OfficeIMO.Word — .NET Word Utilities

OfficeIMO.Word is a cross‑platform .NET library for creating and editing Microsoft Word (.docx) documents on top of Open XML.

• Targets: netstandard2.0, net472, net8.0, net9.0
• License: MIT
• NuGet: OfficeIMO.Word
• Dependencies: DocumentFormat.OpenXml, SixLabors.ImageSharp

AOT / Trimming notes

• Core Word APIs avoid private reflection; converters are AOT‑aware.
• Macro removal uses OpenXmlPackage reflection and is annotated for trimming.

Quick starts and runnable samples live in OfficeIMO.Examples/Word/*.

Install

dotnet add package OfficeIMO.Word

Hello, Word

using OfficeIMO.Word;

using var doc = WordDocument.Create("example.docx");
var p = doc.AddParagraph("Hello OfficeIMO.Word");
p.SetBold();
doc.Sections[0].Headers.Default.AddParagraph("Header");
doc.Sections[0].Footers.Default.AddParagraph("Page ");
doc.Sections[0].Footers.Default.AddPageNumber();
doc.Save();

Common Tasks by Example

Paragraphs and runs

var p = doc.AddParagraph("Title");
p.SetBold();
p = doc.AddParagraph("Body text");
p.AddText(" with italic").SetItalic();
p.AddText(" and code").SetFontFamily("Consolas");

Tables

var t = doc.AddTable(3, 3);
t[1,1].Text = "Header 1"; t[1,2].Text = "Header 2"; t[1,3].Text = "Header 3";
t.HeaderRow = true; t.Style = WordTableStyle.TableGrid;
t.MergeCells(2,1, 2,3); // row 2, col 1..3

Images

var imgP = doc.AddParagraph();
imgP.AddImage("logo.png", width: 96, height: 32);

Headers, footers, and page numbers

var sec = doc.Sections[0];
sec.Headers.Default.AddParagraph("Report");
var f = sec.Footers.Default;
f.AddParagraph().AddText("Page ");
f.AddPageNumber();

Hyperlinks

doc.AddParagraph().AddHyperLink("OpenAI", new Uri("https://openai.com/"));

Fields

var para = doc.AddParagraph();
var field = para.AddField(WordFieldType.Date, wordFieldFormat: WordFieldFormat.ShortDate);

Mail Merge (MERGEFIELD)

var para2 = doc.AddParagraph();
// Simple MERGEFIELD with a custom format
para2.AddField(WordFieldType.MergeField, customFormat: "CustomerName");
// Advanced builder for complex instructions/switches
var builder = new WordFieldBuilder(WordFieldType.MergeField)
    .CustomFormat("OrderTotal")
    .Format(WordFieldFormat.Numeric);
para2.AddField(builder);

Footnotes / Endnotes

var r = doc.AddParagraph("See note").AddText(" ");
r.AddFootNote("This is a footnote.");

Content controls

var sdtPara = doc.AddParagraph("Name: ");
var dd = sdtPara.AddDropDownList(new[]{"Alpha","Beta","Gamma"});

Shapes and charts (basic)

var shp = doc.AddShape(ShapeTypeValues.Rectangle, 150, 50);
shp.FillColorHex = "#E7FFE7"; shp.StrokeColorHex = "#008000";
var ch = doc.AddChart(ChartType.Bar, 400, 250);
ch.AddSeries("S1", new[]{1,3,2});
ch.AddLegend(LegendPositionValues.Right);
ch.SetXAxisTitle("Categories");
ch.SetYAxisTitle("Values");

Watermarks

doc.SetTextWatermark("CONFIDENTIAL", opacity: 0.15);

Protection

doc.ProtectDocument(enforce: true, password: "secret");

Table of Contents (TOC)

// Add headings (styles must map to heading levels)
doc.AddParagraph("Chapter 1").SetStyle("Heading1");
doc.AddParagraph("Section 1.1").SetStyle("Heading2");
// Insert TOC near the top (field will update on open)
doc.Paragraphs[0].AddField(WordFieldType.TOC);

Converters — HTML / Markdown / PDF

// HTML
using OfficeIMO.Word.Html;
var html = WordHtmlConverter.ToHtml(doc);
var doc2 = WordHtmlConverter.FromHtml("<h1>Hi</h1><p>Generated</p>");

// Markdown
using OfficeIMO.Word.Markdown;
var md = WordMarkdownConverter.ToMarkdown(doc);
var doc3 = WordMarkdownConverter.FromMarkdown("# Title\nBody");

// PDF
using OfficeIMO.Word.Pdf;
doc.SaveAsPdf("out.pdf");

HTML via Markdown (OfficeIMO.Markdown)

using OfficeIMO.Word.Markdown; // also uses OfficeIMO.Markdown under the hood

// Full HTML document or embeddable fragment produced via Markdown pipeline
var htmlDoc  = doc.ToHtmlViaMarkdown();
var htmlFrag = doc.ToHtmlFragmentViaMarkdown();

// Save to file (supports external CSS sidecar via HtmlOptions)
doc.SaveAsHtmlViaMarkdown("report.html");

Fluent API Shortcuts

Common shortcuts for composing content:

• H1..H6(string) — adds styled heading paragraphs
• P(string) — adds a plain paragraph
• Ul(Action<ListBuilder>) — bulleted list; supports .Item, .ItemLink, .ItemTask
• Ol(Action<ListBuilder>) — numbered list; supports .Item, .ItemLink
• Paragraph(pb => pb.Text/Link/Bold/Italic/Underline/Strike/Code/InlineImage(...)) — inline helpers
• Table(tb => tb.Headers(...).Row(...).Rows(...)) — convenience wrappers

Example

using OfficeIMO.Word.Fluent;

var fluent = new WordFluentDocument(doc)
    .H1("Report")
    .P("All‑in‑one DNS/TLS report.")
    .Ul(ul => ul.Item("SPF/DKIM/DMARC").ItemLink("Docs", "https://evotec.xyz"))
    .Ol(ol => ol.Item("Step one").Item("Step two"))
    .Paragraph(p => p.Bold("Note:").Text(" Works with Markdown too."));

Feature Highlights

• Document: create/load/save, clean/repair, compatibility settings, protection
• Sections: margins, size/orientation, columns, headers/footers (first/even/odd)
• Paragraphs/Runs: bold/italic/underline/strike, shading, tabs, breaks, justification
• Tables: create, merge/split, borders/shading, widths, header row repeat, page breaks
• Images: add from file/stream/base64/URL, wrap/layout, crop/opacity/flip/rotate, position
• Hyperlinks: internal/external with tooltip/target
• Fields: add/read/remove/update (DATE, TOC, PAGE, MERGEFIELD, etc.)
• Footnotes/Endnotes: add/read/remove
• Bookmarks/Cross‑references: add/read/remove
• Content controls (SDT): checkbox/date/dropdown/combobox/picture/repeating section
• Shapes/SmartArt: basic shapes with fill/stroke; SmartArt detection
• Charts: pie/bar/line/combo/scatter/area/radar with axes, legends, multiple series
• Styles: paragraph/run styles, borders, shading

Explore OfficeIMO.Examples/Word/* for complete scenarios.

Detailed Feature Matrix

• 📄 Documents
  • ✅ Create/Load/Save, SaveAs (sync/async); clean & repair
  • ✅ Compatibility settings; document variables; protection (read‑only recommended/final/enforced)
  • ⚠️ Digital signatures (basic scenarios); ✅ macros (add/extract/remove modules)
• 📑 Sections & Page Setup
  • ✅ Orientation, paper size, margins, columns
  • ✅ Headers/footers (default/even/first), page breaks, repeating table header rows, background color
• ✍️ Paragraphs & Runs
  • ✅ Styles (paragraph/run); bold/italic/underline/strike; shading; alignment; indentation; line spacing; tabs/tab stops
  • ✅ Find/replace helpers
• 🧱 Tables
  • ✅ Create/append; built‑in styles (105); borders/shading; widths; merge/split (H/V); nested tables
  • ✅ Row heights and page‑break control; merged‑cell detection
• 🖼️ Images
  • ✅ From file/stream/base64/URL; alt text
  • ✅ Size (px/pt/EMU); wrap/layout; crop; transparency; flip/rotate; position; read/write EMU sizes
• 🔗 Links & Bookmarks
  • ✅ External/internal hyperlinks (tooltip/target); bookmarks; cross‑references
• 🧾 Fields
  • ✅ Add/read/remove/update (DATE, PAGE, NUMPAGES, TOC, MERGEFIELD, …)
  • ✅ Simple and advanced representations; custom formats
• 📝 Notes
  • ✅ Footnotes and endnotes: add/read/remove
• 🧩 Content Controls (SDT)
  • ✅ Checkbox, date picker, dropdown, combobox, picture, repeating section
• 📊 Charts
  • ✅ Pie/Bar/Line/Combo/Scatter/Area/Radar; axes/legends/series; axis titles
  • ⚠️ Formatting depth varies by chart type
• 🔷 Shapes/SmartArt
  • ✅ Basic AutoShapes with fill/stroke; ⚠️ SmartArt detection/limited operations

Dependencies & Versions

• DocumentFormat.OpenXml: 3.3.x (range [3.3.0, 4.0.0))
• SixLabors.ImageSharp: 2.1.x
• License: MIT

Converters (adjacent packages)

• HTML: OfficeIMO.Word.Html (AngleSharp) — convert to/from HTML
• Markdown: OfficeIMO.Word.Markdown — convert to/from Markdown using OfficeIMO.Markdown
• PDF: OfficeIMO.Word.Pdf (QuestPDF/SkiaSharp) — export to PDF

Note: Converters are in active development and will be released to NuGet once they meet quality and test coverage goals. Until then, they ship in‑repo for early evaluation.

Notes on Versioning

• Minor releases may include additive APIs and perf improvements.
• Patch releases fix bugs and compatibility issues without breaking APIs.

Notes

• Cross‑platform: no COM automation, no Office required.
• Deterministic save order to keep Excel/Word “file repair” dialogs at bay.
• Nullable annotations enabled; APIs strive to be safe and predictable.