Escribal
Back to Docs

Text Doc

Text content

This group of instructions writes and edits the running text of a document: it adds new text (as a run or a new paragraph), inserts special characters, line breaks, and automatic date/time and page-number fields, and it finds, replaces, or deletes text that is already there.

Prerequisite: before using any of these instructions, the workflow must already have a DOCX document created or opened (with Create text document).

These concepts recur across several instructions in this group; they are explained here once.

  • Document: indicates which document in the workflow the instruction applies to. If left empty, the current document is used.

  • Placing text at a bookmark: several instructions accept a Bookmark name. If you give the name of a bookmark that exists in the document, the new text (or break, or field) is inserted at that bookmark; if the field is left empty or no bookmark with that name exists, the text is added at the end of the document (a new empty paragraph is created if there is none). Bookmarks are created with the Insert Bookmark instruction (References & fields group).

  • Text size is in points (pt); for example 12. A value of 0 means “don’t set a size” (the document’s default is used).

  • Dynamic values (@name): in any text field you can type @ followed by the name of a value saved earlier in the workflow, and it will be replaced by that value. For example, if you saved a name in customerName, you can type @customerName in the Text field.

  • Saving a result: Find Text, Find And Replace Text, and Delete Text offer a Save count in field that stores, under a name you choose, how many matches were found, replaced, or deleted. Insert Date Time Field offers a Save text in field (only when As fixed text is on). If left empty, nothing is saved.

  • “From variable” fields: the @name trick only works in text fields. So that a numeric field (like Font size (pt)) or a yes/no field (like Bold or Case sensitive) can also take its value from a saved value, several of them have a companion “from variable” field:

    • If you leave it empty, the value typed in the normal field is used.
    • If you fill it in with the name of a saved value, the engine ignores the normal field and uses that variable’s value.

    This is mainly for chaining instructions (one instruction saves a value, the next one reads it). If you only work with fixed values, you can ignore these fields.

Append Text .docx

Adds text to the end of the document, either continuing the last paragraph or starting a new one, with optional bold, italic, font, and size.

When to use it: to add a sentence, heading, or block of text to the end of the document.

Parameter Meaning Default Required
Document Document the instruction applies to (current document) No
Text The text to add. Supports @name (empty) No
Bold Whether the text is bold No No
Italic Whether the text is italic No No
Font Font (typeface) for the text; empty = document default. Supports @name (empty) No
Font size (pt) Text size in points; 0 = document default 0 No
New paragraph Start a new paragraph instead of continuing the last one No No
Bold (from variable) Reads the bold setting from a saved value (empty) No
Italic (from variable) Reads the italic setting from a saved value (empty) No
Font size (from variable) Reads the font size from a saved value (empty) No
New paragraph (from variable) Reads the new-paragraph setting from a saved value (empty) No

Important behavior: with New paragraph off, the text is added to the end of the last paragraph; with it on, a new paragraph is created (before the document’s final section settings, so it stays inside the document). If the document has no paragraphs yet, one is created.

Delete Text .docx

Removes occurrences of a piece of text from the document.

When to use it: to strip out a placeholder or an unwanted word or phrase.

Parameter Meaning Default Required
Document Document the instruction applies to (current document) No
Search text The text to find and remove. Supports @name (empty) Yes
Case sensitive Whether uppercase/lowercase must match exactly No No
First only Remove only the first occurrence instead of all No No
Case sensitive (from variable) Reads the case setting from a saved value (empty) No
First only (from variable) Reads the yes/no value from a saved value (empty) No
Save count in Stores how many pieces of text were removed (empty) No

Important behavior: if Search text is empty, the instruction does nothing. The search looks inside each run of text; when a match is fully removed and nothing is left in that run, the run is deleted. The number of removals is saved in Save count in if set — it counts runs touched, not occurrences, so a run holding the word twice counts once. A paragraph is split into runs whenever the formatting changes (and sometimes after editing or spell-checking), and the search looks inside each run separately — so a phrase that happens to be split across two runs (for example because one word is bold) is not found, silently. If a search that should match finds nothing, that is usually why: retype the phrase with uniform formatting.

Find And Replace Text .docx

Replaces occurrences of one piece of text with another.

When to use it: to swap a placeholder like @customerName (as literal text) or a word for a new value.

Parameter Meaning Default Required
Document Document the instruction applies to (current document) No
Search text The text to find. Supports @name (empty) Yes
New text The text to put in its place. Supports @name (empty) No
Case sensitive Whether uppercase/lowercase must match exactly No No
First only Replace only the first occurrence instead of all No No
Case sensitive (from variable) Reads the case setting from a saved value (empty) No
First only (from variable) Reads the yes/no value from a saved value (empty) No
Save count in Stores how many replacements were made (empty) No

Important behavior: if Search text is empty, the instruction does nothing. Matching and replacing happen within each run of text. The number of replacements is saved in Save count in if set — it counts runs touched, not occurrences, so a run holding the word twice counts once. A paragraph is split into runs whenever the formatting changes (and sometimes after editing or spell-checking), and the search looks inside each run separately — so a phrase that happens to be split across two runs (for example because one word is bold) is not found, silently. If a search that should match finds nothing, that is usually why: retype the phrase with uniform formatting.

Find Text .docx

Counts how many runs of text contain a piece of text (without changing anything).

When to use it: to check whether a word appears, or how often, and save that count for a later decision (for example, an If).

Parameter Meaning Default Required
Document Document the instruction applies to (current document) No
Search text The text to look for. Supports @name (empty) Yes
Case sensitive Whether uppercase/lowercase must match exactly No No
Case sensitive (from variable) Reads the case setting from a saved value (empty) No
Save count in Stores how many runs contained the text (empty) No

Important behavior: if Search text is empty, the instruction does nothing. It only reads the document; nothing is changed. The count is the number of text runs that contain the search text (not necessarily the total number of occurrences), saved in Save count in if set. A paragraph is split into runs whenever the formatting changes (and sometimes after editing or spell-checking), and the search looks inside each run separately — so a phrase that happens to be split across two runs (for example because one word is bold) is not found, silently. If a search that should match finds nothing, that is usually why: retype the phrase with uniform formatting.

Insert Date Time Field .docx

Inserts the current date and/or time, either as a field that updates or as fixed text.

When to use it: to stamp a document with today’s date, or a date that keeps updating each time the document is opened.

Parameter Meaning Default Required
Document Document the instruction applies to (current document) No
Include date Whether to include the date Yes No
Include time Whether to include the time No No
As fixed text Insert as plain text instead of an auto-updating field No No
Date format How the date looks, e.g. yyyy-MM-dd or dd/MM/yyyy. Supports @name yyyy-MM-dd No
Time format How the time looks, e.g. HH:mm. Supports @name HH:mm No
Bookmark name Bookmark to place the field at; empty = end of document. Supports @name (empty) No
Include date (from variable) Reads the include-date setting from a saved value (empty) No
Include time (from variable) Reads the include-time setting from a saved value (empty) No
As fixed text (from variable) Reads the fixed-text setting from a saved value (empty) No
Save text in Stores the resulting text (only when As fixed text is on) (empty) No

Important behavior: with As fixed text off, an auto-updating DATE and/or TIME field is inserted (the word processor refreshes it when the document is opened or fields are updated); with it on, the current date/time is written as plain text and, if Save text in is set, that text is also saved. If both date and time are included, they are separated by a space. The format codes follow the usual day/month/year and hour/minute patterns.

Insert Line Break .docx

Inserts a manual line break (a new line within the same paragraph).

When to use it: to move the following text onto a new line without starting a new paragraph.

Parameter Meaning Default Required
Document Document the instruction applies to (current document) No
Bookmark name Bookmark to place the break at; empty = end of document. Supports @name (empty) No

Important behavior: the break is inserted at the given bookmark, or at the end of the document if the bookmark is empty or not found. If the document has no paragraphs yet, one is created.

Insert Page Number .docx

Inserts an automatic page-number field, optionally with the total page count (for example “1 of 10”).

When to use it: to show the page number within the body text at a chosen spot. For page numbers in the header or footer area, use the Headers & footers group.

Parameter Meaning Default Required
Document Document the instruction applies to (current document) No
Include total pages Also show the total number of pages No No
Separator Text between the page number and the total, e.g. " of " (the spaces are part of the value). Supports @name " of " No
Bookmark name Bookmark to place the field at; empty = end of document. Supports @name (empty) No
Include total pages (from variable) Reads the include-total setting from a saved value (empty) No

Important behavior: a PAGE field is inserted (shown as 1 until the word processor updates it). With Include total pages on, the Separator text and a NUMPAGES field are added after it. The field is placed at the given bookmark, or at the end of the document if the bookmark is empty or not found.

Insert Special Character .docx

Inserts a specific character or symbol, with a chosen font.

When to use it: to add a symbol such as ©, €, →, or an accented or special character that is hard to type.

Parameter Meaning Default Required
Document Document the instruction applies to (current document) No
Character The character or symbol to insert. Supports @name (empty) Yes
Font Font used for the character. Supports @name Arial No
Bookmark name Bookmark to place the character at; empty = end of document. Supports @name (empty) No

Important behavior: if Character is empty, the instruction does nothing. The character is placed at the given bookmark, or at the end of the document if the bookmark is empty or not found.

Insert Text At Bookmark .docx

Inserts formatted text at a bookmark (or at the end of the document), with optional bold, italic, font, and size.

When to use it: to fill a named placeholder in a template — for example a bookmark called customerName — with a value.

Parameter Meaning Default Required
Document Document the instruction applies to (current document) No
Text The text to insert. Supports @name (empty) No
Bookmark name Bookmark to insert the text at; empty = end of document. Supports @name (empty) No
Bold Whether the text is bold No No
Italic Whether the text is italic No No
Font Font (typeface) for the text; empty = document default. Supports @name (empty) No
Font size (pt) Text size in points; 0 = document default 0 No
Bold (from variable) Reads the bold setting from a saved value (empty) No
Italic (from variable) Reads the italic setting from a saved value (empty) No
Font size (from variable) Reads the font size from a saved value (empty) No

Important behavior: if the bookmark exists, the text is inserted at it; otherwise (empty or not found) it is added to the end of the document. If the document has no paragraphs yet, one is created.

This documentation is the help of the application, and it comes underCreative Commons Attribution 4.0.