Before using several cells in the
same row, it's a good idea to get the row object and then to use it
in every cell selection, in order to minimize the coordinates
calculation.
Alternatively, the user can provide the cell coordinates in a single
alphanumeric argument, beginning with one or two letters and ending
with one or more decimal digits, according to the same logic as in a
spreadsheet. So, for example
$doc->getCell($table, 'B12');
is equivalent to
$doc->getCell($table, 11, 1);
(Remember that, with the numeric coordinates, the row number is the
first argument, while with the alphanumeric, spreadsheet-like ones,
the column letter(s) come first.)
Numbers can also be negative, where position -1 is the last. For
example:
$cell = $doc->getCell(-1, -1, -1);
returns the very bottom right cell of the very last table in the
document $doc.
Returns a null value if the given cell does not exist or if it's
covered by the span of another cell.
Any cellXXX() method in this module uses the same cell addressing
logic as getCell().
Note about spreadsheets:
Addressing cells in spreadsheets is considerably more complex
than in text document tables. However, the same addressing scheme
in allowed in the "Calc" documents than in the "Writer" ones,
provided the targeted cells belong to a preprocessed workspace
(beginnning at the upper-left cell, and ending at a parametrizable
position). It's possible to use normalizeSheet() or getTable() in
order to make this workspace available.
See normalizeSheet() for more explanations.
Remember that the table addressing is zero-based and
the row comes before the column in OpenOffice::OODoc, so, for
example:
$cell1 = $doc->getCell($table, 0, 0);
$cell2 = $doc->getCell($table, 31, 25);
returns respectively the A1 and Z32 cells.
Note: in a spreadsheet, (0,0) are the coordinates of the "A1" cell,
and, for example, (16, 25) are the coordinates of the "Z17" cell.getCellParagraphs(table, row, column)
getCellParagraphs(cell)
Returns the list of the paragraph elements contained in a given
table cell (knowing that a single cell can contain one or more
paragraphs).getCellValue(table, row, column)
getCellValue(cell)
Returns the value of a table cell (and not the cell element as with
getCell), if the cell is defined and uncovered.
The first form indicates a cell by its 3D coordinates, as with
getCell).
The second form (quicker) takes a cell element as its only argument
(e.g. as returned by a previous getCell call).
This method behaves in two different ways depending on the cell
type:
- returns the cell's text if the cell is set to literal (after
any UTF8 decoding. See OODoc::XPath).
This difference in handling is designed to allow programs to use
returned numeric values directly in calculations.
Note: To get information about a cell other than its value (numeric,
etc.), the best way is first to get its element reference with
getCell and then use it with getAttribute.getChapter(header_no [, options])
This method returns the list of the elements depending on a given
header element. The argument and the options are the same as with
getHeader().
Example:
my @list = $doc->getChapter(2, level => 3);
foreach my $element (@list)
{
my $text = $doc->getText($element);
print "$text\n";
}
The code above selects and prints all the text elements below the
third level 3 header of the document (not including the content of
the header itself.getColumn(table, column)
Returns the element reference of the given column in the given
table. The first argument is either the table's sequential number in
the document, logical name or element reference. The second argument
is the column's number in the table. Synonym: getTableColumn.getDrawPage(pos/name)
For presentation and drawing documents.
Returns the element reference of the given page name or postion.
If the argument contains an integer, the page is according to its
zero-based position. If the value is negative, the position is counted
backwards from the end.
If the argument is alphanumeric, it's regarded as a page name, and the
page is selected accordingly.
Caution: This method can't retrieve a page by name if the name
contains numeric characters only; selectDrawPageByName() should be
preferred to do so.getFootnoteCitationList()
Returns the list of all the footnote citations (i.e. references to
footnotes included in the text) contained in the document.getFootnoteList()
Returns the list of all the footnote elements contained in the
document.getHeader(n [, options])
Returns the nth+1 header element.
If n is negative, headers are counted backwards from the last.
getHeader(-1) returns the last header element of the document.
The only one possible option is "level". It allows the application
to select the nth+1 header element for a given header level.
Example:
my $header = $doc->getHeader(2, level => 3);
selects the third level 3 header in the whole document.
See also getChapter().
Caution: without the "level" option, this method counts sequentially
through all headers along a single plane, irrespective of their
level[24]. E.g. if you have a level 1 header then two level 2 headers
then a level 1 header, the call getHeader(3) returns the last level 1
header.getHeaderList()
Returns a list of header elements (i.e. elements called 'text:h' in
the document body).
This list actually contains the information necessary to create a
contents list of an OpenOffice.org document, from within a document
management application.getHeaderText(n)
Returns the text of the nth+1 header element. Elements are counted
in the same way as for getHeader.getHeaderTextList([filter])
Returns a list of document header texts.
An optional filter argument can be passed (literal or regular
expression). In this case, only headers whose content matches the
filter are returned.
In a list context, the result is returned in the form of a list of
character strings. In a scalar context, the result is a single
string in which the headers are separated by a line-feed character
("\n").
Note: This list is "flat". It contains no information about the
headers' hierarchy. To get a hierarchical contents list, you must
start with the list of headers obtained using getHeaderList and
check each element's level attribute ('text:level').getItemElementList(list)
Returns a list of elements which represent items of an ordered or
unordered list. The argument is a "list" element (obtained
previously e.g. using getItemList, getOrderedList or
getUnorderedList). Each element in this list can be used with item
handling methods.getItemList(n)
Returns the element which represents the nth+1 ordered list in a
document if found.
WARNING: In the OpenOffice.org 1 documents, only "ordered lists" and
"unordered lists" can be present. In the Open Document format, there
are generic list objects only, and each one is made "ordered" or
"unordered" by its style. So, this method will never return anything
from an OOo 1 document.getOrderedList(n)
Returns the element which represents the nth+1 ordered list in a
document if found.
WARNING: Ordered lists are possible in the OpenOffice.org 1 format
only. Don't use it against Open Documents.getParagraph(n)
Returns the nth+1 paragraph in the document body, or undef if the
given number is greater than or equal to the total number of
paragraphs in the document.
You can also pass a negative argument, in which case paragraphs are
counted backwards from the end (-1 being the last paragraph).
By paragraphs we mean 'text:p' elements, which excludes headers but
includes non-empty table cells, contents of list items and
footnotes.
Returned value is an element and not the text of the paragraph. All
read/write operations involving attributes and content can use this
element.getParagraphList()
Returns a list of paragraph elements (i.e. 'text:p' elements in the
document body).getParagraphText(n)
Returns the text of the nth+1 paragraph, counted using the same
rules as for getParagraph.getParagraphTextList([filter])
Returns a list of texts contained in the paragraphs of a document
('text:p' elements).
A filter can be passed as an optional argument (literal or regular
expression). In this case, only paragraph texts whose content match
the filter are returned.
In a list context, the result is returned in the form of a list of
character strings. In a scalar context, the result is a single
string in which the paragraphs are separated by a line-feed
character ("\n").getRow(table, row)
Returns the element reference which corresponds to a row in a table.
The first argument is either the table's sequential number in the
document, logical name or element reference. The second argument is
the row number in the table. Synonym: getTableRow.getRowCells(table, row) =head3 getRowCells(row)
Returns the list of the uncovered cell elements corresponding to a
given table row. The row can be provided either by table ID and row
number or by direct row object.getSpanList()
Returns a list of elements which correspond to texts which "stand
out" from the document i.e. which have been given a style which
makes them stand out from the rest of the paragraph containing them.
For example, a word in italics or in font size 12 in a paragraph of
mostly standard characters in font size 10 is a 'span' element and
would therefore appear in a list returned by getSpanList.getSpanTextList([filter])
Gets a list of texts which "stand out" in the same way as
getSpanList and returns it under the same conditions as
getParagraphTextList or getHeaderTextList, with optional filter.getStyle(path, position)
getStyle(element)
Obsolete. See textStyle.getTable(number [, length, width])
getTable(name [, length, width])
If the first argument is a number, returns the nth+1 table in a
document (table numbers are zero-based; if the argument is negative,
the tables are counted from the end).
The second form allows you to select a table by its logical name (as
it would appear to the end user when editing the table's
properties). This name is obviously easier to use than a number.
Moreover, this type of selection means the application will still
work even if a table changes position within a document.
The returned object is a "handle" that can be used for subsequent
accesses to its components (rows, cells).
getTable() can be used to retrieve a sheet in a Calc document as
well as a table in a Writer document. However, before using any of
the row/column/cell manipulation available methods, a special
preprocessing should be done if the target table is a spreadsheet.
See normalizeSheet() for more information.
A getTable() call with the optional length, width arguments produces
the same effect as an explicit call of normalizeSheet() with the same
arguments.
In the text documents, the tables are used without any preprocessing
and the paragraph above doesn't apply.
The returned value is a table element and not a table's content.getTableColumn(table, column)
See getColumn.getTableList()
Returns a list of table elements in a document.getTableRow(table, row)
See getRow.getTableRows(table)
Returns the list of the rows contained in the given table.
When the user needs to process every row in large tables, this method
allows some performance improvements, because it's less costly than
a lot of successive getRow() calls.getTableSize(table)
Returns the size of a table as a pair of values which represent the
number of rows and columns. The table can be specified either by
number, logical name or reference.
Example:
my ($rows, $columns) = $doc->getTableSize("Table1");getTableText(n)
Returns the content of a table, if found, whose number or reference
is given as an argument. If not found, returns undef.
The content of each cell is extracted according to the rules of
getCellValue.
In a list context, the returned value is a 2D table with each
element containing the corresponding cell in the document.
In a scalar context, the content is returned as a single string in
CSV format. In this case, the rows are separated by a delimiter set
by the instance variable 'line_separator' and the fields by the
variable 'field_separator' in the OODoc::Text object. (These
delimiters are by default "\n" and ";" respectively.)getText(path, position)
getText(element)
Exports the text contained in the given element according to the
means appropriate to that type of element.
If the 'use_delimiters' flag is set to 'on' (default), the content
of each element (others than ordinary paragraphs, table cell,
headers) is preceded and/or followed by a character string depending
on the type of the element. This also depends on the settings given
to the delimiter values 'begin' and 'end' by the 'delimiters' hash.
In a default configuration where the application has not provided
any specific delimiters, the following delimiters are used:
- '<<' before and '>>' after sections of text highlighted within
an element (e.g. words in bold or underlined within a paragraph
of 'standard' font characters).
footnote citations (in text body) are placed between square
brackets.
'{NOTE:' and '}' for the content of footnotes [26] .
An application can change these delimiters, add more for other types
of elements (e.g. paragraphs, headers, tables cells, etc.), or
deactivate them using outputDelimitersOff. This depends on where the
text is exported to e.g. display in editable "flat" format,
conversion to non-OpenOffice.org XML or a markup language other than
XML, generating code from text, etc..
A default export (ex: "\n") terminator can be set for any element that
is not listed in the 'delimiters' hash (see defaultOutputTerminator()
above).
If the element is an ordered or unordered list, the text produced is
a concatenation of all the lines in the list, each separated by a
line-break in addition to any delimiters. The default line break
character is "\n", but it can be set to any other string (including
an empty string) through the 'line_separator' property of the document
object.
If the element is a string table cell, getText behaves like
getCellValue. If the cell contains more than one paragraph, the text
produced is a concatenation of all the paragraph contents, each
separated in the same way as list items.
If the element is a table, getText behaves like getTableText.getTextContent()
Returns the text of a document, as "flat" editable text.
In a list context, the content is returned as a table with one text
element (header or paragraph) per element.
In a scalar context, the content is returned as a single character
string with each text unit (header or paragraph) separated by a
line-feed ("\n").
The returned text contains no style or level information, so there
is nothing to distinguish a header from a paragraph.
Same as selectTextContent('.*').getTextElementList()
Returns the list of all the text elements, including headers,
paragraphs and item lists.getTopParagraph(n)
Same as getParagraph but only considers top level paragraphs. The
contents of lists, tables and footnotes are excluded.getUnorderedList(n)
Returns the element which represents the nth+1 unordered list in a
document, if found.
WARNING: Ordered lists are possible in the OpenOffice.org 1 format
only. Don't use it against Open Documents.getUserFieldElement(name)
Returns the element (if defined) representing a user-defined field,
and corresponding to the given name. See also userFieldValue().hyperlinkURL(hyperlink [, url])
Get/set the URL of an hyperlink element. The first argument may be
a previously retrieved hyperlink element (see selectHyperlinkElement
below), or the URL of an existing hyperlink. If a second argument is
provided, it replaces the URL of the hyperlink element.
With only one argument, just returns the existing URL of the link,
or undef if the first argument doesn't match an existing hyperlink
element.inputTextConversion(text)
Returns the UTF8 conversion of the given text, supposed to be in
the local character set of the document (see the 'local_encoding'
property).insertDrawPage(page/pos [, options])
In a presentation or drawing document, inserts a new page before
or after an existing page.
Possible options are the same as for appendDrawPage(), with an
additional one:
position => 'before' or 'after' (default 'before')
The new page is inserted before or after the reference page, according
to the 'position' option.
The first argument can be a draw page element reference (recommended)
previously returned, for example, by a previous page retrieval or
creation method call. Alternatively, it can be a page position or
visible name, so it's regarded in the same way as in getDrawPage().
Returns the new page element, or undef in case of failure.insertHeader(path, position, options)
insertHeader(element, options)
Same as appendHeader, but inserts the given header at the given
position.
Position is that of an existing element which can be another header
or a paragraph. Can be given by [path, position] or by element
reference.
Possible options are the same as for appendHeader, with the
additional option 'position' which determines if the header is
inserted before or after the element at the given position. Possible
values for this option are 'before' and 'after'. By default, the
element is inserted before the given element.insertItemList(path, position [, options])
insertItemList(element [, options])
Same as appendItemList, but a new list is inserted at the given
position. The point of insertion can be given either by the pair
[path, position] or by element reference. Options are the same as
for insertParagraph.insertParagraph(path, position [, options])
insertParagraph(element [, options])
Same as appendParagraph, but a new paragraph is inserted at the
given position.
Position is that of an existing element which can be another
paragraph or a header. Can be given by [path, position] or by
element reference.
Options are the same as for appendParagraph, with the additional
option 'position' which determines whether the paragraph is inserted
before or after the element at the given position. Possible values
for this options are 'before' and 'after'. By default, the element
is inserted before the given element.insertRow(table, row [, options])
insertRow(row_element [, options])
Inserts a new row into a table. In its first form, pass the table
(reference, logical name or number) and the position number in the
table. In its second form, pass the element reference of the
existing row which is directly before or after the position where
you want to make the insertion.
By default, the new row is inserted at the position of the
referenced row, which displaces it and the rest of the table down by
one row position. However, you can insert it after by using the
'position => after' option. By default, the new row is an exact copy
of the referenced row, but you can assign particular attributes to
it in the same manner as the insertElement method of OODoc::XPath.insertTable(path, position, name, rows, columns [, options])
insertTable(element, name, rows, columns [, options])
Creates a new table and inserts it immediately before or after
another element (paragraph, header, table). The referenced element
can be indicated as in insertParagraph. The other arguments and
options are the same as for appendTable with the additional option
'position' as in insertParagraph.insertTableRow(table, row [, options])
insertTableRow(row_element [, options])
See insertRow.insertText(path, position, element_name, options)
insertText(element, name, options)
As appendText, but a new text element is inserted at the given
position.
The position is that of an existing element (of any type). It can be
given by [path, position] or by element reference.
Options are the same as for appendText, with the additional option
'position' which determines whether the element is inserted before
or after the element at the given position. Possible values for this
option are 'before' and 'after'. By default, the element is inserted
before the given element.normalizeSheet(sheet [, rows [, columns]])
To be used with spreadsheets. This method preprocesses a given
sheet so its components (rows, cells) become available for all the
table-oriented methods described in this chapter.
normalizeSheet() is useless for tables which can be selected with
getTable(); the getTable() method, when executed with the length
and width optional arguments, executes the same job.
This method is not needed for tables included in OpenOffice.org
Writer (sxw) documents, because these tables are "normalized" (i.e.
each component is mapped to an exclusive XML element). But in Calc
(sxc) documents, the XML mapping of rows, columns and cells is
"denormalized" in order to save memory: several table components
can be mapped to a single XML element, so the XML address of each one
can't be simply calculated from its logical coordinates (sheet, row,
column). In order to allow the spreadsheets components to be addressed
with the same methods as the Writer table components, normalizeSheet()
reorganizes the XML mapping of the given sheet.
Because this method is very time and memory consuming, it should never
be used to reorganize the largest possible area of a sheet (meaning
thousands of rows and hundreds of columns that will probably never be
used). So it's action is limited to a given area, controlled by the
rows, columns arguments. When these arguments are not provided, the
method uses the 'max_rows' and 'max_cols' properties instead (see the
Properties section for other explanations).
The first argument can be either the logical name of the sheet (as
it's shown in the bottom tab by OOo Calc), the sheet number, or a
table object reference, previously returned by getTable(). The return
value is the table object (or undef in case of failure).
Example:
$doc = ooDocument(file => 'report.sxc');
my $sheet = $doc->normalizeSheet('Sheet1', 7, 9);
my $result = $doc->cellValue($sheet, 5, 6);
In the sequence above, a top left area of 7 rows by 8 columns is
pre-processed, so the cells from A1 to H6 of this sheet can be
reached according to the same addressing scheme as in Writer tables.
The last instruction gets the content of G6.
Because a "normalized" sheet has the same XML structure as a Writer
table, it's generally possible to directly copy it from a spreadsheet
document to a text document. Example:
$doc1 = ooDocument(file => "spreadsheet.sxc");
$doc2 = ooDocument(file => "text.sxw");
$sheet = $doc1->normalizeSheet("Sheet1", 6, 8);
$doc2->appendBodyElement($sheet);
In this last example, a new table, that is a copy of the A1:H7 area
of the "Sheet1" sheet of a Calc document, is attached at the end of
a Writer document.
The transformed sheets, of course, are readable by OOo Calc.
They simply take some more disk space when the processed spreadsheet
is saved. If the document is later read then written by OOo Calc,
the storage is optimized, so the effects of normalizeSheet()
disappear.
normalizeSheet() can be used safely against Writer document tables,
with two possible results. If the table size is greater than the given
size, the method is neutral. Otherwise, the length and/or the width is
increased according to the given arguments.
An explicit call to this method can be replaced by getTable() with the
additional length and width parameters. outputDelimitersOn()
outputDelimitersOff()
Turns delimiters on or off. Used to mark up text exported by certain
methods like getText or selectTextContent.
The delimiters actually used depends on the table loaded into the
OODoc::Text instance via the 'delimiters' property.outputTextConversion(text)
Returns the conversion in local character set of the given text,
supposed to be in UTF8. The local character set of the document
is used (see the 'local_encoding' property).removeBookmark(id)
See deleteBookmark().removeHeader(position)
removeHeader(element)
Removes the header at the given position (first form).
Example:
$doc->removeHeader(4);
removes the 5th header (whatever its level) counted from the
beginning of the document.
The header to be removed can be indicated by element reference
(second form). In this case, the type of element is not checked and
this method becomes the equivalent of removeElement.removeHyperlink(path, position)
removeHyperlink(element)
Removes any hyperlink contained in the given element, leaving
in place the previously hyperlinked text.removeParagraph(position)
removeParagraph(element)
Removes the paragraph at the given position (first form).
The paragraph to be removed can be indicated by element reference
(second form). In this case, the type of element is not checked and
this method becomes the equivalent of removeElement.removeCellSpan($cell)
Removes the multi-column span of a table cell. The width of the cell
is reduced to the width of its column. The uncovered cells take the
same style and data type as the reduced cell.removeSpan(path, position)
removeSpan(element)
"Flattens" a text element, removing all presentation distinctions
which may mark out some substrings of its content.
See also setSpan().rowStyle(row_element [, style])
rowStyle(table, row [, style])
Reads or modifies a table row's style, in the same way as
columnStyle does for columns.selectDrawPageByName(name)
In a presentation or drawing document, returns the page element
identified by the given name, or undef if the name is unknown.
The names to be used correspond to the displayed page names in
OpenOffice.org Impress.selectElementByBookmark(name)
Returns the element containing the given bookmark.selectElementByContent(filter, [...])
Returns the first text element whose content matches the 'filter'
(which can be an exact string or a regular expression), or undef
if no matching content is found.
With more than one argument, this method can be used for replacement
operations, or user-defined function triggering, in the same
conditions as selectElementsByContent.selectElementsByContent(filter)
selectElementsByContent(filter, replacement)
selectElementsByContent(filter, action [, other_arguments])
This method returns a list of text elements such as paragraphs,
headers or ordered/unordered lists whose content matches the search
criteria contained in 'filter' (which can be an exact string or a
regular expression).
The first form simply returns the given list without modifying the
text.
The second form returns the same list, but replaces all strings
which match the search criteria with the 'replacement' string as it
goes.
The third form, where the 'action' argument is a program function
reference, launches the given function each time the filter string
is matched. If defined, the value returned by the function is used
as the replacement value [29] . If the function returns a null value
(undef) then no replacement is made. If it returns an empty string,
the retrieved text is deleted. The called function receives the rest
of the arguments, in this order:
1) all remaining arguments after 'action' ('other_arguments'), if any.
2) the element containing the retrieved text.
3) the string actually selected. If the filter is an exact string,
it is equal to the filter. If the filter is a regular expression,
it matches the "real" text retrieved.
The returned text (if any) must be encoded in UTF8.
The returned list is the same one returned by the first two forms.
Example:
sub action
{
my ($d, $element, $value) = @_;
if ($value < 100)
{
$d->removeElement($element);
return undef;
}
else
{
return $value * 2;
}
}
@list =
$doc->selectElementsByContent("[0-9]+", \&action, $doc);
In the above code, the subroutine "action" is called each time an
integer (one or more digits) is found. The subroutine receives the
document reference itself as its first argument (an OODoc::Text
object given by the application). Next, it automatically receives
the reference of the element in which the search string was found
(i.e. an integer) and, finally, it receives the exact number found
as its second-last and last arguments respectively. If this number
is less than 100, the element is removed. This is why the subroutine
needed the $doc object, used to invoke the removeElement method. If
more than 100, the number is multiplied by two and the result
replaces the original value in the element. The list returned by
selectElementsByContent contains all elements which contain the
search string, including any which might have been removed by the
called function while it was running.
It is the "main" elements containing strings which matched the
filter which are returned and not any of their sub-elements. For
example, if the returned string is found in one of the items in an
unordered list, the list element is selected and not the item.
Similarly, the table is selected when one of its cells matches the
filter, and the paragraph which is selected when the search string
is found in an attached footnote.
However, a character string cannot be considered to match the filter
unless it is entirely within the same sub-element and all its
characters have the same style. For example, if you were searching
for the string "OpenOffice" using selectElementsByContent, the
following paragraph would not be selected:
This document was created using OpenOffice.org 1.0.1
In this example, the word "OpenOffice" is there but it is divided by
a style change which the logic of selectElementsByContent treats as
belonging to two separate sub-elements. [30] (This is not the same
logic applied by the search function of an office application.)
Note: This method can be used with a "non-filtering" regular
expression (".*") for unconditional movement through all text
elements.selectHyperlinkElement(url_filter)
Retrieves the first hyperlink element (if any) whose the URL matches
the argument. Example:
my $e = $doc->selectHyperlinkElement("cpan");
could return an hyperlink element containing "www.cpan.org" as
well as "search.cpan.org", etc. The URL filter is processed as
a regex.
Note: In order to get the text container (ex: paragraph) where the
hyperlink is located, the application can use the parent() element
method. Example:
my $e = $doc->selectHyperlinkElement("www.cpan.org");
my $p = $e->parent if $e;selectHyperlinkElements(url_filter)
Returns the list of the hyperlink elements whose the URL matches
the argument (and not only the first one).selectParagraphByStyle(stylename)
Returns the first paragraph (if any) using the given style.selectParagraphsByStyle(stylename)
Returns the list of the paragraphs using the given style.selectTextContent(filter)
selectTextContent(filter, replacement)
selectTextContent(filter, action [, other_arguments])
Returns a list of header texts and/or paragraphs (in the document's
own order) which match the given search criteria.
The filter can be an exact string or a regular expression. A filter
set to ".*" (no selection) will result in an export of the entire
text.
In all three forms, this method behaves like
selectElementsByContent, except that it returns text instead of a
list of elements.
Depending on the context (list or scalar), the result is returned in
the form of a list of rows or in the form of a single character
string where the elements are separated by a line-feed ("\n").
Note: called with a "non-filtering" regular expression, this method
will result in a "flat" export of the document:
print $doc->selectTextContent('.*');setHyperlink(path, position, [context,] expression, url)
setHyperlink(element, [context,] expression, url)
Puts an hyperlink on a text area in a given text element.
Example:
$doc->setHyperlink($para, "CPAN", "http://www.cpan.org");
This method works in the same was as setSpan(), described below,
but the text span is hyperlinked, and not presented according
a particular style. So, the last argument must be an URL instead
of a style.setSpan(path, position, [context,] expression, style)
setSpan(element, [context,] expression, style)
Applies a "span" to part of the content of a text element.
In OpenOffice.org XML language, a "span" is a substring whose
presentation style differs from the style of the text element to
which it belongs. For example, a given "span" could be in italics
while the rest of the paragraph is in normal characters.
Caution: the same word has a different meaning when it's used
about table cells (see cellSpan()).
A "span" is therefore a way to use several styles within the same
element, bearing in mind that the paragraph's global style can be
modified by setStyle.
The properties of a text span can be related to any kind of character
string presentation, such as font, font size, font weight, font
style, and colors (background and foreground).
The desired text element is normally indicated by [path, position]
or reference. The optional argument 'context' which consists of an
element reference, allows you (when using [path, position]) to limit
a search to child elements of a particular element (e.g. headers,
footers, unordered lists, etc.).
'expression' is the character string to be highlighted, and 'style'
is obviously the style describing the presentation characteristics
to give to it. See OODoc::Styles for how to construct styles from
code.
As a highlighted string can be quite long or not all known in
advance, you can represent it with a regular expression. Taking the
following paragraph as an example:
"OpenOffice.org is my favourite word processor"
my @list = $doc->selectElementsByContent("OpenOffice");
foreach my $para (@list)
{
$doc->setSpan($para, "Open.*Writer", "Style1");
$doc->setSpan($para, "word.*ssor", "Style2");
}
This sequence selects all text elements (or, more simply,
paragraphs) which contain "OpenOffice". In each of them, the style
"Style1" is given to the string beginning with "Open" and ending
with "Writer" (if found) and the style "Style2" is given to the
string beginning with "word" and ending with "ssor". Defined
elsewhere, Style1 and Style2 would correspond to the required
presentation characteristics. "Style1" and "Style2" must be defined
as text styles (not paragraph styles); these styles can be present
in the source document or created (before or later) by the program
(see createStyle() in OpenOffice::OODoc::Styles).
It's possible, in a single setSpan() call, to give the same style
to more than one text area in a text container. To do so, you just
need to provide several text strings, separated by pipes ("|"), as
the search expression. Example:
$doc->setSpan($para, "OpenOffice|Writer", "MyStyle");
Caution: the current version of this method can neither recognise
nor handle a string located partly in a "span" and partly outside
it. It can, however, create a "span" inside another.
See also removeSpan.setStyle(path, position, style_name)
setStyle(element, style_name)
Obsolete. See textStyle.setText(element, text ,[text, ...])
Alters the setText method of OODoc::XPath, so that it can handle
complex text elements.
If the element is a paragraph, a header of a list item (ordered or
unordered), its content is replaced by the 'text' argument. Caution:
setText deletes and replaces the previous content of the paragraph.
If the element is a table cell, this method is the same as
updateCell.
If the element is a list (ordered or unordered), the content of each
'text' argument (however many) forces the creation of a new item
which is appended to the list (existing items remain unchanged).
Example:
$doc->setText($element, "Peter", "Paul", "John")
adds three items to the list if $element is a list. If $element is,
for example, a paragraph, then the second argument ("Peter") becomes
the content of the paragraph and the other arguments are ignored.
For all other types of element, setText behaves normally as defined
in OODoc::XPath.
Note: setText(), as any other text input method, can't properly
process repeated spaces. So, a sequence of spaces, whatever its
length, is replaced by a single space. See setText() and extendText()
in OpenOffice::OODoc::XPath.tableName(table [, newname])
Returns the current name of a given table, or replaces it with a new
name given as the second argument. The table can be indicated
by number, logical name or reference.
Returns undef unless the given table is defined.
If the new name is the name of an existing table, the table is not
renamed and an error message is produced. tableStyle(table [, style])
Returns the current style of a given table, or replaces it with a
new style given as the second argument. The table can be indicated
by number, logical name or reference.textStyle(path, position [, style])
textStyle(element [, style])
Reads a text element's style or, if a 'style' argument is given,
changes it.
The element can be indicated by the pair [path, position] or by
reference.
Note: the returned value is a literal style identifier or the value
of the element's 'text:style-name' attribute.
Note: this method allows you to attribute a non-existent style to a
paragraph or header. Such a style can be created later (e.g. using
createStyle) or not at all. The actual existence of the style is
only relevant to the needs of the application [31] .updateCell(table, row, column, value [, text])
updateCell(element, value [, text])
Modifies the content of a table cell.
In its first form, indicates a cell by its 3D coordinates, as with
getCell(). In its second form, indicates a cell by its element
reference.
If the cell is set to literal, its content is limited to its text.
In this case, the optional argument "text" is of no use (the text
equals the value).
If the cell is set to numeric (float, currency, date, etc.), you
should generally pass a literal argument as well as the value.
This method can be replaced by the accessor cellValue which allows
reads and writes.userFieldValue(user_field [, value])
Reads the stored value of a given user field or changes it if a
value is provided. The 1st argument can be either the name of the
field (as it appears for the end-user) or a previously loaded
user field element. See also getUserFieldElement().
This method doesn't create any new user field. It can only read or
update an existing one.
If the given user field is numeric (ex: date, currency) the returned
and/or provided value is the internally stored value, and not the
displayed one. The user field is displayed according to a data style
by OpenOffice.org. For example, 'Tuesday, March 1, 2005' is a possible
displayed value for 38412.OpenOffice::OODoc::Element methods
While all the methods above belong to the document object, some
additional methods are defined for individual text containers. These
methods belong to the OpenOffice::OODoc::Element class.isXXX() methods
A set of "isXXX" methods, returning true or false, allow the
to check the type of a given element.
Example:
print "This is a list" if $element->isItemList;
Here is the list of element type indicators:
isBibliographyMark bibliography mark (in the doc. body)
isCovered covered (invisible) table cell
isDrawPage presentation or drawing page
isFootnoteBody footnote body
isFootnoteCitation footnote citation
isHeader header
isItemList list (ordered or unordered)
isListItem list item
isOrderedList ordered list (OOo 1.x only)
isParagraph paragraph
isSequenceDeclarations set of sequence declarations
isSpan span element (see setSpan)
isTable table
isTableCell table cell
isTableRow table row
isUnorderedList unordered list (OOo 1.x only)Other element methods
For a neater and more direct access to element types, see the
getName method of XML::Twig::Elt [28]. Remember that all the
features of XML::Twig::Elt are available for any text container.Properties
No class variables are exported.
Instance properties are the same as for OODoc::XPath, plus:
'delimiters' => delimiter table
hash giving the relation between element types and the delimiters to
use when exporting text (see getText).
'use_delimiters' => delimiter usage (see getText)
indicates whether delimiters are to be used by getText or not when
exporting text. Set to 'on' by default. Can be set to 'off' or
another value to stop or limit use of delimiters.
'header_style' => default header style
indicates the default header style to be used by element creation
methods when no style is specified. Set to 'Heading 1' by default.
'paragraph_style' => default paragraph style
indicates the default paragraph style to be used by element creation
methods when no style is specified. Set to 'Standard' by default.
'field_separator' => field separator
contains the character string to be used as the field separator when
exporting tables. By default it is ";".
'line_separator' => line separator
contains the string to be used to separate lines when exporting
"flat" text. By default, it is a line-feed ("\n").
'max_rows' => max table length (default 32)
'max_cols' => max table width (default 26)
these 2 properties control the size of the "managed area" in a
spreadsheet; the default "managed area" is the A1:Z31 rectangle,
corresponding to the (0,0)-(31,25) coordinates; see getTable() and
getCell() and normalizeSheet() for more explanations.
'expand_tables' => table transformation usage
indicates whether the XML representation of the spreadsheets are to
be expanded in order to allow the same cell/row addressing scheme
as with the tables belonging to text documents; by default, this
property is not set. If this property is set to 'on', the first
access to any sheet will automatically trigger this transformation,
so the explicit normalizeSheet() method will not be needed.
However, this automatic (but costly) transformation has a drawback:
it uses the same 'max_rows' and 'max_cols' values for every targeted
sheet, whatever the really needed managed area for each one.NOTES
See OpenOffice::OODoc::Notes(3) for the footnote citations ([n]) included in this page.
AUTHOR/COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2004-2005 by Genicorp, S.A. (http://www.genicorp.com)
Initial developer: Jean-Marie Gouarne (http://jean.marie.gouarne.online.fr)
Initial English version of the reference manual by Graeme A. Hunter (graeme.hunter@zen.co.uk)
License:
- Genicorp General Public Licence v1.0
- GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1Contact: jmgdoc@cpan.org