OpenXML insert comment reply into word document C#

Question

I am trying to insert a comment as a reply using OpenXml. If it is not possible, I would like to insert a comment right after a selected comment. So far I am able to insert the comment in the place I want but I cannot get the comment to display when I open the document.

Below is the code to insert the comment.

 using (WordprocessingDocument document = WordprocessingDocument.Open(path + fileName + ".docx", true)){

            // Locate the first paragraph in the document.
            //XMLParagraphAlias firstParagraph = document.MainDocumentPart.Document.Descendants<XMLParagraphAlias>().First();

            XMLCommentsAlias comments = document.MainDocumentPart.WordprocessingCommentsPart.Comments;

            string id = comments.Descendants<DocumentFormat.OpenXml.Wordprocessing.Comment>()
                 .Where(i => i.Id.Value == reply.CurrentCommentID.ToString())
                 .Select(e => e.Id.Value)
                 .First();


             // Compose a new Comment and add it to the Comments part.
             XMLParagraphAlias p = new XMLParagraphAlias(new Run(new Text(reply.ReplyText)));

             string newCommentID = comments.Descendants<DocumentFormat.OpenXml.Wordprocessing.Comment>().Select(e => e.Id.Value).Max();

             XMLCommentAlias cmt = new XMLCommentAlias()
                                  {
                                    Id = newCommentID,
                                    Author = reply.CurrentUserName,
                                    Date = DateTime.Now.Date
                                  };

             XMLCommentAlias comment = comments.Elements<XMLCommentAlias>()
                                       .Where(n => n.Id.Value == reply.CurrentCommentID.ToString())
                                       .First();

             XMLParagraphAlias test2 = comment.Descendants<XMLParagraphAlias>().First();

            cmt.AppendChild(p);        
            comments.AppendChild(cmt);
            comments.Save();

            // Specify the text range for the Comment. 
            // Insert the new CommentRangeStart before the first run of paragraph.
            test2.InsertBefore(new CommentRangeStart() { Id = reply.CurrentCommentID.ToString() }, test2.GetFirstChild<Run>());

            // Insert the new CommentRangeEnd after last run of paragraph.
            var cmtEnd = test2.InsertAfter(new CommentRangeEnd() { Id = reply.CurrentCommentID.ToString() }, test2.Elements<Run>().Last());

            // Compose a run with CommentReference and insert it.
            test2.InsertAfter(new Run(new CommentReference() { Id = reply.CurrentCommentID.ToString() }), cmtEnd);
        }

I can see that the comment is put into the document using the debugger in VS, but it is not being displayed when I open the document.

After the save command is executed the comment is added to the document, but it doesn't display.

The overall goal here is to insert the comment after a specific comment in the list of comments that are contained in the document. Can someone help me find a solution to this?

Answer 1

I found that the following are needed to create reply comments

• The CommentsEx Part is added to the document
• The reply comment paragraph is linked to its parent
• The CommentRange and the CommentReference are added in the right order
• The reply comments still have to be added to the comments part

The example code below will add comments to an existing word in a document

 foreach (var paragraph in document.MainDocumentPart.Document.Descendants<Paragraph>())
 {
      foreach (var run in paragraph.Elements<Run>())
      {
         var item = run.Elements<Text>().FirstOrDefault(b => b.Text.Contains("DTT"));
         if (item != null)
         {

           if (document.MainDocumentPart.GetPartsCountOfType<WordprocessingCommentsPart>() > 0)
           {
              comments = document.MainDocumentPart.WordprocessingCommentsPart.Comments;
              commentsEx = document.MainDocumentPart.WordprocessingCommentsExPart.CommentsEx;
              if (comments.HasChildren)
              {
                   // Obtain an unused ID.
                   id = comments.Descendants<Comment>().Select(e => e.Id.Value).Max();
              }
         }
         else
         {
             // No WordprocessingCommentsPart part exists, so add one to the package.
             WordprocessingCommentsPart commentPart = document.MainDocumentPart.AddNewPart<WordprocessingCommentsPart>();
             commentPart.Comments = new Comments();
             comments = commentPart.Comments;

             WordprocessingCommentsExPart commentsExPart = document.MainDocumentPart.AddNewPart<WordprocessingCommentsExPart>();
             commentsExPart.CommentsEx = new CommentsEx();
             commentsEx = commentsExPart.CommentsEx;
        }

        Comment comment1 = new Comment() { Initials = "GS", Author = "Tony, Stark", Date = System.Xml.XmlConvert.ToDateTime("2018-11-19T14:54:00Z", System.Xml.XmlDateTimeSerializationMode.RoundtripKind), Id = "1" };
        Paragraph paragraph1 = new Paragraph() {  ParagraphId = "68DAFED3", TextId = "77777777" };               
       paragraph1.Append(new Run(new Text("fsdfas")));
       comment1.Append(paragraph1);

       Comment comment2 = new Comment() { Initials = "GS", Author = "Tony, Stark", Date = System.Xml.XmlConvert.ToDateTime("2018-11-19T14:54:00Z", System.Xml.XmlDateTimeSerializationMode.RoundtripKind), Id = "2" };
       Paragraph paragraph2 = new Paragraph() { ParagraphId = "346EE35B", TextId = "77777777" };                          
       paragraph2.Append(new Run(new Text("sadfsad")));
       comment2.Append(paragraph2);

       comments.Append(comment1);
       comments.Append(comment2);
       comments.Save();

       CommentRangeStart commentRangeStart1 = new CommentRangeStart() { Id = "1" };
       CommentRangeStart commentRangeStart2 = new CommentRangeStart() { Id = "2" };
       CommentRangeEnd commentRangeEnd1 = new CommentRangeEnd() { Id = "1" };
       CommentReference commentReference1 = new CommentReference() { Id = "1" };
       CommentRangeEnd commentRangeEnd2 = new CommentRangeEnd() { Id = "2" };
       CommentReference commentReference2 = new CommentReference() { Id = "2" };

       run.InsertBefore(commentRangeStart1, item);
       run.InsertBefore(commentRangeStart2, item);
       var cmtEnd = run.InsertAfter(commentRangeEnd1, item);
       var cmtEnd2 = run.InsertAfter(commentRangeEnd2, cmtEnd);
       run.InsertAfter(new Run(commentReference1), cmtEnd);
       run.InsertAfter(new Run(commentReference2), cmtEnd2);

       CommentEx commentEx1 = new CommentEx() { ParaId = "68DAFED3", Done = false };
       CommentEx commentEx2 = new CommentEx() { ParaId = "346EE35B", ParaIdParent = "68DAFED3", Done = false };
       commentsEx.Append(commentEx1);
       commentsEx.Append(commentEx2);
       commentsEx.Save();

       }
    }
}