how-to-create-a-package.md

api_name	api_type	ms.assetid	title	ms.suite	ms.author	author	ms.topic	ms.date	ms.localizationpriority
Microsoft.Office.DocumentFormat.OpenXML.Packaging	schema	fe261589-7b04-47df-8ee9-26b444e587b0	How to: Create a package	office	o365devx	o365devx	conceptual	11/01/2017	medium

Create a package

This topic shows how to use the classes in the Open XML SDK for Office to programmatically create a word processing document package from content in the form of WordprocessingML XML markup.

[!includeStructure]

Getting a WordprocessingDocument Object

In the Open XML SDK, the WordprocessingDocument class represents a Word document package. To create a Word document, you create an instance of the WordprocessingDocument class and populate it with parts. At a minimum, the document must have a main document part that serves as a container for the main text of the document. The text is represented in the package as XML using WordprocessingML markup.

To create the class instance you call the Create(String, WordprocessingDocumentType) method. Several Create methods are provided, each with a different signature. The sample code in this topic uses the Create method with a signature that requires two parameters. The first parameter takes a full path string that represents the document that you want to create. The second parameter is a member of the WordprocessingDocumentType enumeration. This parameter represents the type of document. For example, there is a different member of the WordProcessingDocumentType enumeration for each of document, template, and the macro enabled variety of document and template.

Note

Carefully select the appropriate WordProcessingDocumentType and verify that the persisted file has the correct, matching file extension. If the WordProcessingDocumentType does not match the file extension, an error occurs when you open the file in Microsoft Word. The code that calls the Create method is part of a using statement followed by a bracketed block, as shown in the following code example.

C#

    using (WordprocessingDocument wordDoc = WordprocessingDocument.Create(document, WordprocessingDocumentType.Document))
    {
       // Insert other code here. 
    }

Visual Basic

    Using wordDoc As WordprocessingDocument = WordprocessingDocument.Create(document, WordprocessingDocumentType.Document)
       ' Insert other code here. 
    End Using

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The using statement provides a recommended alternative to the typical .Create, .Save, .Close sequence. It ensures that the Dispose () method (internal method used by the Open XML SDK to clean up resources) is automatically called when the closing bracket is reached. The block that follows the using statement establishes a scope for the object that is created or named in the using statement, in this case wordDoc. Because the WordprocessingDocument class in the Open XML SDK automatically saves and closes the object as part of its System.IDisposable implementation, and because Dispose is automatically called when you exit the bracketed block, you do not have to explicitly call Save and Close─as long as you use using.

Once you have created the Word document package, you can add parts to it. To add the main document part you call the AddMainDocumentPart() method of the WordprocessingDocument class. Having done that, you can set about adding the document structure and text.

[!includeStructure]

Sample Code

The following is the complete code sample that you can use to create an Open XML word processing document package from XML content in the form of WordprocessingML markup. In your program, you can invoke the method CreateNewWordDocument by using the following call:

C#

    CreateNewWordDocument(@"C:\Users\Public\Documents\MyPkg4.docx");

Visual Basic

    CreateNewWordDocument("C:\Users\Public\Documents\MyPkg4.docx")

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After you run the program, open the created file "myPkg4.docx" and examine its content; it should be one paragraph that contains the phrase "Hello world!"

Following is the complete sample code in both C# and Visual Basic.

C#

[!code-csharp]

Visual Basic

[!code-vb]

See also

• Open XML SDK class library reference