Working With Paragraphs

Article
07/30/2014

Applies to: Excel 2010 | Office 2010 | PowerPoint 2010 | Word 2010

In this article
Paragraphs in WordprocessingML
Paragraph Class
Example

This topic discusses the Open XML SDK 2.0Paragraph class and how it relates to the Open XML File Format WordprocessingML schema.

Paragraphs in WordprocessingML

The following text from the ISO/IEC 29500 specification introduces the Open XML WordprocessingML element used to represent a paragraph in a WordprocessingML document.

The most basic unit of block-level content within a WordprocessingML document, paragraphs are stored using the <p> element. A paragraph defines a distinct division of content that begins on a new line. A paragraph can contain three pieces of information: optional paragraph properties, inline content (typically runs), and a set of optional revision IDs used to compare the content of two documents.

A paragraph's properties are specified via the <pPr>element. Some examples of paragraph properties are alignment, border, hyphenation override, indentation, line spacing, shading, text direction, and widow/orphan control.

The following table lists the most common Open XML SDK classes used when working with paragraphs.

WordprocessingML element	Open XML SDK 2.0 Class
p	Paragraph
pPr	ParagraphProperties
r	Run
t	Text

Paragraph Class

The OXML SDK Paragraph class represents the paragraph (<p>) element defined in the Open XML File Format schema for WordprocessingML documents as discussed above. Use the Paragraph object to manipulate individual <p> elements in a WordprocessingML document.

ParagraphProperties Class

In WordprocessingML, a paragraph's properties are specified via the paragraph properties (<pPr>) element. Some examples of paragraph properties are alignment, border, hyphenation override, indentation, line spacing, shading, text direction, and widow/orphan control. The OXML SDK ParagraphProperties class represents the <pPr> element.

Run Class

Paragraphs in a word-processing document most often contain text. In the OXML File Format schema for WordprocessingML documents, the run (<r>) element is provided to demarcate a region of text. The OXML SDK Run class represents the <r> element.

Text Object

With the <r> element, the text (<t>) element is the container for the text that makes up the document content. The OXML SDK Text class represents the <t> element.

Example

The following code instantiates an Open XML SDK 2.0 Paragraph object and then uses it to add text to a WordprocessingML document.

public static void WriteToWordDoc(string filepath, string txt)
{
    // Open a WordprocessingDocument for editing using the filepath.
    using (WordprocessingDocument wordprocessingDocument =
         WordprocessingDocument.Open(filepath, true))
    {
        // Assign a reference to the existing document body.
        Body body = wordprocessingDocument.MainDocumentPart.Document.Body;

        // Add a paragraph with some text.
        Paragraph para = body.AppendChild(new Paragraph());
        Run run = para.AppendChild(new Run());
        run.AppendChild(new Text(txt));
    }
}

Public Sub WriteToWordDoc(ByVal filepath As String, ByVal txt As String)
    ' Open a WordprocessingDocument for editing using the filepath.
    Using wordprocessingDocument As WordprocessingDocument = _
        WordprocessingDocument.Open(filepath, True)
        ' Assign a reference to the existing document body.
        Dim body As Body = wordprocessingDocument.MainDocumentPart.Document.Body

        ' Add a paragraph with some text.            
        Dim para As Paragraph = body.AppendChild(New Paragraph())
        Dim run As Run = para.AppendChild(New Run())
        run.AppendChild(New Text(txt))
    End Using

End Sub

When this code is run, the following XML is written to the WordprocessingML document referenced in the code.

<w:p>
  <w:r>
    <w:t>String from WriteToWordDoc method.</w:t>
  </w:r>
</w:p>