Class Body

Body

An element representing a document body. The Body may contain ListItem, Paragraph, Table, and TableOfContents elements. For more information on document structure, see the guide to extending Google Docs.

The Body typically contains the full document contents except for the HeaderSection, FooterSection, and any FootnoteSection elements.

var doc = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument();
var body = doc.getBody();

// Append a paragraph and a page break to the document body section directly.
body.appendParagraph("A paragraph.");
body.appendPageBreak();

Methods

MethodReturn typeBrief description
appendHorizontalRule()HorizontalRuleCreates and appends a new HorizontalRule.
appendImage(image)InlineImageCreates and appends a new InlineImage from the specified image blob.
appendImage(image)InlineImageAppends the given InlineImage.
appendListItem(listItem)ListItemAppends the given ListItem.
appendListItem(text)ListItemCreates and appends a new ListItem containing the specified text contents.
appendPageBreak()PageBreakCreates and appends a new PageBreak.
appendPageBreak(pageBreak)PageBreakAppends the given PageBreak.
appendParagraph(paragraph)ParagraphAppends the given Paragraph.
appendParagraph(text)ParagraphCreates and appends a new Paragraph containing the specified text contents.
appendTable()TableCreates and appends a new Table.
appendTable(cells)TableAppends a new Table containing a TableCell for each specified string value.
appendTable(table)TableAppends the given Table.
clear()BodyClears the contents of the element.
copy()BodyReturns a detached, deep copy of the current element.
editAsText()TextObtains a Text version of the current element, for editing.
findElement(elementType)RangeElementSearches the contents of the element for a descendant of the specified type.
findElement(elementType, from)RangeElementSearches the contents of the element for a descendant of the specified type, starting from the specified RangeElement.
findText(searchPattern)RangeElementSearches the contents of the element for the specified text pattern using regular expressions.
findText(searchPattern, from)RangeElementSearches the contents of the element for the specified text pattern, starting from a given search result.
getAttributes()ObjectRetrieves the element's attributes.
getChild(childIndex)ElementRetrieves the child element at the specified child index.
getChildIndex(child)IntegerRetrieves the child index for the specified child element.
getHeadingAttributes(paragraphHeading)ObjectRetrieves the set of attributes for the provided ParagraphHeading.
getImages()InlineImage[]Retrieves all the InlineImages contained in the section.
getListItems()ListItem[]Retrieves all the ListItems contained in the section.
getMarginBottom()NumberRetrieves the bottom margin, in points.
getMarginLeft()NumberRetrieves the left margin, in points.
getMarginRight()NumberRetrieves the right margin.
getMarginTop()NumberRetrieves the top margin.
getNumChildren()IntegerRetrieves the number of children.
getPageHeight()NumberRetrieves the page height, in points.
getPageWidth()NumberRetrieves the page width, in points.
getParagraphs()Paragraph[]Retrieves all the Paragraphs contained in the section (including ListItems).
getParent()ContainerElementRetrieves the element's parent element.
getTables()Table[]Retrieves all the Tables contained in the section.
getText()StringRetrieves the contents of the element as a text string.
getTextAlignment()TextAlignmentGets the text alignment.
getType()ElementTypeRetrieves the element's ElementType.
insertHorizontalRule(childIndex)HorizontalRuleCreates and inserts a new HorizontalRule at the specified index.
insertImage(childIndex, image)InlineImageCreates and inserts an InlineImage from the specified image blob, at the specified index.
insertImage(childIndex, image)InlineImageInserts the given InlineImage at the specified index.
insertListItem(childIndex, listItem)ListItemInserts the given ListItem at the specified index.
insertListItem(childIndex, text)ListItemCreates and inserts a new ListItem at the specified index, containing the specified text contents.
insertPageBreak(childIndex)PageBreakCreates and inserts a new PageBreak at the specified index.
insertPageBreak(childIndex, pageBreak)PageBreakInserts the given PageBreak at the specified index.
insertParagraph(childIndex, paragraph)ParagraphInserts the given Paragraph at the specified index.
insertParagraph(childIndex, text)ParagraphCreates and inserts a new Paragraph at the specified index, containing the specified text contents.
insertTable(childIndex)TableCreates and inserts a new Table at the specified index.
insertTable(childIndex, cells)TableCreates and inserts a new Table containing the specified cells, at the specified index.
insertTable(childIndex, table)TableInserts the given Table at the specified index.
removeChild(child)BodyRemoves the specified child element.
replaceText(searchPattern, replacement)ElementReplaces all occurrences of a given text pattern with a given replacement string, using regular expressions.
setAttributes(attributes)BodySets the element's attributes.
setHeadingAttributes(paragraphHeading, attributes)BodySets the attributes for the provided ParagraphHeading.
setMarginBottom(marginBottom)BodySets the bottom margin, in points.
setMarginLeft(marginLeft)BodySets the left margin, in points.
setMarginRight(marginRight)BodySets the right margin, in points.
setMarginTop(marginTop)BodySets the top margin.
setPageHeight(pageHeight)BodySets the page height, in points.
setPageWidth(pageWidth)BodySets the page width, in points.
setText(text)BodySets the contents as plain text.
setTextAlignment(textAlignment)BodySets the text alignment.

Detailed documentation

appendHorizontalRule()

Creates and appends a new HorizontalRule.

The HorizontalRule will be contained in a new Paragraph.

Return

HorizontalRule — the new horizontal rule

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

appendImage(image)

Creates and appends a new InlineImage from the specified image blob.

The image will be contained in a new Paragraph.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
imageBlobSourcethe image data

Return

InlineImage — the appended image

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

appendImage(image)

Appends the given InlineImage.

The InlineImage will be contained in a new Paragraph.

Use this version of appendImage when appending a copy of an existing InlineImage.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
imageInlineImagethe image data

Return

InlineImage — the appended image

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

appendListItem(listItem)

Appends the given ListItem.

Use this version of appendListItem when appending a copy of an existing ListItem.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
listItemListItemthe list item to append

Return

ListItem — the appended list item

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

appendListItem(text)

Creates and appends a new ListItem containing the specified text contents.

Consecutive list items are added as part of the same list.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
textStringthe list item's text contents

Return

ListItem — the new list item

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

appendPageBreak()

Creates and appends a new PageBreak.

The PageBreak will be contained in a new Paragraph.

Return

PageBreak — the new page break

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

appendPageBreak(pageBreak)

Appends the given PageBreak.

The PageBreak will be contained in a new Paragraph.

Use this version of appendPageBreak when appending a copy of an existing PageBreak.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
pageBreakPageBreakthe page break to append

Return

PageBreak — the appended page break

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

appendParagraph(paragraph)

Appends the given Paragraph.

Use this version of appendParagraph when appending a copy of an existing Paragraph.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
paragraphParagraphthe paragraph to append

Return

Paragraph — the appended paragraph

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

appendParagraph(text)

Creates and appends a new Paragraph containing the specified text contents.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
textStringthe paragraph's text contents

Return

Paragraph — the new paragraph

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

appendTable()

Creates and appends a new Table.

This method will also append an empty paragraph after the table, since Google Docs documents cannot end with a table.

Return

Table — the new table

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

appendTable(cells)

Appends a new Table containing a TableCell for each specified string value.

This method will also append an empty paragraph after the table, since Google Docs documents cannot end with a table.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
cellsString[][]the text contents of the table cells to add to the new table

Return

Table — the appended table

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

appendTable(table)

Appends the given Table.

Use this version of appendTable when appending a copy of an existing Table. This method will also append an empty paragraph after the table, since Google Docs documents cannot end with a table.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
tableTablethe table to append

Return

Table — the appended table

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

clear()

Clears the contents of the element.

Return

Body — the current element


copy()

Returns a detached, deep copy of the current element.

Any child elements present in the element are also copied. The new element doesn't have a parent.

Return

Body — The new copy.

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

editAsText()

Obtains a Text version of the current element, for editing.

Use editAsText for manipulating the elements contents as rich text. The editAsText mode ignores non-text elements (such as InlineImage and HorizontalRule).

Child elements fully contained within a deleted text range are removed from the element.

var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

// Insert two paragraphs separated by a paragraph containing an
// horizontal rule.
body.insertParagraph(0, "An editAsText sample.");
body.insertHorizontalRule(0);
body.insertParagraph(0, "An example.");

// Delete " sample.\n\n An" removing the horizontal rule in the process.
body.editAsText().deleteText(14, 25);

Return

Text — a text version of the current element


findElement(elementType)

Searches the contents of the element for a descendant of the specified type.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
elementTypeElementTypethe type of element to search for

Return

RangeElement — a search result indicating the position of the search element

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

findElement(elementType, from)

Searches the contents of the element for a descendant of the specified type, starting from the specified RangeElement.

// Get the body section of the active document.
var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

// Define the search parameters.
var searchType = DocumentApp.ElementType.PARAGRAPH;
var searchHeading = DocumentApp.ParagraphHeading.HEADING1;
var searchResult = null;

// Search until the paragraph is found.
while (searchResult = body.findElement(searchType, searchResult)) {
  var par = searchResult.getElement().asParagraph();
  if (par.getHeading() == searchHeading) {
    // Found one, update and stop.
    par.setText('This is the first header.');
    return;
  }
}

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
elementTypeElementTypethe type of element to search for
fromRangeElementthe search result to search from

Return

RangeElement — a search result indicating the next position of the search element

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

findText(searchPattern)

Searches the contents of the element for the specified text pattern using regular expressions.

A subset of the JavaScript regular expression features are not fully supported, such as capture groups and mode modifiers.

The provided regular expression pattern is independently matched against each text block contained in the current element.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
searchPatternStringthe pattern to search for

Return

RangeElement — a search result indicating the position of the search text, or null if there is no match

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

findText(searchPattern, from)

Searches the contents of the element for the specified text pattern, starting from a given search result.

A subset of the JavaScript regular expression features are not fully supported, such as capture groups and mode modifiers.

The provided regular expression pattern is independently matched against each text block contained in the current element.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
searchPatternStringthe pattern to search for
fromRangeElementthe search result to search from

Return

RangeElement — a search result indicating the next position of the search text, or null if there is no match

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getAttributes()

Retrieves the element's attributes.

The result is an object containing a property for each valid element attribute where each property name corresponds to an item in the DocumentApp.Attribute enumeration.

var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

// Append a styled paragraph.
var par = body.appendParagraph('A bold, italicized paragraph.');
par.setBold(true);
par.setItalic(true);

// Retrieve the paragraph's attributes.
var atts = par.getAttributes();

// Log the paragraph attributes.
for (var att in atts) {
  Logger.log(att + ":" + atts[att]);
}

Return

Object — The element's attributes.

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getChild(childIndex)

Retrieves the child element at the specified child index.

// Get the body section of the active document.
var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

// Obtain the first element in the document.
var firstChild = body.getChild(0);

// If it's a paragraph, set its contents.
if (firstChild.getType() == DocumentApp.ElementType.PARAGRAPH) {
  firstChild.asParagraph().setText("This is the first paragraph.");
}

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
childIndexIntegerthe index of the child element to retrieve

Return

Element — the child element at the specified index

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getChildIndex(child)

Retrieves the child index for the specified child element.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
childElementthe child element for which to retrieve the index

Return

Integer — the child index

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getHeadingAttributes(paragraphHeading)

Retrieves the set of attributes for the provided ParagraphHeading.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
paragraphHeadingParagraphHeadingthe heading whose attributes will be retrieved

Return

Object — a map of the attributes and their current values

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getImages()

Retrieves all the InlineImages contained in the section.

Return

InlineImage[] — the section images

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getListItems()

Retrieves all the ListItems contained in the section.

Return

ListItem[] — the section list items

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getMarginBottom()

Retrieves the bottom margin, in points.

Return

Number — the bottom margin, in points

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getMarginLeft()

Retrieves the left margin, in points.

Return

Number — the left margin, in points

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getMarginRight()

Retrieves the right margin.

Return

Number — the right margin, in points

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getMarginTop()

Retrieves the top margin.

Return

Number — the top margin, in points

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getNumChildren()

Retrieves the number of children.

// Get the body section of the active document.
var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

// Log the number of elements in the document.
Logger.log("There are " + body.getNumChildren() +
    " elements in the document body.");

Return

Integer — the number of children

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getPageHeight()

Retrieves the page height, in points.

Return

Number — the page height, in points

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getPageWidth()

Retrieves the page width, in points.

Return

Number — the page width, in points

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getParagraphs()

Retrieves all the Paragraphs contained in the section (including ListItems).

Return

Paragraph[] — the section paragraphs

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getParent()

Retrieves the element's parent element.

The parent element contains the current element.

Return

ContainerElement — The parent element.

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getTables()

Retrieves all the Tables contained in the section.

Return

Table[] — the section tables

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getText()

Retrieves the contents of the element as a text string.

Return

String — the contents of the element as text string

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getTextAlignment()

Gets the text alignment. The available types of alignment are DocumentApp.TextAlignment.NORMAL, DocumentApp.TextAlignment.SUBSCRIPT, and DocumentApp.TextAlignment.SUPERSCRIPT.

Return

TextAlignment — the type of text alignment, or null if the text contains multiple types of text alignments or if the text alignment has never been set

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

getType()

Retrieves the element's ElementType.

Use getType() to determine the exact type of a given element.

var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

// Obtain the first element in the document body.

var firstChild = body.getChild(0);

// Use getType() to determine the element's type.
if (firstChild.getType() == DocumentApp.ElementType.PARAGRAPH) {
  Logger.log('The first element is a paragraph.');
} else {
  Logger.log('The first element is not a paragraph.');
}

Return

ElementType — The element type.

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

insertHorizontalRule(childIndex)

Creates and inserts a new HorizontalRule at the specified index.

The HorizontalRule will be contained in a new Paragraph.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
childIndexIntegerthe index at which to insert the element

Return

HorizontalRule — the new horizontal rule

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

insertImage(childIndex, image)

Creates and inserts an InlineImage from the specified image blob, at the specified index.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
childIndexIntegerthe index at which to insert the element
imageBlobSourcethe image data

Return

InlineImage — the inserted inline image

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

insertImage(childIndex, image)

Inserts the given InlineImage at the specified index.

The image will be contained in a new Paragraph.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
childIndexIntegerthe index at which to insert the element
imageInlineImagethe image to insert

Return

InlineImage — the inserted inline image

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

insertListItem(childIndex, listItem)

Inserts the given ListItem at the specified index.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
childIndexIntegerthe index at which to insert
listItemListItemthe list item to insert

Return

ListItem — the inserted list item

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

insertListItem(childIndex, text)

Creates and inserts a new ListItem at the specified index, containing the specified text contents.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
childIndexIntegerthe index at which to insert
textStringthe list item's text contents

Return

ListItem — the new list item

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

insertPageBreak(childIndex)

Creates and inserts a new PageBreak at the specified index.

The PageBreak will be contained in a new Paragraph.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
childIndexIntegerthe index at which to insert the element

Return

PageBreak — the new page break

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

insertPageBreak(childIndex, pageBreak)

Inserts the given PageBreak at the specified index.

The PageBreak will be contained in a new Paragraph.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
childIndexIntegerthe index at which to insert the element
pageBreakPageBreakthe p[age break to insert

Return

PageBreak — the inserted page break

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

insertParagraph(childIndex, paragraph)

Inserts the given Paragraph at the specified index.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
childIndexIntegerthe index at which to insert
paragraphParagraphthe paragraph to insert

Return

Paragraph — the inserted paragraph

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

insertParagraph(childIndex, text)

Creates and inserts a new Paragraph at the specified index, containing the specified text contents.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
childIndexIntegerthe index at which to insert
textStringthe paragraph's text contents

Return

Paragraph — the new paragraph

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

insertTable(childIndex)

Creates and inserts a new Table at the specified index.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
childIndexIntegerthe index at which to insert

Return

Table — the new table

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

insertTable(childIndex, cells)

Creates and inserts a new Table containing the specified cells, at the specified index.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
childIndexIntegerthe index at which to insert
cellsString[][]the text contents of the table cells to add to the new table

Return

Table — the new table

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

insertTable(childIndex, table)

Inserts the given Table at the specified index.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
childIndexIntegerthe index at which to insert
tableTablethe table to insert

Return

Table — the inserted table

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

removeChild(child)

Removes the specified child element.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
childElementthe child element to remove

Return

Body — the current element

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

replaceText(searchPattern, replacement)

Replaces all occurrences of a given text pattern with a given replacement string, using regular expressions.

The search pattern is passed as a string, not a JavaScript regular expression object. Because of this you'll need to escape any backslashes in the pattern.

This methods uses Google's RE2 regular expression library, which limits the supported syntax.

The provided regular expression pattern is independently matched against each text block contained in the current element.

var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

// Clear the text surrounding "Apps Script", with or without text.
body.replaceText("^.*Apps ?Script.*$", "Apps Script");

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
searchPatternStringthe regex pattern to search for
replacementStringthe text to use as replacement

Return

Element — the current element

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

setAttributes(attributes)

Sets the element's attributes.

The specified attributes parameter must be an object where each property name is an item in the DocumentApp.Attribute enumeration and each property value is the new value to be applied.

var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody();

// Define a custom paragraph style.
var style = {};
style[DocumentApp.Attribute.HORIZONTAL_ALIGNMENT] =
    DocumentApp.HorizontalAlignment.RIGHT;
style[DocumentApp.Attribute.FONT_FAMILY] = 'Calibri';
style[DocumentApp.Attribute.FONT_SIZE] = 18;
style[DocumentApp.Attribute.BOLD] = true;

// Append a plain paragraph.
var par = body.appendParagraph('A paragraph with custom style.');

// Apply the custom style.
par.setAttributes(style);

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
attributesObjectThe element's attributes.

Return

Body — The current element.

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

setHeadingAttributes(paragraphHeading, attributes)

Sets the attributes for the provided ParagraphHeading.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
paragraphHeadingParagraphHeadingthe heading whose attributes will be set
attributesObjecta map of attributes and the values to set them to

Return

Body — the current element

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

setMarginBottom(marginBottom)

Sets the bottom margin, in points.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
marginBottomNumberthe bottom margin, in points

Return

Body — the current element

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

setMarginLeft(marginLeft)

Sets the left margin, in points.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
marginLeftNumberthe left margin, in points

Return

Body — the current element

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

setMarginRight(marginRight)

Sets the right margin, in points.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
marginRightNumberthe right margin

Return

Body — the current element

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

setMarginTop(marginTop)

Sets the top margin.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
marginTopNumberthe top margin, in points

Return

Body — the current element

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

setPageHeight(pageHeight)

Sets the page height, in points.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
pageHeightNumberthe page height, in points

Return

Body — the current element

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

setPageWidth(pageWidth)

Sets the page width, in points.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
pageWidthNumberthe page width, in points

Return

Body — the current element

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

setText(text)

Sets the contents as plain text.

Note: existing contents are cleared.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
textStringthe new text contents

Return

Body — the current element

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

setTextAlignment(textAlignment)

Sets the text alignment. The available types of alignment are DocumentApp.TextAlignment.NORMAL, DocumentApp.TextAlignment.SUBSCRIPT, and DocumentApp.TextAlignment.SUPERSCRIPT.

// Make the entire first paragraph be superscript.
var text = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody().getParagraphs()[0].editAsText();
text.setTextAlignment(DocumentApp.TextAlignment.SUPERSCRIPT);

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
textAlignmentTextAlignmentthe type of text alignment to apply

Return

Body — the current element

Authorization

Scripts that use this method require authorization with one or more of the following scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents.currentonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/documents

Deprecated methods