Change or Replace Header and Footer

On this page we will look at how to change or replace header or footer using Aspose.Words or Open XML SDK.

Aspose.Words

In Aspose.Words a header or footer is normally changed using DocumentBuilder. Use its method MoveToHeaderFooter to update a header or footer.

The following code example shows how to replace header or footer:

// For complete examples and data files, please go to https://github.com/aspose-words/Aspose.Words-for-.NET.git.
Document doc = new Document();
DocumentBuilder builder = new DocumentBuilder(doc);

builder.MoveToHeaderFooter(HeaderFooterType.HeaderPrimary);
builder.Write("Aspose.Words Header");
builder.MoveToHeaderFooter(HeaderFooterType.FooterPrimary);
builder.Write("Aspose.Words Footer");

doc.Save(ArtifactsDir + "Create header footer - Aspose.Words.docx");

Open XML SDK

You can also do the same using the Open XML SDK. At the same time, note that it looks somewhat more complicated and more cumbersome.

The following code example shows how to replace header or footer:

// For complete examples and data files, please go to https://github.com/aspose-words/Aspose.Words-for-.NET.git.
public void CreateHeaderFooterOpenXml()
{
    // Create a new Word document.
    using WordprocessingDocument document = WordprocessingDocument.Create(ArtifactsDir + "Create header footer - OpenXML.docx",
        WordprocessingDocumentType.Document);

    // Add a main document part.
    MainDocumentPart mainDocumentPart = document.AddMainDocumentPart();
    mainDocumentPart.Document = new Document(new Body());

    // Delete existing header and footer parts (if any).
    mainDocumentPart.DeleteParts(mainDocumentPart.HeaderParts);
    mainDocumentPart.DeleteParts(mainDocumentPart.FooterParts);

    // Add new header and footer parts.
    HeaderPart headerPart = mainDocumentPart.AddNewPart<HeaderPart>();
    FooterPart footerPart = mainDocumentPart.AddNewPart<FooterPart>();

    string headerPartId = mainDocumentPart.GetIdOfPart(headerPart);
    string footerPartId = mainDocumentPart.GetIdOfPart(footerPart);

    // Generate content for the header and footer.
    GenerateHeaderPartContent(headerPart);
    GenerateFooterPartContent(footerPart);

    // Ensure the document has at least one section.
    if (mainDocumentPart.Document.Body.Elements<SectionProperties>().Count() == 0)
        mainDocumentPart.Document.Body.AppendChild(new SectionProperties());

    // Assign the header and footer to all sections.
    IEnumerable<SectionProperties> sections = mainDocumentPart.Document.Body.Elements<SectionProperties>();
    foreach (var section in sections)
    {
        section.RemoveAllChildren<HeaderReference>();
        section.RemoveAllChildren<FooterReference>();

        section.PrependChild(new HeaderReference { Id = headerPartId });
        section.PrependChild(new FooterReference { Id = footerPartId });
    }

    mainDocumentPart.Document.Save();
}

private void GenerateHeaderPartContent(HeaderPart part)
{
    Header header = new Header();

    Paragraph paragraph = new Paragraph { RsidParagraphAddition = "00164C17", RsidRunAdditionDefault = "00164C17" };

    ParagraphProperties paragraphProperties = new ParagraphProperties();
    ParagraphStyleId paragraphStyleId = new ParagraphStyleId { Val = "Header" };

    paragraphProperties.Append(paragraphStyleId);

    Run run = new Run();
    Text text = new Text { Text = "Header" };

    run.Append(text);
    paragraph.Append(paragraphProperties);
    paragraph.Append(run);

    header.Append(paragraph);

    part.Header = header;
}

private void GenerateFooterPartContent(FooterPart part)
{
    Footer footer = new Footer();

    Paragraph paragraph = new Paragraph { RsidParagraphAddition = "00164C17", RsidRunAdditionDefault = "00164C17" };

    ParagraphProperties paragraphProperties = new ParagraphProperties();
    ParagraphStyleId paragraphStyleId = new ParagraphStyleId { Val = "Footer" };

    paragraphProperties.Append(paragraphStyleId);

    Run run = new Run();
    Text text = new Text { Text = "Footer" };

    run.Append(text);
    paragraph.Append(paragraphProperties);
    paragraph.Append(run);

    footer.Append(paragraph);

    part.Footer = footer;
}

You can download the sample file of this example from Aspose.Words GitHub.

For more information about Aspose.Words features please visit Working with Headers and Footers.