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Create a Word document using Apache POI

In this tutorial I will show you how to create a word document using apache poi or write to a word document using apache poi API. Microsoft word document is a great tool to document your stuff. This example is tested on both 3.15 and 4.1.1 versions of Apache POI library. I am also going to show you how to use build tools maven and gradle for the application.

We will create here a Java application to create word document using apache poi library. Using apache poi library is very easy for any kind of activities in word document.

Prerequisites

Eclipse 4.12, JDK 1.8 or 12, Maven 3.6.1, Gradle 5.6, Apache POI 3.15 to 4.1.1

Create Project

You basically need to create a maven or gradle project in eclipse. The name of the project is word-apache-poi.

Once the project is created and eclipse finishes build then you need to modify the pom.xml file as shown below.

Here we will add apache poi API as a dependency for working with microsoft word document or even you can work with open source word document.

<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
	xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
	<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
	<groupId>com.roytuts</groupId>
	<artifactId>word-apache-poi</artifactId>
	<version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
	<packaging>jar</packaging>
	
	<properties>
		<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
		<java.version>1.8</java.version>
		<poi.version>3.15</poi.version>
	</properties>
	
	<dependencies>
		<!-- apache poi for xlsx, docx etc reading/writing -->
		<dependency>
			<groupId>org.apache.poi</groupId>
			<artifactId>poi-ooxml</artifactId>
			<version>${poi.version}</version>
		</dependency>
	</dependencies>
	
	<build>
		<plugins>
			<plugin>
				<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
				<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
				<configuration>
					<source>${java.version}</source>
					<target>${java.version}</target>
				</configuration>
			</plugin>
		</plugins>
	</build>
</project>

If you want to use gradle build script to create your project then use below build script to setup the project. Here also we have used the same apache poi version as you have seen in the above maven based pom.xml file.

plugins {
    id 'java-library'
}

sourceCompatibility = 12 or 1.8
targetCompatibility = 12 or 1.8

repositories {
    jcenter()
}

dependencies {
    implementation 'org.apache.poi:poi-ooxml:4.1.1 or 3.15'
}

Create Word File

Create below class to create WordDocx.docx file.

The below source code creates a word document and writes sample texts to different paragraphs in different formats.

The first paragraph writes texts with justify alignments. It also adds first line with indent.

The second paragraph writes test with left alignment. It also adds first line with indent.

The third paragraph texts are italic with left alignment. The fourth paragraph texts are bold with left alignment.

The fifth paragraph texts are strike-through with left alignment. The sixth paragraph texts are undelined with left alignment.

Finally we create the output WordDocx.docx file in the root directory of the project. You can also save the file anywhere you want. This will create a word document using apache poi.

package com.roytuts.word.apache.poi;

import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;

import org.apache.poi.xwpf.usermodel.ParagraphAlignment;
import org.apache.poi.xwpf.usermodel.UnderlinePatterns;
import org.apache.poi.xwpf.usermodel.XWPFDocument;
import org.apache.poi.xwpf.usermodel.XWPFParagraph;
import org.apache.poi.xwpf.usermodel.XWPFRun;

public class WordDocx {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		createWordDocument("WordDocx.docx");
	}

	public static void createWordDocument(final String outputFileName) {
		// create a document
		XWPFDocument doc = new XWPFDocument();

		// create a paragraph with justify alignment
		XWPFParagraph p1 = doc.createParagraph();

		// first line indentation in the paragraph
		p1.setFirstLineIndent(400);

		// justify alignment
		p1.setAlignment(ParagraphAlignment.DISTRIBUTE);

		// wrap words
		p1.setWordWrapped(true);

		// insert page break after this paragraph
		// p1.setPageBreak(true);
		// XWPFRun object defines a region of text with a common set of
		// properties
		XWPFRun r1 = p1.createRun();
		String t1 = "Sample Paragraph Post. This is a sample Paragraph post. Sample Paragraph text is being cut and pasted again and again. This is a sample Paragraph post. peru-duellmans-poison-dart-frog."
				+ " Sample Paragraph Post. This is a sample Paragraph post. Sample Paragraph text is being cut and pasted again and again. This is a sample Paragraph post. peru-duellmans-poison-dart-frog.";
		r1.setText(t1);

		// create a paragraph with left alignment
		XWPFParagraph p2 = doc.createParagraph();

		// first line indentation in the paragraph
		p2.setFirstLineIndent(400);

		// left alignment
		p2.setAlignment(ParagraphAlignment.LEFT);

		// wrap words
		p2.setWordWrapped(true);

		// insert page break after this paragraph
		// p2.setPageBreak(true);
		// XWPFRun object defines a region of text with a common set of
		// properties
		XWPFRun r2 = p2.createRun();
		String t2 = "Sample Paragraph Post. This is a sample Paragraph post. Sample Paragraph text is being cut and pasted again and again. This is a sample Paragraph post. peru-duellmans-poison-dart-frog."
				+ " Sample Paragraph Post. This is a sample Paragraph post. Sample Paragraph text is being cut and pasted again and again. This is a sample Paragraph post. peru-duellmans-poison-dart-frog.";
		r2.setText(t2);

		// create a paragraph with ITALIC text
		XWPFParagraph p3 = doc.createParagraph();

		// left alignment
		p3.setAlignment(ParagraphAlignment.LEFT);

		// wrap words
		p3.setWordWrapped(true);

		// XWPFRun object defines a region of text with a common set of
		// properties
		XWPFRun r3 = p3.createRun();
		String t3 = "Sample Paragraph Post. This is a sample Paragraph post. Sample Paragraph text is being cut and pasted again and again. This is a sample Paragraph post. peru-duellmans-poison-dart-frog.";
		r3.setText(t3);

		// make text italic
		r3.setItalic(true);

		// create a paragraph with BOLD text
		XWPFParagraph p4 = doc.createParagraph();

		// left alignment
		p4.setAlignment(ParagraphAlignment.LEFT);

		// wrap words
		p4.setWordWrapped(true);

		// XWPFRun object defines a region of text with a common set of
		// properties
		XWPFRun r4 = p4.createRun();
		String t4 = "Sample Paragraph Post. This is a sample Paragraph post. Sample Paragraph text is being cut and pasted again and again. This is a sample Paragraph post. peru-duellmans-poison-dart-frog.";
		r4.setText(t4);

		// make text bold
		r4.setBold(true);

		// create a paragraph with Strike-Through text
		XWPFParagraph p5 = doc.createParagraph();

		// left alignment
		p5.setAlignment(ParagraphAlignment.LEFT);

		// wrap words
		p5.setWordWrapped(true);

		// XWPFRun object defines a region of text with a common set of
		// properties
		XWPFRun r5 = p5.createRun();
		String t5 = "Sample Paragraph Post. This is a sample Paragraph post. Sample Paragraph text is being cut and pasted again and again. This is a sample Paragraph post. peru-duellmans-poison-dart-frog.";
		r5.setText(t5);

		// make StrikeThrough
		r5.setStrikeThrough(true);

		// create a paragraph with Underlined text
		XWPFParagraph p6 = doc.createParagraph();

		// left alignment
		p6.setAlignment(ParagraphAlignment.LEFT);

		// wrap words
		p6.setWordWrapped(true);

		// XWPFRun object defines a region of text with a common set of
		// properties
		XWPFRun r6 = p6.createRun();
		String t6 = "Sample Paragraph Post. This is a sample Paragraph post. Sample Paragraph text is being cut and pasted again and again. This is a sample Paragraph post. peru-duellmans-poison-dart-frog.";
		r6.setText(t6);

		// make Underlined
		r6.setUnderline(UnderlinePatterns.SINGLE);

		// write to a docx file
		FileOutputStream fo = null;
		try {
			// create .docx file
			fo = new FileOutputStream(outputFileName);

			// write to the .docx file
			doc.write(fo);
		} catch (IOException e) {
		} finally {
			if (fo != null) {
				try {
					fo.close();
				} catch (IOException e) {
					e.printStackTrace();
				}
			}
			if (doc != null) {
				try {
					doc.close();
				} catch (IOException e) {
					e.printStackTrace();
				}
			}
		}
	}

}

Related Posts:

Testing the Application

Run the above class to see the output in WordDocx.docx file. The file is created under root directory of the project.

Now open the created word document you should see the expected output similar to below image.

Hope you have got an idea how to create a word document using apache poi.

Source Code

Download

Thanks for reading.

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