Word : Deleting Lines in between a Table and a Heading using Python

Question

I have a scenario in which there is a Heading/Constant Text like "Call Tree:" present all over the Word document and after that there are some lines, and once the line are over, there is a Table. So I want the lines between the table and the Heading/Constant Text "Call Tree:" to be deleted using python/win32 component.

For Example :

Input is :

...

Call Tree :

Line 1 ...

Line 2 ...

....

....

....

....

Line N ....

Table # 1

.....

Output is (i.e. all the lines in between the table and "Call Tree" are deleted):

...

Call Tree :


Table # 1

.....

I'm not sure, if there is any way by which I can select multiple lines between a Constant Text i.e "Call Tree" and a Table. I know, that selection of a line and deletion can be done using this :

..

    app = win32com.client.DispatchEx("Word.Application")
    app.Visible = 0
    app.DisplayAlerts = 0

    # select a Text
    app.Selection.Find.Execute("TEXT TO BE SELECTED")
    #  extend it to end
    app.Selection.EndKey(Unit=win32com.client.constants.wdLine,Extend=win32com.client.constants.wdExtend)

    # check what has been selected
    app.Selection.Range()

    # and then delete it
    app.Selection.Delete()

..

But I'm not sure, how to select multiple lines like this, with this criteria.

Any idea/suggestion on this ?

Answer 1

You can iterate over the lines after you find the text using MoveRight and EndKey, then you can test if the selection is a table using the property Tables. Someting like

import win32com.client as com
from win32com.client import constants as wcons

app = com.Dispatch('Word.Application')
# Find the text
app.Selection.Find.Execute('Call Tree',
        False, False, False, False, False,
        True, wcons.wdFindContinue, False,
        False,False,)
# Extend the selection to the end
app.Selection.EndKey(Unit=wcons.wdLine)
while True:
    # Move the selection to the next character
    app.Selection.MoveRight(Unit=wcons.wdCharacter, Count=1)
    # And Select the whole line
    app.Selection.EndKey(Unit=wcons.wdLine, Extend=wcons.wdExtend)
    # If I hit the table...
    if app.Selection.Tables.Count:
        print "Table found... Stop"
        # I leave the loop
        break
    # Otherwise delete the selection
    print "Deleting ...",app.Selection.Text
    app.Selection.Delete()
    # And delete the return
    app.Selection.TypeBackspace()

I would recommend trying to do what you want first in word using macros (Try recording the macros if you are not familiar with VBA) and then translate the code to Python.