PSWriteOffice

PSWriteOffice is a PowerShell module designed to create, convert, read, inspect, and export content for various formats including Office (Excel, Word, etc.), PDF, iWork, OneNote, OpenDocument, email, Markdown, AsciiDoc, LaTeX, CSV, Visio, and Confluence.

A key feature is that it can perform these operations without Microsoft Office installed, as it is powered by the OfficeIMO.* engine.

The Word module provides several advanced workflow capabilities:

• Templates and Data: Supports mail merge, table conditions, calculated columns, document properties, fields, and reusable content blocks.
• Reviewing: Inspect comments and revisions using Get-OfficeWordReview, and resolve them using Resolve-OfficeWordRevision.
• Forms: Create interactive documents with check boxes, combo boxes, date pickers, drop-down lists, picture controls, repeating sections, and general content controls.
• Delivery: Merge documents, protect output, update fields/TOCs, and convert documents to HTML or Markdown.

PSWriteOffice provides specialized automation for the following areas:

Microsoft Office

• Word: Read/inspect documents, update existing files, and perform mail merges.
• Excel: Read/import data, update workbooks, merge, and compare workbooks.
• PowerPoint: Inspect/update presentations and reuse/combine slides.
• Visio: Diagram automation.

PDF and Document Processing

• PDF: Read/preflight, merge/split pages, position text/graphics, and redact/sanitize/optimize.
• Reader & OCR: Search mixed document corpora and extract chunks, tables, and assets.

Publishing and Open Formats

• Confluence Cloud: Publishing workflows.
• Open Text Formats: Support for Markdown (read, parse, convert, publish), RTF, CSV, OpenDocument, email, AsciiDoc, and LaTeX.

The Find-OfficeWord cmdlet allows you to search for specific text or regular expression patterns within a Word document. You can search by providing a file path or by passing an existing WordDocument object.

Depending on the parameters used, the cmdlet returns either matching paragraphs (OfficeIMO.Word.WordParagraph) or a comprehensive OfficeIMO.Word.WordSearchResult object when using regex with the -AsResult switch.

# Example: Find paragraphs containing 'Quarter' and export to CSV
$matches = Find-OfficeWord -Path .\Report.docx -Text 'Quarter'
$matches |
    Select-Object -Property Text |
    Export-Csv -Path .\ReviewMatches.csv -NoTypeInformation

Use the -AsBatch switch to generate a GoogleSheetsBatch object. This returns a provider-neutral request batch without contacting Google services. This is useful for inspecting the structured requests that will be sent to the Google API.

$batch = Export-OfficeExcelGoogleSpreadsheet -Path 'C:\Workbook.xlsx' -AsBatch
# Inspect $batch for the provider-neutral requests

The Get-OfficePowerPointShape cmdlet operates in two distinct modes depending on the input provided:

Slide Mode (Default)

Used when piping a slide object into the cmdlet.

• Input: PowerPointSlide via pipeline.
• Parameters: -Slide, -ShapeIndex, -Name, -Kind.

Presentation Mode

Used when targeting a presentation directly.

• Input: PowerPointPresentation via -Presentation parameter or pipeline.
• Parameters: -Presentation, -Index (zero-based slide index), -ShapeIndex, -Name, -Kind.

When not using the DSL context, you must pass an ExcelDocument object to the -Document parameter. You can also specify which sheet to target using -Sheet (name) or -SheetIndex (0-based index).

# Example of the Document parameter set syntax
Add-OfficeExcelValidationTime -Document $myDoc -Sheet 'Sheet1' -Range 'A1:A10' -Operator LessThan -Formula1 ([TimeSpan]::FromHours(12))

Use the following decision matrix to select the appropriate PSWriteOffice surface:

All workflows utilize the same underlying OfficeIMO engines and are complementary.

PSWriteOffice features a robust suite of conversion cmdlets to move data between Microsoft Office, PDF, Markdown, HTML, and other formats:

• Office to Other: Convert Word/Excel/PowerPoint to OpenDocument, or convert OneNote to Markdown/HTML/PDF.
• PDF Conversions: Convert PDF to Word, Excel (extracting tables), HTML, or Markdown. You can also optimize PDFs, redact content, sanitize files, or make them searchable via OCR.
• Markdown/HTML/LaTeX: Convert between Markdown, HTML, AsciiDoc, and LaTeX with fidelity diagnostics.
• Visio/PowerPoint: Export Visio to PNG/SVG, or reconstruct PowerPoint presentations from PDFs.

The PSWriteOffice Domain Specific Language (DSL) uses a scoped command pattern for document composition.

1. Outer Constructor: A command like New-Office* (e.g., WordNew, ExcelNew, PdfNew) creates the file and establishes the top-level scope.
2. Nested Blocks: Commands inside the script block (e.g., WordSection, PdfHeading) establish active sections, sheets, slides, or pages. This allows you to use content commands without repeatedly passing the document object.

If you need to pass explicit document objects through loops or conditions, refer to the pipeline, object, and DSL workflow guide.

When using the -Range parameter, you can control how the image behaves when cells are moved or resized using the -Placement parameter.

Valid values for -Placement (ExcelImagePlacement):

• MoveAndSize: The image moves and resizes with the cells in the specified range.
• MoveOnly: The image moves with the cells but maintains its original size.
• FreeFloating: The image does not move or resize with the cells.

# Example of MoveAndSize placement
Add-OfficeExcelImage -Range 'A1:C15' -Path .\logo.png -Placement MoveAndSize