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google-apps-scriptgoogle-docs

footer.replaceText() does not replace my placeholder with new text

Can anyone explain why footer.replaceText() does not replace my placeholder with new text. It works for both header and body.

//opens the master report document which is now saved as the student's name and gets the contents of the header
let header = DocumentApp.openById(documentId).getHeader()

    //opens the master report document which is now saved as the student's name and gets the contents of the body
    let body = DocumentApp.openById(documentId).getBody()
    
//opens the master report document which is now saved as the student's name and gets the contents of the footer
let footer = DocumentApp.openById(documentId).getFooter()

header.replaceText('{{First Name}}', row[studentDetails.firstName])
body.replaceText('{{Maths Attainment}}', row[studentDetails.mathsAttainment])
footer.replaceText('{{Class Teacher}}', row[studentDetails.classTeacher])

I can't seem to find an answer on Stack Overflow that works.

Solution

  • If you're using the option 'Different first page' you can't get the footer and header of the first page in the common (documented) way.

    Based on this answer try to get them this 'secret' way:

    let first_header = header.getParent().getChild(3);
let first_footer = header.getParent().getChild(4);

    And then you can change them as usual:

    first_header.replaceText('{{First Name}}', row[studentDetails.firstName]);
first_footer.replaceText('{{Class Teacher}}', row[studentDetails.classTeacher]);