print.rdocx: Write a 'Word' File

In officer: Manipulation of Microsoft Word and PowerPoint Documents

Write a 'Word' File

Description

print.rdocx() is the essential output function for creating Word files with officer. It takes an rdocx object (created with read_docx() and populated with content) and writes it to disk as a .docx file.

This function performs all necessary post-processing operations before writing the file.

The function is typically called at the end of your document creation workflow, after all content has been added with ⁠body_add_*()⁠ functions.

Usage

## S3 method for class 'rdocx'
print(
  x,
  target = NULL,
  copy_header_refs = FALSE,
  copy_footer_refs = FALSE,
  preview = FALSE,
  ...
)

Arguments

x	an rdocx object created with read_docx()
target	path to the .docx file to write. The file will be created or overwritten if it already exists. If NULL and preview = FALSE, the function returns NULL without writing a file.
copy_header_refs, copy_footer_refs	logical, default is FALSE. If TRUE, copy the references to the header and footer in each section of the body of the document. This parameter is experimental and may change in a future version.
preview	Save x to a temporary file and open it (default FALSE). When TRUE, the document is saved to a temporary location and opened with the system's default application for .docx files, useful for quick previewing during development.
...	unused

Value

The full path to the created .docx file (invisibly). This allows chaining operations or capturing the output path for further use.

See Also

Create a 'Word' document object with read_docx(), add content with functions body_add_par(), body_add_plot(), body_add_table(), change settings with docx_set_settings(), set properties with set_doc_properties(), read 'Word' styles with styles_info().

Examples

library(officer)

# This example demonstrates how to create
# an small document -----

## Create a new Word document
doc <- read_docx()
doc <- body_add_par(doc, "hello world")
## Save the document
output_file <- print(doc, target = tempfile(fileext = ".docx"))

# preview mode: save to temp file and open locally ----
## Not run: 
print(doc, preview = TRUE)

## End(Not run)

officer documentation built on Dec. 4, 2025, 9:08 a.m.