template replaceBlock() inserts text wrong in XML

[soren-bang]

Greetings,

I have just recently started using PHPWord and up until now everything works as expected.

Using a simple document to test the template replaceBlock() function gives me a problem - it seems the text is inserted into the XML wrongly.

Template looks like this:

--- TP ---
${TP}

TEST

${/TP}
-- /TP ---

And after executing $document->replaceBlock('TP', 'THIS IS A SMALL TEST'); the result looks like this:

--- TP ---
-- /TP ---

When I examine the XML, the replacement has taken place - it's 'just' placed outside the structure:

<w:p w:rsidR="004F5777" w:rsidRDefault="005F5003">
<w:r>
<w:t>--- TP ---< /w:t>
</w:r>
</w:p>THIS IS A SMALL TEST< w:p w:rsidR="008A240D" w:rsidRDefault="005F5003">
<w:r>
<w:t>--- /TP ---< /w:t>
</w:r>
</w:p>

Am I being a knob and is doing something wrong or is it the code?

Thanks for listening!

:S:

---

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[Salastn76]

Hi,
I have the same problem.
Thanks

[alpha1125]

I'm also have the same problem.

I've tried to creating the template from:

• Mac Word 2011
• LibreOffice
• Google Docs.

All provided templates cause the issue when opening in Mac Word:

"The Open XML file cannot be opened because there are problems with the contents or the file name might contain invalid characters (for example, /).

Details
No error detail available
Location: 2

[samdark]

webadev@d825ff7 fixes the issue. @troosan is there a chance to get it merged into master in nearby future?

[robov]

Thanks @samdark , looking forward to the merge @troosan so I can actually use the replaceblock

[FBnil]

@samdark @robov
I do not find the fix being a fix per-se (it is beautiful code though). You see, when you grab a block, it is actually the whole paragraph you grab, thus <w:p>...${variable}...</w:p>, and thus, the blockReplace() expects you to replace it with an xml block yourself, not "my text".

This is actually the way to do a blockReplace(). Each block in a separate line (so a paragraph)

${myblock}
${variable}
${/myblock}

And so you have a block, and you can cloneBlock("myblock", 1); to get rid of the block tags, and setValue('variable#1', "my text"); (or setValue('variable', "my text"); depending on the version you are on).

This current, intended usage if blockReplace() is to, for example, grab a signature block (xml) from another document and insert it into our document, as setValue() can not do such thing (only text, not formatting; formatting should already be present).

The only case I can think about is having a default value of sorts:

Dear ${gender}sir${/gender}, please find the attachment in the envelope.

with pseudo code:

if($gender == 'man'){
  cloneInlineBlock("gender", 1); // remove the block variables
}else{
   replaceInlineBlock("gender", "Madam"); // Make the text read "Dear Madam, please...."
}

or using it to delete a block without making the text below slide upwards due to a deleted element (similar to replacing all letters with whitespace to keep the formatting exact).

What are your thoughts?

[robov]

The problem I had was the same as the initial poster.... hacking the code with the suggestion of Samdark fixed the issue.
I have inline and non-inline blocks that I want to replace with simple text

[FBnil]

@robov can you test my code? TemplateProcessor.php with inline block support. This is a totally different approach (not xpathy but rposy)

[ezequielrds]

The method cloneBlock acceppts a integer as a second parameter. This parameter set the amount of times the block will be cloned.
So, if you set 0, it will clone "0 times", what means that the block will be replaced by nothing:

$template->cloneBlock("blockname", 0);

It works.

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs.
If this is still an issue for you, please try to help by debugging it further and sharing your results.
Thank you for your contributions.

[allestaire]

The replaceBlock wont show its replacement string to the output doc.