docx-shell-workaround

# DOCX Shell Workaround ## When to Use Use this skill when: - `read_file` cannot extract content from .docx files - `execute_code_sandbox` encounters failures when creating or modifying docx files - You need a reliable fallback for docx file manipulation ## Reading DOCX Files ### Step 1: Extract document.xml using unzip Use `run_shell` to unzip the .docx file (which is a ZIP archive) and extract the main document XML: ```bash unzip -p input.docx word/document.xml > document.xml ``` ### Step 2: Parse XML with ElementTree via run_shell Extract text content by parsing the XML. Use `run_shell` to execute Python code: ```bash python3 << 'EOF' import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET tree = ET.parse('document.xml') root = tree.getroot() namespace = {'w': 'http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordprocessingml/2006/main'} text_content = [] for elem in root.iter(): if elem.tag.endswith('t'): if elem.text: text_content.append(elem.text) text = ''.join(text_content) print(text) EOF ``` ### Step 3: Optional - More robust XML parsing For better text extraction that handles paragraphs: ```bash python3 << 'EOF' import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET tree = ET.parse('document.xml') root = tree.getroot() ns = {'w': 'http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordprocessingml/2006/main'} paragraphs = [] for p in root.findall('.//w:p', ns): para_text = [] for t in p.findall('.//w:t', ns): if t.text: para_text.append(t.text) if para_text: paragraphs.append(''.join(para_text)) for para in paragraphs: print(para) EOF ``` ## Creating DOCX Files ### Use python-docx via run_shell (NOT execute_code_sandbox) When `execute_code_sandbox` fails for docx operations, use `run_shell` instead: ```bash python3 << 'EOF' from docx import Document from docx.shared import Inches, Pt from docx.enum.text import WD_ALIGN_PARAGRAPH doc = Document() # Add heading doc.add_heading('Document Title', 0) # Add paragraph doc.add_paragraph('Your content here.') # Add section with heading doc.add_heading('Section Title', level=1) doc.add_paragraph('Section content with multiple paragraphs.') # Add table if needed table = doc.add_table(rows=3, cols=3) table.style = 'Table Grid' # Save document doc.save('output.docx') print("Document created successfully") EOF ``` ### Example: Creating a structured business document ```bash python3 << 'EOF' from docx import Document from docx.shared import Pt doc = Document() # Title title = doc.add_heading('Business Strategy Memo', 0) title.alignment = 1 # Center # Executive Summary doc.add_heading('Executive Summary', level=1) doc.add_paragraph('Brief overview of key points and recommendations.') # Market Overview doc.add_heading('Market Overview', level=1) doc.add_paragraph('Analysis of current market conditions and trends.') # Recommendations doc.add_heading('Recommendations', level=1) doc.add_paragraph('Actionable recommendations based on analysis.') doc.save('Strategy_Memo.docx') EOF ``` ## Full Workflow Example Complete example showing extraction and creation: ```bash # Step 1: Extract content from existing docx unzip -p existing.docx word/document.xml > doc.xml # Step 2: Parse and transform content python3 << 'EOF' import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET tree = ET.parse('doc.xml') root = tree.getroot() ns = {'w': 'http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordprocessingml/2006/main'} content = [] for p in root.findall('.//w:p', ns): para_text = [] for t in p.findall('.//w:t', ns): if t.text: para_text.append(t.text) if para_text: content.append(''.join(para_text)) # Write extracted content to file for reference with open('extracted.txt', 'w') as f: for line in content: f.write(line + '\n') EOF # Step 3: Create new docx with modified content python3 << 'EOF' from docx import Document doc = Document() doc.add_heading('Updated Document', 0) with open('extracted.txt', 'r') as f: for line in f: if line.strip(): doc.add_paragraph(line.strip()) doc.save('updated.docx') EOF ``` ## Key Points 1. **Always use `run_shell`** - Not `execute_code_sandbox` for docx operations 2. **DOCX is a ZIP archive** - Contains XML files including word/document.xml 3. **Use `unzip -p`** - The `-p` flag outputs to stdout, useful for piping 4. **Handle XML namespaces** - Word XML uses the `w:` namespace prefix 5. **Install python-docx if needed** - Run `pip install python-docx` in the shell if not available ## Troubleshooting If python-docx is not installed: ```bash pip install python-docx ``` If unzip is not available: ```bash # Use Python's zipfile module instead python3 -c "import zipfile; z=zipfile.ZipFile('file.docx'); print(z.read('word/document.xml').decode('utf-8', errors='ignore'))" ``` If XML parsing fails: - Check the namespace URI matches your document version - Use `.endswith('t')` instead of full namespace matching for flexibility - Handle encoding issues with `errors='ignore'` parameter