Embedding Special Character in Element Value

[jsweeney]

Beth Massi has an excellent article on merging data with docx using Visual Basic - http://blogs.msdn.com/bethmassi/arch...xml-in-vb.aspx

In the article, she cuts and pastes the document.xml file to create an XDocument, then manually replaces the Word field delimiters (« ») with ASP field delimiters (<%= %>).

I have developed a method that takes the path/file name of the docx merge file and programmatically extracts the document.xml, then recursively loops through the elements and does a replace on the delimiters for the element values.

My problem is that the < and > characters are being escaped. Beth's example works like a charm with the manual replacement, but the Replace method in VB is not providing the same result. Here is the function I wrote:

Private Function FixDelimeter(ByRef xElems As IEnumerable(Of XElement)) As Boolean
	Dim pXElem As XElement

	Try

		For Each pXElem In xElems
		pXElem.Value = pXElem.Value.Replace("«", "<%= row(""").Replace("»", """) %>")
		If pXElem.Elements.Count > 0 Then
			FixDelimeter(pXElem.Elements)
		End If
		Next

	Catch ex As Exception

		Throw

	Finally

		pXElem = Nothing

	End Try

End Function

Any suggestions for inserting the characters unescaped would be welcome!

[.paul.]

have you got an example of the exact value of pXElem.Value?

[.paul.]

i'd use regex replace

[jsweeney]

.paul.

I'm rather rusty with reg-ex. How would I do that? Thanks for your quick respose!

before the replace:

220345-1140460Pima County Attorney’s OfficeJUVENILE SECTION2335 E. AJO WAYTucson, Arizona  85713-6215Phone  (520) 740-2991Fax  (520) 770-9212www.pcao.pima.govBarbara LaWallPima County AttorneyAugust 7, 2008 MERGEFIELD "BusinessName" «BusinessName» MERGEFIELD  VictimMinor «VictimMinor» MERGEFIELD "VictimFirstName" «VictimFirstName»  MERGEFIELD "VictimMiddleInitial" «VictimMiddleInitial»  MERGEFIELD "VictimLastName" «VictimLastName» MERGEFIELD "MailingAddress1" «MailingAddress1» MERGEFIELD "MailingAddress2" «MailingAddress2» MERGEFIELD  MailingCity «MailingCity»,  MERGEFIELD  MailingState «MailingState»   MERGEFIELD  MailingZIP5 «MailingZIP5» SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Defendant:   MERGEFIELD "JuvenileLastName" «JuvenileLastName», «JuvenileFirstName» «JuvenileMiddleName»Case No.  MERGEFIELD "JuvenileCaseNumber" «JuvenileCaseNumber»This is to advise you that the next proceeding in your case is a/an «EventDescription» scheduled for «EventDate» at «EventTime» at the Pima County Juvenile Court located at 2225 East Ajo Way, Tucson, Arizona.In order to verify that this hearing will proceed as scheduled, you should call the victim notification office, the prosecutor, or his/her legal assistant at 740-2991 or 740-4500 the day before the event.  Sometimes hearings get changed.Sincerely,Victim NotificationPima County Attorney's Office

after the replace:

220345-1140460Pima County Attorney’s OfficeJUVENILE SECTION2335 E. AJO WAYTucson, Arizona  85713-6215Phone  (520) 740-2991Fax  (520) 770-9212www.pcao.pima.govBarbara LaWallPima County AttorneyAugust 7, 2008 MERGEFIELD "BusinessName" <%= pDataRow("BusinessName") %> MERGEFIELD  VictimMinor <%= pDataRow("VictimMinor") %> MERGEFIELD "VictimFirstName" <%= pDataRow("VictimFirstName") %>  MERGEFIELD "VictimMiddleInitial" <%= pDataRow("VictimMiddleInitial") %>  MERGEFIELD "VictimLastName" <%= pDataRow("VictimLastName") %> MERGEFIELD "MailingAddress1" <%= pDataRow("MailingAddress1") %> MERGEFIELD "MailingAddress2" <%= pDataRow("MailingAddress2") %> MERGEFIELD  MailingCity <%= pDataRow("MailingCity") %>,  MERGEFIELD  MailingState <%= pDataRow("MailingState") %>   MERGEFIELD  MailingZIP5 <%= pDataRow("MailingZIP5") %> SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Defendant:   MERGEFIELD "JuvenileLastName" <%= pDataRow("JuvenileLastName") %>, <%= pDataRow("JuvenileFirstName") %> <%= pDataRow("JuvenileMiddleName") %>Case No.  MERGEFIELD "JuvenileCaseNumber" <%= pDataRow("JuvenileCaseNumber") %>This is to advise you that the next proceeding in your case is a/an <%= pDataRow("EventDescription") %> scheduled for <%= pDataRow("EventDate") %> at <%= pDataRow("EventTime") %> at the Pima County Juvenile Court located at 2225 East Ajo Way, Tucson, Arizona.In order to verify that this hearing will proceed as scheduled, you should call the victim notification office, the prosecutor, or his/her legal assistant at 740-2991 or 740-4500 the day before the event.  Sometimes hearings get changed.Sincerely,Victim NotificationPima County Attorney's Office

the xDocument after returning from the function:

<w:document xmlns:ve="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:r="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships" xmlns:m="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/math" xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:wp="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/drawingml/2006/wordprocessingDrawing" xmlns:w10="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:w="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordprocessingml/2006/main" xmlns:wne="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2006/wordml">220345-1140460Pima County Attorney’s OfficeJUVENILE SECTION2335 E. AJO WAYTucson, Arizona  85713-6215Phone  (520) 740-2991Fax  (520) 770-9212www.pcao.pima.govBarbara LaWallPima County AttorneyAugust 7, 2008 MERGEFIELD "BusinessName" &lt;%= pDataRow("BusinessName") %&gt; MERGEFIELD  VictimMinor &lt;%= pDataRow("VictimMinor") %&gt; MERGEFIELD "VictimFirstName" &lt;%= pDataRow("VictimFirstName") %&gt;  MERGEFIELD "VictimMiddleInitial" &lt;%= pDataRow("VictimMiddleInitial") %&gt;  MERGEFIELD "VictimLastName" &lt;%= pDataRow("VictimLastName") %&gt; MERGEFIELD "MailingAddress1" &lt;%= pDataRow("MailingAddress1") %&gt; MERGEFIELD "MailingAddress2" &lt;%= pDataRow("MailingAddress2") %&gt; MERGEFIELD  MailingCity &lt;%= pDataRow("MailingCity") %&gt;,  MERGEFIELD  MailingState &lt;%= pDataRow("MailingState") %&gt;   MERGEFIELD  MailingZIP5 &lt;%= pDataRow("MailingZIP5") %&gt; SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Defendant:   MERGEFIELD "JuvenileLastName" &lt;%= pDataRow("JuvenileLastName") %&gt;, &lt;%= pDataRow("JuvenileFirstName") %&gt; &lt;%= pDataRow("JuvenileMiddleName") %&gt;Case No.  MERGEFIELD "JuvenileCaseNumber" &lt;%= pDataRow("JuvenileCaseNumber") %&gt;This is to advise you that the next proceeding in your case is a/an &lt;%= pDataRow("EventDescription") %&gt; scheduled for &lt;%= pDataRow("EventDate") %&gt; at &lt;%= pDataRow("EventTime") %&gt; at the Pima County Juvenile Court located at 2225 East Ajo Way, Tucson, Arizona.In order to verify that this hearing will proceed as scheduled, you should call the victim notification office, the prosecutor, or his/her legal assistant at 740-2991 or 740-4500 the day before the event.  Sometimes hearings get changed.Sincerely,Victim NotificationPima County Attorney's Office</w:document>

[.paul.]

something like this will probably do it

Dim testStr As String = "MERGEFIELD ""BusinessName"" «BusinessName» MERGEFIELD  VictimMinor «VictimMinor» MERGEFIELD "
testStr = Regex.Replace(testStr, "«", "<%= pDataRow(" & Chr(34))
testStr = Regex.Replace(testStr, "»", Chr(34) & ") %>")

don't forget to import regex

Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions

[jsweeney]

I just tried your suggestion, and there's no difference. It seems that the FixDelimeter function works correctly, but after it returns the xDocument itself is escaping the characters.

[.paul.]

i thought that might be the problem. can't you rewrite the file another way, using the new values?

[.paul.]

this might work

Dim testStr As String = "MERGEFIELD ""BusinessName"" «BusinessName» MERGEFIELD  VictimMinor «VictimMinor» MERGEFIELD "
testStr = Regex.Replace(testStr, "«", "<%= pDataRow(" & Chr(34))
testStr = Regex.Replace(testStr, "»", Chr(34) & ") %>")
testStr =  "<![CDATA[" & testStr & "]]>"

[jsweeney]

I could if I avoided the XDocuments. Thanks for all your help!