Win32::OLE reading word file with tables

chafelix has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I am reading a word file which has tables, using Win32::OLE. I am only interested in the tables. The code I use is shown below

 use Win32::OLE qw(in);
use Win32::OLE::Const 'Microsoft Word';

sub print_tables {
    my $word =Win32::OLE->new('Word.Application','Quit');  # shift;
 
    my $word_file = file(abs_path(shift));
 
    my $doc = $word->{Documents}->Open("$word_file");
    my $tables = $word->ActiveDocument->{Tables};
 

 

    for my $table (in $tables) {
my $numrows=$table->Rows->Count; 
 
my $rownum=1;
 while($rownum<=$table->Rows->Count){
...
 $main::numcols=$table->Columns->Count;
my $cell5=$table->Cell($rownum,$main::numcols);#this is the last colum
+n
.....
                                     }


                               }  
  }
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The problem arises when the tables have merged columns, so that the number of columns is < $main::numcols In that case I need to check and essantially say either "if $actual_number_of_columns_in_present_row <$main::numcols){...}" or catch the exception "(If ! $cell5 ){...}" So the question is how do I say either of these?

Comment on Win32::OLE reading word file with tables Download Code

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Re: Win32::OLE reading word file with tables by Marshall (Canon) on Oct 06, 2025 at 07:07 UTC
You can query the number of columns on a particular row. This would be more general and allow for say 2 or 3 columns to be merged together. Also, I think this foreach type of loop will be faster than your while because the fancy object method `$table->Rows->Count` is only evaluated once and not on every loop iteration. `# Iterate through rows and count columns foreach my $row_index (1 .. $table->Rows->Count) { my $row = $table->Rows->Item($row_index); my $column_count = $row->Cells->Count; print "Row $row_index has $column_count columns.\n"; }` [download] posting quickly because the website is unstable and I am getting timeouts when loading pages	[reply] [d/l] [select]

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Re: Win32::OLE reading word file with tables
by Marshall (Canon) on Oct 06, 2025 at 07:07 UTC

$table->Rows->Count

# Iterate through rows and count columns
foreach my $row_index (1 .. $table->Rows->Count) {
    my $row = $table->Rows->Item($row_index);
    my $column_count = $row->Cells->Count;
    print "Row $row_index has $column_count columns.\n";
}
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