traverse-all-locations-in-word-documents

name	Traverse All Locations in Word Documents
description	Use this skill when you need to find and process text in Word documents beyond just `doc.paragraphs`. Include tables, headers, and footers to ensure no content is missed.

Locations to Process

1. Main body paragraphs: doc.paragraphs
2. Table cells: Iterate doc.tables → rows → cells → paragraphs
3. Headers: doc.sections[*].header.paragraphs
4. Footers: doc.sections[*].footer.paragraphs

Algorithm

def get_all_paragraphs(doc):
    paragraphs = []
    
    # Main body
    paragraphs.extend(doc.paragraphs)
    
    # Tables
    for table in doc.tables:
        for row in table.rows:
            for cell in row.cells:
                paragraphs.extend(cell.paragraphs)
    
    # Headers and footers
    for section in doc.sections:
        paragraphs.extend(section.header.paragraphs)
        paragraphs.extend(section.footer.paragraphs)
    
    return paragraphs

Processing Strategy

• Use this function when you need to process all text locations (replacements, conditional handling, validation)
• Maintain iteration order to ensure markers like {{IF_*}} and {{END_IF_*}} are encountered in the correct sequence
• Collect elements to delete first, then delete after iteration completes