YAML → Docx

YAML → Docx is a simple tool to generate Word documents (.docx) from a template and a YAML (.yml/.yaml) file containing values.

The main goal of this tool is to allow automating Word documents generation, in a CI/CD pipeline, a build process, etc., to easily create delivery notes, reports and much more.

Get started

• Install and configure PHP
• Download the latest release
• Run the tool: php yamltodocx.phar path/to/template.docx path/to/values.yml path/to/output.docx

Read the usage section and the full example for more details on how to use this tool.

Usage

How it works

YAML → Docx takes two input files:

• A Word template (<template>): a classic .docx file with variables to replace (e.g. ${key})
• A YAML file (<values>): a YAML file with values to set in the template file (e.g. key: value)

The tool loads the template file, populates the placeholders with values from the YAML file (e.g. ${key} will be replaced by value) and saves the generated .docx to the specified output file (<output>).

CLI

php yamltodocx.phar <template> <values> <output> [--overwrite]

Arguments

Argument	Description	Example
<template>	Path to the template file	path/to/template.docx
<values>	Path to the YAML file with values	path/to/values.yml
<output>	Path to the output file	path/to/output.docx

Options

Option	Shortcut	Description
--overwrite	-o	Overwrite the output file if it already exists

Example

1/ Create a template file (template.docx) with placeholders (${key}):

Title: ${title}

Subtitle: ${subtitle}

Name	Description	Value
${name}	${desc}	${value}

2/ Provide a YAML file (values.yml) with values to populate in the template:

# Basic variables
title: Lorem ipsum
subtitle: Dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit
# Array
name: # Array row selector (one of the fields)
  - name: "Name 1"
    desc: "Description 1"
    value: "Value 1"
  - name: "Name 2"
    desc: "Description 2"
    value: "Value 2"
  - name: "Name 3"
    desc: "Description 3"
    value: "Value 3"

3/ Run YAML → Docx:

php yamltodocx.phar template.docx values.yml output.docx

4/ The generated file (output.docx) should look like this:

Title: Lorem ipsum

Subtitle: Dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit

Name	Description	Value
Name 1	Description 1	Value 1
Name 2	Description 2	Value 2
Name 3	Description 3	Value 3

Thanks

Thanks to the team (and the contributors) behind PHPWord, a wonderful library for reading and writing Word documents.

License

YAML → Docx is licensed under the GNU General Public License.