Automating Word Document Creation

For simple documents, it is often quicker to create them directly in a word processing program.

But what if you need to:

• Insert data from an Excel file into a Word document, especially when dealing with large datasets?
• Generate recurring reports, such as monthly sales reports, using the same document template?

In such cases, automating document creation with Python is a much more efficient solution.

Click the green ▶︎ Run button in the code editor to generate a table inside a Word document!

Easy-to-Understand Code Explanation

There’s no need to feel overwhelmed by complex-looking code.

By learning Python basics and leveraging AI-assisted coding, you’ll gain a solid understanding of how the code in the practice screen works.

Let AI handle the coding—you just need to understand the concepts.

1. Importing Required Libraries

Importing openpyxl and python-docx Libraries

# Library for handling Excel files
import openpyxl

# Library for creating and editing Word documents
from docx import Document

2. Loading the Excel File

Loading an Excel File with load_workbook

# Load the Excel file containing data
wb = openpyxl.load_workbook('input_file.xlsx')

# Get the currently active sheet
sheet = wb.active

3. Creating a Word Document

Creating a Word Document with the Document Class

# Create a new Word document
doc = Document()

4. Adding a Report Title

Adding a Title with the add_heading Function

# Add a title to the Word document
doc.add_heading('2024 Q1 Sales Performance Report', 0)

5. Creating a Table and Setting Column Headers

Creating a Table and Setting Column Headers

# Create a table with 1 row and 5 columns
table = doc.add_table(rows=1, cols=5)

# Add a border style to the table
table.style = 'Table Grid'

# Set the first row (column headers)
hdr_cells = table.rows[0].cells

# Set column headers
hdr_cells[0].text = 'Month'
hdr_cells[1].text = 'Product'
hdr_cells[2].text = 'Quantity Sold'
hdr_cells[3].text = 'Unit Price'
hdr_cells[4].text = 'Revenue'

6. Adding Excel Data and Saving the Word Document

Adding Excel Data and Saving the Word Document

# Read data from the second row and add it to the table
for row in sheet.iter_rows(min_row=2, values_only=True):
    # Save each column's data into variables
    month, product, sales, price, revenue = row
    
    # Add a new row to the table
    row_cells = table.add_row().cells
    row_cells[0].text = str(month)  # Convert 'Month' data to text and add it
    row_cells[1].text = product  # Add 'Product' data
    row_cells[2].text = str(sales)  # Convert 'Quantity Sold' data to text and add it
    row_cells[3].text = str(price)  # Convert 'Unit Price' data to text and add it
    row_cells[4].text = str(revenue)  # Convert 'Revenue' data to text and add it

# Save the Word document as 'output_file.docx'
doc.save('output_file.docx')

The process of creating .xlsx, .pptx, and .docx files with Python will be covered more in detail in Chapters 1 and 2 of the Essential Knowledge Course for Automating Tasks to Get Off Work Early.

For now, try running the code and get a feel for what you’ll be learning! 🚀