Search and replace using f# Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word - ms-word

Question

I want to be able to find and replace words in .docx files, I have working code but it doesn't actually do anything. Could anyone tell me how I can use this code to find and replace words?
open System
#light
#I #"C:\Users\netha\Documents\FSharpTest\packages\Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word\lib\net20"
#r "Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.dll"
module FTEST1 =
open Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word
open System.IO
let comarg x = ref (box x)
let printDocument (doc : Document) =
printfn "Printing %s..." doc.Name
let findAndReplace (doc : Document, findText : string, replaceWithText : string) =
printfn "finding and replacing %s..." doc.Name
//options
let matchCase = comarg false
let matchWholeWord = comarg true
let matchWildCards = comarg false
let matchSoundsLike = comarg false
let matchAllWordForms = comarg false
let forward = comarg true
let format = comarg false
let matchKashida = comarg false
let matchDiacritics = comarg false
let matchAlefHamza = comarg false
let matchControl = comarg false
let read_only = comarg false
let visible = comarg true
let replace = comarg 2
let wrap = comarg 1
//execute find and replace
doc.Content.Find.Execute(
comarg findText,
matchCase,
matchWholeWord,
matchWildCards,
matchSoundsLike,
matchAllWordForms,
forward,
wrap,
format,
comarg replaceWithText,
replace,
matchKashida,
matchDiacritics,
matchAlefHamza,
matchControl)
let wordApp = new Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.ApplicationClass(Visible = true)
let openDocument fileName =
wordApp.Documents.Open(comarg fileName)
// example useage
let closeDocument (doc : Document) =
printfn "Closing %s…" doc.Name
doc.Close(SaveChanges = comarg false)
let findText = "test"
let replaceText = "McTesty"
let findandreplaceinfolders folder findText replaceText =
Directory.GetFiles(folder, "*.docx")
|> Array.iter (fun filePath ->
let doc = openDocument filePath
doc.Activate()
// printDocument doc
findAndReplace(doc, findText, replaceText)
closeDocument doc)
let currentFolder = __SOURCE_DIRECTORY__
printfn "Printing all files in [%s]..." currentFolder
findandreplaceinfolders currentFolder
wordApp.Quit()
printfn "Press any key…"
Console.ReadKey(true) |> ignore
No error messages, all seems to be working fine.

Answer 1

I believe you need to save the document.
doc.Close(SaveChanges = comarg false)
Should instead be
doc.Close(SaveChanges = comarg -1)
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/api/word.wdsaveoptions
It appears that SaveChanges takes a WDSaveOptions
wdDoNotSaveChanges = 0 | wdPromptToSaveChanges = -2 | wdSaveChanges = -1
I originally recommended true because I thought SaveChanges was a boolean but it appears that it is actually an enum.

Answer 2

This code now fully works and will find and replace text in a word document
open System
#light
#I#"C:\Users\netha\Documents\FSharpTest\packages\Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word
\lib\net20"
#r "Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.dll"
module FTEST1 =
open Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word
open System.IO
let comarg x = ref (box x)
let printDocument (doc : Document) =
printfn "Printing %s..." doc.Name
let findAndReplace (doc : Document, findText : string, replaceWithText : string) =
printfn "finding and replacing %s..." doc.Name
//options
let matchCase = comarg false
let matchWholeWord = comarg true
let matchWildCards = comarg false
let matchSoundsLike = comarg false
let matchAllWordForms = comarg false
let forward = comarg true
let format = comarg false
let matchKashida = comarg false
let matchDiacritics = comarg false
let matchAlefHamza = comarg false
let matchControl = comarg false
let read_only = comarg false
let visible = comarg true
let replace = comarg 2
let wrap = comarg 1
//execute find and replace
let res =
doc.Content.Find.Execute(
comarg findText,
matchCase,
matchWholeWord,
matchWildCards,
matchSoundsLike,
matchAllWordForms,
forward,
wrap,
format,
comarg replaceWithText,
replace,
matchKashida,
matchDiacritics,
matchAlefHamza,
matchControl)
printfn "Result of Execute is: %b" res
let wordApp = new Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.ApplicationClass(Visible = true)
let openDocument fileName =
wordApp.Documents.Open(comarg fileName)
// example useage
let closeDocument (doc : Document) =
printfn "Closing %s…" doc.Name
// wdDoNotSaveChanges = 0 | wdPromptToSaveChanges = -2 | wdSaveChanges = -1
doc.Close(SaveChanges = comarg -1)
let findText = "test"
let replaceText = "McTesty"
let findandreplaceinfolders folder findText replaceText =
Directory.GetFiles(folder, "*.docx")
|> Array.iter (fun filePath ->
let doc = openDocument filePath
doc.Activate()
// printDocument doc
printfn "I work"
findAndReplace(doc, findText, replaceText)
closeDocument doc)
let currentFolder = __SOURCE_DIRECTORY__
printfn "Printing all files in [%s]..." currentFolder
findandreplaceinfolders currentFolder findText replaceText
wordApp.Quit()
printfn "Press any key…"
Console.ReadKey(true) |> ignore