Reconstructing docx from xml files

Question

From what I have read, docx files are zipped collections of xml file. On Windows 7, (the only OS on which I have tried this), if I save a file, say f.docx from Word, then exit Word and change the file name to f.zip, I can unzip the bundle and read the component files. But if I then remove then re-zip the f folder (without any modifications) and change the extension back to docx, I then get an error saying that "The file f.docx cannot be opened because there are problems with the contents". And when I look at the details, it says, "Microsoft Office cannot open this file because some parts are missing or invalid."

Question: Why is that? And how can the component pieces be reassembled into a valid docx file?

A similar question is asked here but the offered solution does not work. As I've noted above, I'm not altering anything in the folders, nor even opening the files. Although I cannot see why it would be of relevance, my method for rezipping the file is to use the context-menu command "Send to compressed (zipped) folder".

Spicebush

the solution you cited tells you to do it from cmd.exe. Are you following the instruction? – Jock

Indeed! The solution that I cited has a comment that with some words that I missed, namely "...and as long as I do all the zipping/viewing/unzipping in the terminal it's fine" One problem of course is that Windows 7 does not have a zip command built in, and there is also a little glitch to be careful of. So, I have written my own answer. – Spicebush

Answer 1

As @Pawel noted in his comment, the thing to do is ensure that the rezipping is done from the command line. In the absence of a built-in zip command in Windows 7 (I was unable to get the PowerShell solution mentioned here to work) one can use 7-zip for the recreation of the zipped archive; unzipping with Windows 7 context menu appears not to be the problem. There is something to be careful of using 7-zip. Assume that foo.docx has been renamed to foo.zip and uncompressed with the context menu to folder foo. Then, when it comes time to rezip the component files with 7-zip, do not zip the foo folder. Instead, descend into the foo folder, select the component files and folders, and the use 7-zip to zip those components into a foo.zip folder than can be renamed back to foo.docx.

Spicebush

Man i just lost my work today , and been bashing my head why i couldn't get it back. I needed to fix some of the xml file in order for it to become valid and i zipped it back wrong , with the folder , just like you said , now i zipped it right and it worked ! thank you so much – Glennieglennis

@Pure_eyes I'm glad it was helpful. You could mark it up! If you think it is correct, you could mark it as such. – Spicebush

Answer 2

What I do to modify docx, xlsx or pptx files w/o fiddling with zipping:

1. add .zip to file name (file.docx.zip)
2. navigate to the file I need to change e.g. /word/document.xml
3. copy file outside of .zip folder
4. modify the file
5. copy file back into .zip folder (sometimes I need to delete the original file rather than overwriting it)
6. remove .zip from file name (file.docx)
7. done, open file in Word

Insociable

Some zip file viewers let you see the contents of the zip directory, open files, edit and save them back into the zip, without unzipping/re-zipping everything. [I used Engrampa on Ubuntu, but I suspect it's possible with others]. – Beg