Extract Text from Word Document

Scripting enables Robomotion users to develop more efficient procedures and create less complex flows. For example, they can extract the multi-page content of Word documents using VBScript code instead of manually launching the application and interacting with its interface.

What Extract Text from Word Document can do

• Core.Flow.SubFlow downloads fixtures; a Function builds msg.sample_docx (.../fixtures/sample.docx).
• Input Dialog titled Extract text from Word document, message Select the Word document to extract text from:, default msg.sample_docx → msg.word_doc_path.
• Validate (Core.Programming.Function, outputs: 2) — reject paths that do not end in .doc/.docx; on success derive msg.script_path as <doc dir>\_extract.vbs.
• Build script (Core.Programming.Function) injects the escaped msg.word_doc_path into a VBScript template that opens the document with Word.Application, iterates WordDoc.Sentences, and WScript.Echoes each sentence → msg.vbs_body.
• Core.FileSystem.WriteFile (optMode: 'truncate') writes the script to msg.script_path; a Function sets msg.vbs_args = ['//Nologo', msg.script_path].
• Core.Process.StartProcess runs cscript with msg.vbs_args in the foreground → msg.vbs_output; Core.FileSystem.Delete removes the temp script.
• Function trims leading/trailing whitespace into msg.trimmed_text; Core.Dialog.MessageBox titled Extracted text: (type info) displays it, then Core.Flow.Stop.

Behind the scenes

• WordDoc.Sentences.Count returns a sentence count, not a word count — the script walks Sentences(i) so each echoed line is a full sentence. The variable is named accordingly in the VBScript body.
• The script calls WordDoc.Close False and Word.Quit, explicitly discarding any incidental edits so Word does not raise a "save changes?" prompt on the next headless run.
• Quoting is the riskiest part of the bridge: the build step backslash-escapes and double-quotes the path before interpolation, which is safe for well-formed Windows paths but is not a general-purpose sanitiser — treat msg.word_doc_path as trusted input.
• The VBScript file is written next to the source document (rather than a system temp) so the user never has to grant write access to an unfamiliar location, and it is deleted after execution with continueOnError: true so a transient antivirus lock does not abort the flow.
• cscript //Nologo suppresses the banner so the captured stdout is only the script's WScript.Echo output; the trim node then strips the trailing CRLF that cscript always appends.