Class FootnoteSection

FootnoteSection

An element representing a footnote section. A FootnoteSection contains the text that corresponds to a Footnote. The FootnoteSection may contain ListItem or Paragraph elements. For more information on document structure, see the guide to extending Google Docs.

Methods

MethodReturn typeBrief description
appendParagraph(paragraph)ParagraphAppends the given Paragraph.
appendParagraph(text)ParagraphCreates and appends a new Paragraph containing the specified text contents.
clear()FootnoteSectionClears the contents of the element.
copy()FootnoteSectionReturns 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.
getNextSibling()ElementRetrieves the element's next sibling element.
getNumChildren()IntegerRetrieves the number of children.
getParagraphs()Paragraph[]Retrieves all the Paragraphs contained in the section (including ListItems).
getParent()ContainerElementRetrieves the element's parent element.
getPreviousSibling()ElementRetrieves the element's previous sibling element.
getText()StringRetrieves the contents of the element as a text string.
getTextAlignment()TextAlignmentGets the text alignment.
getType()ElementTypeRetrieves the element's ElementType.
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.
removeChild(child)FootnoteSectionRemoves the specified child element.
removeFromParent()FootnoteSectionRemoves the element from its parent.
replaceText(searchPattern, replacement)ElementReplaces all occurrences of a given text pattern with a given replacement string, using regular expressions.
setAttributes(attributes)FootnoteSectionSets the element's attributes.
setText(text)FootnoteSectionSets the contents as plain text.
setTextAlignment(textAlignment)FootnoteSectionSets the text alignment.

Detailed documentation

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

clear()

Clears the contents of the element.

Return

FootnoteSection — 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

FootnoteSection — 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

getNextSibling()

Retrieves the element's next sibling element.

The next sibling has the same parent and follows the current element.

Return

Element — The next sibling 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

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

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

getPreviousSibling()

Retrieves the element's previous sibling element.

The previous sibling has the same parent and precedes the current element.

Return

Element — The previous sibling 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

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

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

removeChild(child)

Removes the specified child element.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
childElementthe child element to remove

Return

FootnoteSection — 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

removeFromParent()

Removes the element from its parent.

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

// Remove all images in the document body.
var imgs = body.getImages();
for (var i = 0; i < imgs.length; i++) {
  imgs[i].removeFromParent();
}

Return

FootnoteSection — The removed 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

FootnoteSection — 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

FootnoteSection — 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

FootnoteSection — 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