I have a document (.docx) that has multiple comments. Is there a way to extract each comment text, and the text that has been commented on? For reference, looking to do this with Python.
import aspose-words as aw
doc = aw.Document(path)
@dgruppo You can easily extract comment text by extracting Comment nodes from the document. For example see the following code:
doc = aw.Document("C:\\Temp\\in.docx")
# Get comments.
comments = doc.get_child_nodes(aw.NodeType.COMMENT, True)
for node in comments :
comment = node.as_comment()
print(comment.to_string(aw.SaveFormat.TEXT))
Commented text in the document is marked with a special nodes CommentRangeStart and CommentRangeEnd, you can use code like shown in this article to extract content between these nodes:
https://docs.aspose.com/words/python-net/how-to-extract-selected-content-between-nodes-in-a-document/#extract-content-from-a-comment
Comment and corresponding CommentRangeStart/CommentRangeEnd can be matched by Comment.id and corresponding CommentRangeStart.id/CommentRangeEnd.id properties.
Thank you for the help! The script above successfully extracts the document’s comments and there ID’s using Comment.id however, I was unable to build the script to extract the comment’s reference text with the link provided as there is no helper. definition. Is there something I am doing wrong? Wondering how I can loop over each reference text and extract it’s text and corresponding ID to match it to the comment ID.
@dgruppo You can fins the required class and code on our Github. Please let us know if you still need help with implementation.
Have to be honest, I don’t yet have a full grasp of object oriented programming. When it comes time to the class instances, it is all foreign to me. Tried reading though the class instance but was unable to determine how I could use this to loop through the document to extract the text that was commented on and it’s corresponding ID. Any guidance on how to proceed?
@dgruppo Here is code for extracting commented text:
import aspose.words as aw
class ExtractContentHelper:
@staticmethod
def extract_content(start_node: aw.Node, end_node: aw.Node, is_inclusive: bool):
# First, check that the nodes passed to this method are valid for use.
ExtractContentHelper.verify_parameter_nodes(start_node, end_node)
# Create a list to store the extracted nodes.
nodes = []
# If either marker is part of a comment, including the comment itself, we need to move the pointer
# forward to the Comment Node found after the CommentRangeEnd node.
if end_node.node_type == aw.NodeType.COMMENT_RANGE_END and is_inclusive:
node = ExtractContentHelper.find_next_node(aw.NodeType.COMMENT, end_node.next_sibling)
if node is not None:
end_node = node
# Keep a record of the original nodes passed to this method to split marker nodes if needed.
original_start_node = start_node
original_end_node = end_node
# Extract content based on block-level nodes (paragraphs and tables). Traverse through parent nodes to find them.
# We will split the first and last nodes' content, depending if the marker nodes are inline.
start_node = ExtractContentHelper.get_ancestor_in_body(start_node)
end_node = ExtractContentHelper.get_ancestor_in_body(end_node)
is_extracting = True
is_starting_node = True
# The current node we are extracting from the document.
curr_node = start_node
# Begin extracting content. Process all block-level nodes and specifically split the first
# and last nodes when needed, so paragraph formatting is retained.
# Method is a little more complicated than a regular extractor as we need to factor
# in extracting using inline nodes, fields, bookmarks, etc. to make it useful.
while is_extracting:
# Clone the current node and its children to obtain a copy.
clone_node = curr_node.clone(True)
is_ending_node = curr_node == end_node
if is_starting_node or is_ending_node:
# We need to process each marker separately, so pass it off to a separate method instead.
# End should be processed at first to keep node indexes.
if is_ending_node:
# !isStartingNode: don't add the node twice if the markers are the same node.
ExtractContentHelper.process_marker(clone_node, nodes, original_end_node, curr_node, is_inclusive, False, not is_starting_node, False)
is_extracting = False
# Conditional needs to be separate as the block level start and end markers, maybe the same node.
if is_starting_node:
ExtractContentHelper.process_marker(clone_node, nodes, original_start_node, curr_node, is_inclusive, True, True, False)
is_starting_node = False
else:
# Node is not a start or end marker, simply add the copy to the list.
nodes.append(clone_node)
# Move to the next node and extract it. If the next node is None,
# the rest of the content is found in a different section.
if curr_node.next_sibling is None and is_extracting:
# Move to the next section.
next_section = curr_node.get_ancestor(aw.NodeType.SECTION).next_sibling.as_section()
curr_node = next_section.body.first_child
else:
# Move to the next node in the body.
curr_node = curr_node.next_sibling
# For compatibility with mode with inline bookmarks, add the next paragraph (empty).
if is_inclusive and original_end_node == end_node and not original_end_node.is_composite:
ExtractContentHelper.include_next_paragraph(end_node, nodes)
# Return the nodes between the node markers.
return nodes
#ExStart:CommonGenerateDocument
@staticmethod
def generate_document(src_doc: aw.Document, nodes):
dst_doc = src_doc.clone(False).as_document()
# Import each node from the list into the new document. Keep the original formatting of the node.
importer = aw.NodeImporter(src_doc, dst_doc, aw.ImportFormatMode.USE_DESTINATION_STYLES)
# Put the section from the source document to retain original section page setup.
dst_doc.append_child(importer.import_node(src_doc.last_section, True))
# Remove all children from the impirted section.
dst_doc.first_section.body.remove_all_children();
for node in nodes:
import_node = importer.import_node(node, True)
dst_doc.first_section.body.append_child(import_node)
return dst_doc
#ExEnd:CommonGenerateDocument
#ExStart:CommonExtractContentHelperMethods
@staticmethod
def verify_parameter_nodes(start_node: aw.Node, end_node: aw.Node):
# The order in which these checks are done is important.
if start_node is None:
raise ValueError("Start node cannot be None")
if end_node is None:
raise ValueError("End node cannot be None")
if start_node.document != end_node.document:
raise ValueError("Start node and end node must belong to the same document")
if start_node.get_ancestor(aw.NodeType.BODY) is None or end_node.get_ancestor(aw.NodeType.BODY) is None:
raise ValueError("Start node and end node must be a child or descendant of a body")
# Check the end node is after the start node in the DOM tree.
# First, check if they are in different sections, then if they're not,
# check their position in the body of the same section.
start_section = start_node.get_ancestor(aw.NodeType.SECTION).as_section()
end_section = end_node.get_ancestor(aw.NodeType.SECTION).as_section()
start_index = start_section.parent_node.index_of(start_section)
end_index = end_section.parent_node.index_of(end_section)
if start_index == end_index:
if (start_section.body.index_of(ExtractContentHelper.get_ancestor_in_body(start_node)) >
end_section.body.index_of(ExtractContentHelper.get_ancestor_in_body(end_node))):
raise ValueError("The end node must be after the start node in the body")
elif start_index > end_index:
raise ValueError("The section of end node must be after the section start node")
@staticmethod
def find_next_node(node_type: aw.NodeType, from_node: aw.Node):
if from_node is None or from_node.node_type == node_type:
return from_node
if from_node.is_composite:
node = ExtractContentHelper.find_next_node(node_type, from_node.as_composite_node().first_child)
if node is not None:
return node
return ExtractContentHelper.find_next_node(node_type, from_node.next_sibling)
@staticmethod
def process_marker(clone_node: aw.Node, nodes, node: aw.Node, block_level_ancestor: aw.Node,
is_inclusive: bool, is_start_marker: bool, can_add: bool, force_add: bool):
# If we are dealing with a block-level node, see if it should be included and add it to the list.
if node == block_level_ancestor:
if can_add and is_inclusive:
nodes.append(clone_node)
return
# cloneNode is a clone of blockLevelNode. If node != blockLevelNode, blockLevelAncestor
# is the node's ancestor that means it is a composite node.
assert clone_node.is_composite
# If a marker is a FieldStart node check if it's to be included or not.
# We assume for simplicity that the FieldStart and FieldEnd appear in the same paragraph.
if node.node_type == aw.NodeType.FIELD_START:
# If the marker is a start node and is not included, skip to the end of the field.
# If the marker is an end node and is to be included, then move to the end field so the field will not be removed.
if (is_start_marker and not is_inclusive) or (not is_start_marker and is_inclusive):
while node.next_sibling is not None and node.node_type != aw.NodeType.FIELD_END:
node = node.next_sibling
# Support a case if the marker node is on the third level of the document body or lower.
node_branch = ExtractContentHelper.fill_self_and_parents(node, block_level_ancestor)
# Process the corresponding node in our cloned node by index.
current_clone_node = clone_node
for i in range(len(node_branch) - 1, -1, -1):
current_node = node_branch[i]
node_index = current_node.parent_node.index_of(current_node)
current_clone_node = current_clone_node.as_composite_node().child_nodes[node_index]
ExtractContentHelper.remove_nodes_outside_of_range(current_clone_node, is_inclusive or (i > 0), is_start_marker)
# After processing, the composite node may become empty if it has doesn't include it.
if can_add and (force_add or clone_node.as_composite_node().has_child_nodes):
nodes.append(clone_node)
@staticmethod
def remove_nodes_outside_of_range(marker_node: aw.Node, is_inclusive: bool, is_start_marker: bool):
is_processing = True
is_removing = is_start_marker
next_node = marker_node.parent_node.first_child
while is_processing and next_node is not None:
current_node = next_node
is_skip = False
if current_node == marker_node:
if is_start_marker:
is_processing = False
if is_inclusive:
is_removing = False
else:
is_removing = True
if is_inclusive:
is_skip = True
next_node = next_node.next_sibling
if is_removing and not is_skip:
current_node.remove()
@staticmethod
def fill_self_and_parents(node: aw.Node, till_node: aw.Node):
nodes = []
current_node = node
while current_node != till_node:
nodes.append(current_node)
current_node = current_node.parent_node
return nodes
@staticmethod
def include_next_paragraph(node: aw.Node, nodes):
paragraph = ExtractContentHelper.find_next_node(aw.NodeType.PARAGRAPH, node.next_sibling).as_paragraph()
if paragraph is not None:
# Move to the first child to include paragraphs without content.
marker_node = paragraph.first_child if paragraph.has_child_nodes else paragraph
root_node = ExtractContentHelper.get_ancestor_in_body(paragraph)
ExtractContentHelper.process_marker(root_node.clone(True), nodes, marker_node, root_node,
marker_node == paragraph, False, True, True)
@staticmethod
def get_ancestor_in_body(start_node: aw.Node):
while start_node.parent_node.node_type != aw.NodeType.BODY:
start_node = start_node.parent_node
return start_node
# Uncomment this to apply license
# lic = aw.License()
# lic.set_license("X:\\awnet\\TestData\\Licenses\\Aspose.Words.Python.NET.lic")
doc = aw.Document("C:\\Temp\\in.docx")
# This is a quick way of getting both comment nodes.
# Your code should have a proper method of retrieving each corresponding start and end node.
comment_start = doc.get_child(aw.NodeType.COMMENT_RANGE_START, 0, True).as_comment_range_start()
comment_end = doc.get_child(aw.NodeType.COMMENT_RANGE_END, 0, True).as_comment_range_end()
# Firstly, extract the content between these nodes including the comment as well.
extracted_nodes_exclusive = ExtractContentHelper.extract_content(comment_start, comment_end, False)
dst_doc = ExtractContentHelper.generate_document(doc, extracted_nodes_exclusive)
print(dst_doc.to_string(aw.SaveFormat.TEXT))
This works perfectly! Would I be correct in assuming the below script is the best way to iterate over the comments within the document? Also, I looked through the documentation and wasn’t able to find the reference text ID to associate with the comment.id do you know how I can extract it? Thank you again for all the help, been working on this for weeks!
doc = aw.Document(path)
comments = []
for i in range(0, 1000000):
try:
start = doc.get_child(aw.NodeType.COMMENT_RANGE_START, i, True).as_comment_range_start()
end = doc.get_child(aw.NodeType.COMMENT_RANGE_END, i, True).as_comment_range_end()
extracted_nodes_exclusive = ExtractContentHelper.extract_content(start, end, False)
dst_doc = ExtractContentHelper.generate_document(doc, extracted_nodes_exclusive)
str = dst_doc.to_string(aw.SaveFormat.TEXT)
comments.append(str)
except:
break
print(comments)
@dgruppo You can use code like this to extract comment and it’s commented text in your document:
doc = aw.Document("C:\\Temp\\Example.File.docx")
# build a map of comment id to comment range start.
starts = {}
for s in doc.get_child_nodes(aw.NodeType.COMMENT_RANGE_START, True) :
range_start = s.as_comment_range_start()
starts[range_start.id] = range_start
# build a map of comment id to comment range end.
ends = {}
for e in doc.get_child_nodes(aw.NodeType.COMMENT_RANGE_END, True) :
range_end = e.as_comment_range_end()
ends[range_end.id] = range_end
# loop through the comments in the document
for c in doc.get_child_nodes(aw.NodeType.COMMENT, True) :
comment = c.as_comment()
comment_start = starts[comment.id]
comment_end = ends[comment.id]
# Firstly, extract the content between these nodes
extracted_nodes_exclusive = ExtractContentHelper.extract_content(comment_start, comment_end, False)
dst_doc = ExtractContentHelper.generate_document(doc, extracted_nodes_exclusive)
# print comment and commented text
print("Comment: '" + comment.to_string(aw.SaveFormat.TEXT).strip() + "'")
print("Comented text: '" + dst_doc.to_string(aw.SaveFormat.TEXT).strip() + "'")
Worked perfectly, very much appreciate the support on this matter!
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