Working with Outer Document Insertion Leave feedback
NoteThe example reads the shop data described in The Business Layer.
You can insert contents of outer documents to your reports dynamically using doc tags. A doc tag denotes a placeholder within a template for a document to be inserted during run-time.
<<doc [document_expression]>>
WarningA doc tag can be used almost anywhere in a template document except text-boxes and charts.
An expression declared within a doc tag is used by the engine to load a document to be inserted during run-time. The expression must return a value of one of the following types:
- A byte array containing document data
- A Stream instance able to read document data
- An instance of the Document class
- A string containing a document URI
WarningIf an expression declared within a doc tag returns a stream object, then the stream is closed by the engine as soon as a corresponding document is loaded.
By default, a document being inserted is not checked against template syntax and is not populated with data. However, you can enable this by using a build switch as follows.
<<doc [document_expression] -build>>
When a build switch is used, the engine treats a document being inserted as a template that can access the following data available at the scope of a corresponding doc tag:
- Data sources
- Variables
- A contextual object (see “Using Contextual Object Member Access” for more information)
- Known external types (see “Setting up Known External Types“for more information)
TipFor detailed technical information about syntax, expressions and report generation by the engine, please visit: Working with GroupDocs.Assembly Engine
Get designed and outer templates from here.
import json
from groupdocs.assembly import DataSourceInfo, DocumentAssembler
with open("customer.json", encoding="utf-8") as f:
customer = json.load(f)
assembler = DocumentAssembler()
assembler.assemble_document("inserting-document.odt", "inserting-document-report.odt", [
DataSourceInfo(customer, "customer"),
DataSourceInfo("outer-document.docx", "document_expression"),
])
The following sample file is used in this example: inserting-document.odt
The following sample file is used in this example: customer.json
The following sample file is used in this example: outer-document.docx
The following sample files are used in this example: quayside-bistro.png, lantern-street-cafe.png, saltmarsh-deli.png, pier-nine-kitchen.png
Binary file (ODT, 11 KB)
Get designed and outer templates from here.
import json
from groupdocs.assembly import DataSourceInfo, DocumentAssembler
with open("customer.json", encoding="utf-8") as f:
customer = json.load(f)
assembler = DocumentAssembler()
assembler.assemble_document("nested-external-document.docx", "nested-external-document-report.docx", DataSourceInfo(customer, "customer"))
The following sample file is used in this example: nested-external-document.docx
The following sample file is used in this example: customer.json
The following sample file is used in this example: outer-document.docx
The following sample files are used in this example: quayside-bistro.png, lantern-street-cafe.png, saltmarsh-deli.png, pier-nine-kitchen.png
Binary file (DOCX, 16 KB)
Get designed and outer templates from here.
import json
from datetime import datetime
from groupdocs.assembly import DataSourceInfo, DocumentAssembler
def parse_dates(item):
# JSON has no dates: turn the order dates into datetime objects for the template
for key in ("OrderDate", "ShippingDate"):
if key in item:
item[key] = datetime.strptime(item[key], "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S")
return item
with open("customer.json", encoding="utf-8") as f:
customer = json.load(f, object_hook=parse_dates)
assembler = DocumentAssembler()
assembler.assemble_document("nested-external-document.msg", "nested-external-document-report.msg", [
DataSourceInfo(customer, "customer"),
DataSourceInfo("Harbor Lane Provisions <orders@harborlane.example>", "sender"),
DataSourceInfo(["Quayside Bistro <orders@quaysidebistro.example>", "jonas.weber@harborlane.example"], "recipients"),
DataSourceInfo("amara.osei@harborlane.example", "cc"),
DataSourceInfo("Nested external document", "subject"),
])
The following sample file is used in this example: nested-external-document.msg
The following sample file is used in this example: customer.json
The following sample file is used in this example: outer-document.docx
The following sample files are used in this example: quayside-bistro.png, lantern-street-cafe.png, saltmarsh-deli.png, pier-nine-kitchen.png
Binary file (MSG, 36 KB)
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