Docxtemplater is a powerful library for generating dynamic Word documents (.docx) and OpenOffice documents (.odt) using JavaScript. It allows users to create templates with placeholders and then fill those placeholders with data programmatically, making it ideal for generating reports, contracts, and other customized documents.

Pros

• Easy to use with a simple API for template creation and data injection
• Supports complex document structures, including tables, lists, and nested content
• Works with both Node.js and browser environments
• Extensible through modules for additional functionality (e.g., images, charts)

Cons

• Limited to .docx and .odt formats; doesn't support other document types
• Requires some knowledge of Office Open XML structure for advanced use cases
• Performance may degrade with very large documents or complex templates
• Documentation could be more comprehensive for advanced features

Code Examples

1. Basic usage:

const Docxtemplater = require('docxtemplater');
const PizZip = require('pizzip');
const fs = require('fs');

// Load the docx file as a binary
const content = fs.readFileSync('input.docx', 'binary');
const zip = new PizZip(content);

const doc = new Docxtemplater(zip, { paragraphLoop: true, linebreaks: true });

// Set the templateVariables
doc.setData({
    firstName: 'John',
    lastName: 'Doe',
    phone: '0652455478',
    description: 'New Website'
});

// Render the document (replace all occurences of {first_name}, {last_name}, etc.)
doc.render();

// Generate a buffer with the document
const buf = doc.getZip().generate({ type: 'nodebuffer' });

// Save the buffer to a file
fs.writeFileSync('output.docx', buf);

2. Using loops in templates:

const data = {
    products: [
        { name: 'Laptop', price: 1000 },
        { name: 'Smartphone', price: 500 },
        { name: 'Tablet', price: 300 }
    ]
};

doc.setData(data);
doc.render();

3. Conditional rendering:

const data = {
    isMember: true,
    name: 'Alice'
};

doc.setData(data);
doc.render();

Getting Started

1. Install the package:

   npm install docxtemplater pizzip
   

2. Create a template document (input.docx) with placeholders like {firstName}, {lastName}, etc.

3. Use the code from the first example above to generate your document.

4. Run your script:

   node your-script.js
   

5. The generated document will be saved as output.docx.