Topic: Variable replacement in parse mode in text field added in a textbox

Posted by npoapplications · 26-05-2023 - 08:55

Hi,

I have a minimal example which produces invalid xml in parse mode when a variable is used in a textfield:

$docx = new CreateDocxFromTemplate($docxPath);
$docx->setTemplateSymbol('##');
$docx->setParseMode(true);

$docx->replaceVariableByText([$key => $placeholderValue]);

Without parseMode the variable isn't detected at all.

This template used work without problems in PHPDocx 6.5, but after upgrading to 14 it produces this error:

DOMDocument::loadXML(): Opening and ending tag mismatch: shape line 1 and t in Entity, line: 1
---ERRFILE---
/var/www/html/library/phpdocx/Classes/Phpdocx/Utilities/XmlUtilities.php
---ERRLINE---
30

Posted by admin · 26-05-2023 - 09:56

Hello,

Since phpdocx 11, that supports using ${ } to wrap placeholders, when using different symbols at the beginning and the end or a symbol greater than 1 byte character, a custom CreateDocxFromTemplate::$regExprVariableSymbols must be set.
In previous versions a single symbol could be used: $, #, @... Using symbols with more than one character was not recommended because MS Word may break them in several tags.

On the API page (https://www.phpdocx.com/api-documentation/templates/set-Word-template-placeholder-variable-symbol) you can read more information about this.

The easiest approach is using a single symbol ($, |, @...) or the default ${ } to wrap placeholders; in these cases you don't need to do any change in CreateDocxFromTemplate::$regExprVariableSymbols.

In your case, as you are using ## to wrap placeholders, please test the following code:

$docx = new CreateDocxFromTemplate('document.docx');
CreateDocxFromTemplate::$regExprVariableSymbols = '##(.*)##';
$docx->setTemplateSymbol('##');

$docx->replaceVariableByText([$key => $placeholderValue]);

A more complex approach could also be used to fix broken ## symbols as MS Word may add:

$docx = new CreateDocxFromTemplate('document.docx');
CreateDocxFromTemplate::$regExprVariableSymbols = '#(.*)#(.*)#(.*)#';
$docx->setTemplateSymbol('##');

$docx->replaceVariableByText([$key => $placeholderValue]);

If you sent to contact[at]phpdocx your sample DOCX we'll check it and test with the parseMode option.

On https://www.phpdocx.com/faqs/forum/default/topic/2172 you can read a post of another user with a similar request.

Regards.

Posted by npoapplications · 26-05-2023 - 10:17

Thank you very much, it works without parseMode and your suggested regex.
I falsely understood the api documentation that setting regExprVariableSymbols wasn't neccessary when using identical symbols at beginning and end but apparently this is limited to a single identical symbol.

I will send the template to the contact address in case you want to check parse mode anyway.

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