Manage TextBox

Texts on slides typically exist in text boxes or shapes. Therefore, to add a text to a slide, you have to add a text box and then put some text inside the textbox. Aspose.Slides for Node.js via Java provides the AutoShape class that allows you to add a shape containing some text.

Create Text Box on Slide

To create a textbox on a slide, go through these steps:

  1. Create an instance of the Presentation class.
  2. Obtain a reference for the first slide in the newly created presentation.
  3. Add an AutoShape object with ShapeType set as Rectangle at a specified position on the slide and obtain the reference for the newly added AutoShape object.
  4. Add a TextFrame property to the AutoShape object that will contain a text. In the example below, we added this text: Aspose TextBox
  5. Finally, write the PPTX file through the Presentation object.

This JavaScript code—an implementation of the steps above—shows you how to add text to a slide:

// Instantiates Presentation
var pres = new aspose.slides.Presentation();
try {
    // Gets the first slide in the presentation
    var sld = pres.getSlides().get_Item(0);
    // Adds an AutoShape with type set as Rectangle
    var ashp = sld.getShapes().addAutoShape(aspose.slides.ShapeType.Rectangle, 150, 75, 150, 50);
    // Adds TextFrame to the Rectangle
    ashp.addTextFrame(" ");
    // Accesses the text frame
    var txtFrame = ashp.getTextFrame();
    // Creates the Paragraph object for text frame
    var para = txtFrame.getParagraphs().get_Item(0);
    // Creates a Portion object for paragraph
    var portion = para.getPortions().get_Item(0);
    // Sets Text
    portion.setText("Aspose TextBox");
    // Saves the presentation to disk
    pres.save("TextBox_out.pptx", aspose.slides.SaveFormat.Pptx);
} finally {
    if (pres != null) {
        pres.dispose();
    }
}

Check for Text Box Shape

Aspose.Slides provides the isTextBox() method (from the AutoShape class) to allow you to examine shapes and find text boxes.

Text box and shape

This JavaScript code shows you how to check whether a shape was created as a text box:

var pres = new aspose.slides.Presentation("pres.pptx");
try {
    java.callStaticMethodSync("ForEach", "shape", pres, (shape, slide, index) -> {
        if (java.instanceOf(shape, "com.aspose.slides.AutoShape")) {
            var autoShape = shape;
            System.out.println(autoShape.isTextBox() ? "shape is text box" : "shape is text not box");
        }
    });
} finally {
    if (pres != null) {
        pres.dispose();
    }
}

Add Column In Text Box

Aspose.Slides provides the setColumnCount and setColumnSpacing methods from the TextFrameFormat class and TextFrameFormat class that allow you to add columns to textboxes. You get to specify the number of columns in a text box and set the amount spacing in points between columns.

This code in JavaScript demonstrates the described operation:

var pres = new aspose.slides.Presentation();
try {
    // Gets the first slide in the presentation
    var slide = pres.getSlides().get_Item(0);
    // Add an AutoShape with type set as Rectangle
    var aShape = slide.getShapes().addAutoShape(aspose.slides.ShapeType.Rectangle, 100, 100, 300, 300);
    // Add TextFrame to the Rectangle
    aShape.addTextFrame((("All these columns are limited to be within a single text container -- " + "you can add or delete text and the new or remaining text automatically adjusts ") + "itself to flow within the container. You cannot have text flow from one container ") + "to other though -- we told you PowerPoint's column options for text are limited!");
    // Gets the text format of TextFrame
    var format = aShape.getTextFrame().getTextFrameFormat();
    // Specifies the number of columns in TextFrame
    format.setColumnCount(3);
    // Specifies the spacing between columns
    format.setColumnSpacing(10);
    // Saves the presentation
    pres.save("ColumnCount.pptx", aspose.slides.SaveFormat.Pptx);
} finally {
    if (pres != null) {
        pres.dispose();
    }
}

Add Column In Text Frame

Aspose.Slides for Node.js via Java provides the setColumnCount method from the TextFrameFormat class that allows you to add columns in text frames. Through this property, you can specify your preferred number of columns in a text frame.

This JavaScript code shows you how to add a column inside a text frame:

var outPptxFileName = "ColumnsTest.pptx";
var pres = new aspose.slides.Presentation();
try {
    var shape1 = pres.getSlides().get_Item(0).getShapes().addAutoShape(aspose.slides.ShapeType.Rectangle, 100, 100, 300, 300);
    var format = shape1.getTextFrame().getTextFrameFormat();
    format.setColumnCount(2);
    shape1.getTextFrame().setText("All these columns are forced to stay within a single text container -- " + "you can add or delete text - and the new or remaining text automatically adjusts " + "itself to stay within the container. You cannot have text spill over from one container " + "to other, though -- because PowerPoint's column options for text are limited!");
    pres.save(outPptxFileName, aspose.slides.SaveFormat.Pptx);
    var test = new aspose.slides.Presentation(outPptxFileName);
    try {
        var autoShape = test.getSlides().get_Item(0).getShapes().get_Item(0);
        java.callStaticMethodSync("Assert", "assertTrue", 2 == autoShape.getTextFrame().getTextFrameFormat().getColumnCount());
        java.callStaticMethodSync("Assert", "assertTrue", java.getStaticFieldValue("java.lang.Double", "NaN") == autoShape.getTextFrame().getTextFrameFormat().getColumnSpacing());
    } finally {
        if (test != null) {
            test.dispose();
        }
    }
    format.setColumnSpacing(20);
    pres.save(outPptxFileName, aspose.slides.SaveFormat.Pptx);
    var test1 = new aspose.slides.Presentation(outPptxFileName);
    try {
        var autoShape = test1.getSlides().get_Item(0).getShapes().get_Item(0);
        java.callStaticMethodSync("Assert", "assertTrue", 2 == autoShape.getTextFrame().getTextFrameFormat().getColumnCount());
        java.callStaticMethodSync("Assert", "assertTrue", 20 == autoShape.getTextFrame().getTextFrameFormat().getColumnSpacing());
    } finally {
        if (test1 != null) {
            test1.dispose();
        }
    }
    format.setColumnCount(3);
    format.setColumnSpacing(15);
    pres.save(outPptxFileName, aspose.slides.SaveFormat.Pptx);
    var test2 = new aspose.slides.Presentation(outPptxFileName);
    try {
        var autoShape = test2.getSlides().get_Item(0).getShapes().get_Item(0);
        java.callStaticMethodSync("Assert", "assertTrue", 3 == autoShape.getTextFrame().getTextFrameFormat().getColumnCount());
        java.callStaticMethodSync("Assert", "assertTrue", 15 == autoShape.getTextFrame().getTextFrameFormat().getColumnSpacing());
    } finally {
        if (test2 != null) {
            test2.dispose();
        }
    }
} finally {
    if (pres != null) {
        pres.dispose();
    }
}

Update Text

Aspose.Slides allows you to change or update the text contained in a text box or all the texts contained in a presentation.

This JavaScript code demonstrates an operation where all the texts in a presentation are updated or changed:

var pres = new aspose.slides.Presentation("text.pptx");
try {
    for (let s = 0; s < pres.getSlides().size(); s++) {
        let slide = pres.getSlides().get_Item(s);
        for (let i = 0; i < slide.getShapes().size(); i++) {
            let shape = slide.getShapes().get_Item(i);
            // Checks if shape supports text frame (IAutoShape).
            if (java.instanceOf(shape, "com.aspose.slides.AutoShape")) {
                var autoShape = shape;
                // Iterates through paragraphs in text frame
                for (let j = 0; j < autoShape.getTextFrame().getParagraphs().getCount(); j++) {
                    let paragraph = autoShape.getTextFrame().getParagraphs().get_Item(j);
                    // Iterates through each portion in paragraph
                    for (let k = 0; k < paragraph.getPortions().getCount(); k++) {
                        let portion = paragraph.getPortions().get_Item(k);
                        portion.setText(portion.getText().replace("years", "months"));// Changes text
                        portion.getPortionFormat().setFontBold(java.newByte(aspose.slides.NullableBool.True));// Changes formatting
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
    // Saves modified presentation
    pres.save("text-changed.pptx", aspose.slides.SaveFormat.Pptx);
} finally {
    if (pres != null) {
        pres.dispose();
    }
}

You can insert a link inside a text box. When the text box is clicked, users are directed to open the link.

To add a text box containing a link, go through these steps:

  1. Create an instance of the Presentation class.
  2. Obtain a reference for the first slide in the newly created presentation.
  3. Add an AutoShape object with ShapeType set as Rectangle at a specified position on the slide and obtain a reference of the newly added AutoShape object.
  4. Add a TextFrame to the AutoShape object that contains Aspose TextBox as its default text.
  5. Instantiate the HyperlinkManager class.
  6. Assign the HyperlinkManager object to the HyperlinkClick property associated with your preferred portion of the TextFrame.
  7. Finally, write the PPTX file through the Presentation object.

This JavaScript code—an implementation of the steps above—shows you how to add a text box with a hyperlink to a slide:

// Instantiates a Presentation class that represents a PPTX
var pres = new aspose.slides.Presentation();
try {
    // Gets the first slide in the presentation
    var slide = pres.getSlides().get_Item(0);
    // Adds an AutoShape object with type set as Rectangle
    var shape = slide.getShapes().addAutoShape(aspose.slides.ShapeType.Rectangle, 150, 150, 150, 50);
    // Casts the shape to AutoShape
    var pptxAutoShape = shape;
    // Accesses the ITextFrame property associated with the AutoShape
    pptxAutoShape.addTextFrame("");
    var textFrame = pptxAutoShape.getTextFrame();
    // Adds some text to the frame
    textFrame.getParagraphs().get_Item(0).getPortions().get_Item(0).setText("Aspose.Slides");
    // Sets the Hyperlink for the portion text
    var hyperlinkManager = textFrame.getParagraphs().get_Item(0).getPortions().get_Item(0).getPortionFormat().getHyperlinkManager();
    hyperlinkManager.setExternalHyperlinkClick("http://www.aspose.com");
    // Saves the PPTX Presentation
    pres.save("hLink_out.pptx", aspose.slides.SaveFormat.Pptx);
} finally {
    if (pres != null) {
        pres.dispose();
    }
}