An element representing a mathematical expression. An Equation
may contain EquationFunction
, EquationSymbol
, and Text
elements. For more information on
document structure, see the guide to
extending Google Docs.
Methods
Method | Return type | Brief description |
---|---|---|
clear() | Equation | Clears the contents of the element. |
copy() | Equation | Returns a detached, deep copy of the current element. |
editAsText() | Text | Obtains a Text version of the current element, for editing. |
findElement(elementType) | RangeElement | Searches the contents of the element for a descendant of the specified type. |
findElement(elementType, from) | RangeElement | Searches the contents of the element for a descendant of the specified type, starting from the
specified RangeElement . |
findText(searchPattern) | RangeElement | Searches the contents of the element for the specified text pattern using regular expressions. |
findText(searchPattern, from) | RangeElement | Searches the contents of the element for the specified text pattern, starting from a given search result. |
getAttributes() | Object | Retrieves the element's attributes. |
getChild(childIndex) | Element | Retrieves the child element at the specified child index. |
getChildIndex(child) | Integer | Retrieves the child index for the specified child element. |
getLinkUrl() | String | Retrieves the link url. |
getNextSibling() | Element | Retrieves the element's next sibling element. |
getNumChildren() | Integer | Retrieves the number of children. |
getParent() | ContainerElement | Retrieves the element's parent element. |
getPreviousSibling() | Element | Retrieves the element's previous sibling element. |
getText() | String | Retrieves the contents of the element as a text string. |
getTextAlignment() | TextAlignment | Gets the text alignment. |
getType() | ElementType | Retrieves the element's ElementType . |
isAtDocumentEnd() | Boolean | Determines whether the element is at the end of the Document . |
merge() | Equation | Merges the element with the preceding sibling of the same type. |
removeFromParent() | Equation | Removes the element from its parent. |
replaceText(searchPattern, replacement) | Element | Replaces all occurrences of a given text pattern with a given replacement string, using regular expressions. |
setAttributes(attributes) | Equation | Sets the element's attributes. |
setLinkUrl(url) | Equation | Sets the link url. |
setTextAlignment(textAlignment) | Equation | Sets the text alignment. |
Detailed documentation
clear()
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
Equation
— 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().getActiveTab().asDocumentTab().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
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
elementType | ElementType | The 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
.
var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getActiveTab().asDocumentTab().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
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
elementType | ElementType | The type of element to search for. |
from | RangeElement | The 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
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
searchPattern | String | the 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
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
searchPattern | String | the pattern to search for |
from | RangeElement | the 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 doc = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument(); var documentTab = doc.getActiveTab().asDocumentTab(); var body = documentTab.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.
var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getActiveTab().asDocumentTab().getBody(); // Obtain the first element in the tab. 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
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
childIndex | Integer | The 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
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
child | Element | The 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
getLinkUrl()
Retrieves the link url.
Return
String
— the link url, or null if the element contains multiple values for this attribute
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.
var body = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getActiveTab().asDocumentTab().getBody(); // Log the number of elements in the tab. Logger.log("There are " + body.getNumChildren() + " elements in the tab's 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
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 doc = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument(); var documentTab = doc.getActiveTab().asDocumentTab(); var body = documentTab.getBody(); // Obtain the first element in the active tab's 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
isAtDocumentEnd()
Determines whether the element is at the end of the Document
.
Return
Boolean
— Whether the element is at the end of the tab.
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
merge()
Merges the element with the preceding sibling of the same type.
Only elements of the same ElementType
can be merged. Any child elements contained in
the current element are moved to the preceding sibling element.
The current element is removed from the document.
var doc = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument(); var documentTab = doc.getActiveTab().asDocumentTab(); var body = documentTab.getBody(); // Example 1: Merge paragraphs // Append two paragraphs to the document's active tab. var par1 = body.appendParagraph('Paragraph 1.'); var par2 = body.appendParagraph('Paragraph 2.'); // Merge the newly added paragraphs into a single paragraph. par2.merge(); // Example 2: Merge table cells // Create a two-dimensional array containing the table's cell contents. var cells = [ ['Row 1, Cell 1', 'Row 1, Cell 2'], ['Row 2, Cell 1', 'Row 2, Cell 2'] ]; // Build a table from the array. var table = body.appendTable(cells); // Get the first row in the table. var row = table.getRow(0); // Get the two cells in this row. var cell1 = row.getCell(0); var cell2 = row.getCell(1); // Merge the current cell into its preceding sibling element. var merged = cell2.merge();
Return
Equation
— The merged 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 doc = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument(); var documentTab = doc.getActiveTab().asDocumentTab() var body = documentTab.getBody(); // Remove all images in the active tab's body. var imgs = body.getImages(); for (var i = 0; i < imgs.length; i++) { imgs[i].removeFromParent(); }
Return
Equation
— 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().getActiveTab().asDocumentTab().getBody(); // Clear the text surrounding "Apps Script", with or without text. body.replaceText("^.*Apps ?Script.*$", "Apps Script");
Parameters
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
searchPattern | String | the regex pattern to search for |
replacement | String | the 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 doc = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument(); var documentTab = doc.getActiveTab().asDocumentTab(); var body = documentTab.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
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
attributes | Object | The element's attributes. |
Return
Equation
— 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
setLinkUrl(url)
Sets the link url.
Parameters
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
url | String | the link url |
Return
Equation
— 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 in the active tab be superscript. var documentTab = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getActiveTab().asDocumentTab(); var text = documentTab.getBody().getParagraphs()[0].editAsText(); text.setTextAlignment(DocumentApp.TextAlignment.SUPERSCRIPT);
Parameters
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
textAlignment | TextAlignment | the type of text alignment to apply |
Return
Equation
— 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