How to Install

pip install templatepptx

Description

Use PowerPoint templates to generate PowerPoint files based on PowerPoint templates. The PowerPoints are generated on the fly using "magic words". Magic words are specified by using the $ sign symbol. Magic words in PowerPoint templates are specified by wrapping the word like $this$. Pictures can also be used as templates and are specified by defining the key words in the alt text of the picture.

The data is populated by using a "context" object. A context object is a dictionary which contains the keywords and thier values that are used to populate the PowerPoint. Additionally, tables can be populated with an unlmited number of related data by specifying a list of dictionaries in your context. A related table variable is specified in the template by adding the prefix "relationship_" to the front of the key. Please observe the following example of a context object below.

Parsing PowerPoints Quick Start

To run this tool you will need a template PowerPoint that contains slides that have magic keywords. You will need a context object with the key words and you will need a PowerPoint (.pptx) file path for the output. The output PowerPoint file does not have to exist.

import templatepptx

input_pptx = "path//to//input.pptx"
output_pptx = "path//to//output.pptx"
context = {
    "first_name" : "John",
    "last_name" : "Smith",
    "language" : "Python",
    "title" : "PPT Tool",
    "italics" : "italics",
    "feeling" : "happy",
    "example_photo" : "path/to/example/photo.png"
    "relationship_name" : [ # This key contains the list which can contain an unlimited amount of records to populate a table.
    {
        "id" : "1",
        "first_name" : "Duncan",
        "last_name" : "Junior"},
    {
        "id" : "2",
        "first_name" : "Jessica",
        "last_name" : "Jones"}]
    }

# Read in PowerPoint and Context. Also assign what the special character is.
powerpoint = templatepptx.TemplatePptx(input_pptx, context, output_pptx, "$")

# Parses and exports the PowerPoint with filled out values and pictures
powerpoint.parse_template_pptx()

Combining Slides Quickstart

It is possible to generate many output products from a group of templates and then combine these outputs into one final PowerPoint. There is an automated function built into this module which permits you to point to a whole directory, scrape all of the .pptx files and then combine them into one .pptx file.

More advanced use cases are defined in the batchTool class below.

import templatepptx
in_dir = "path//to//input_dir"
out_combined = "path//to//combined_output.pptx"
templatepptx.BatchTool(in_dir, out_combined).combine_slides():

Strict Mode

In production or in testing, you may not want your tables or images to not be populated and fail silently. You can access the options of TemplatePptx. In the options you can enable the strict_mode flag. The usual behaviour of the program is to warn the user if a pictures alt text is not valid which means the photo would not get populated and the templating would continue. The strict mode will change the behaviour and cause the application to exit with a meaningful error code. This is the same behaviour for any tables that failed to populate. Strict mode will also raise a meaningful error that exits the program.

tppx = templatepptx.TemplatePptx(input_pptx, context, output_pptx, "$")
tppx.options.strict_mode = True

Documentation

templatepptx module

Class templatepptx.TemplatePptx(ppt, context, output_path, special_character="$")

Description: Initializes templatePptx and currently provides the ability to completely parse through a template PowerPoint and replace the magic words, tables and pictures with the desired data from the context.

Class Parameters:

• ppt : File path to template PowerPoint to parse (This file must exist). Required.
• context : Dictionary containing key pair values for magic words and their new desired value. Required.
• output_path : File path to the location where parsed PowerPoint will be written to. Required.
• special_character : Special character which is wrapped around key words. The special character is not required and defaults to $. Example: $this$. If dollar signs do not suffice, it can be changed. Optional.

Methods:

• templatepptx.TemplatePptx.parse_template_pptx() Runs method from TemplatePptx to parse the template.

Properties:

• context Getter and Setter to change and view Context on the fly

Example:

import templatepptx

# Initialize templatePptx class
ppt = "path/to/template.pptx"
context = {"template_word" : "desired_new_value",
            "alt_text_key" : "path/to/image.jpg"}
output_path = "path/to/new/output.pptx"
powerpoint_template = templatepptx.TemplatePptx(ppt, context, output_path, special_character="$")

# Parse template
powerpoint_template.parse_template_pptx()

Class templatepptx.batchTool(pptx_dir, output_pptx)

Description: Initalizes the batch tool to combine PowerPoints.

Class Parameters:

• pptx_dir : Directory path to the directory containing multiple PowerPoint files to be combined.
• output_pptx : File path to the desired output location of the combined PowerPoint.

Methods:

• templatepptx.BatchTool.combine_slides() Runs the method to combine slides and output all slides into one PPTX.
  • is_numeric : Boolean which defaults to True. Combine slides will attempt to combine slides in the correct numerical order that contain only numeric digits such as 1, 2 or 3. For examples, the following directory containing 1.pptx, 4.pptx and 2.pptx will be combined using slides from 1 first, 2 second and 4 last.
  • specify_master : A file path which specifies if a blank master deck exists. Defaults to None and creates a blank template for you. Allows for slide masters to be used which contain certain themes that will persist when combining slides. Text and images on a slide master will NOT be parsed and will remain intact. ONLY blank slide templates are used to create and copy PowerPoint templates, therefore only the blank Slide Master slide will be seen in the end product. If specifying a master slide, please ensure it just contains the slide master and does not contain any slides in the presentation itself.
  • master_slide_index : An integer that allows for selection of a specific slide from the slide master. Only use this if it is known exactly which slide you want to select and have specified a specific slide master.

Future Planned Features

• ArcGIS Feature Service Support (Ask as needed)
• MSSQL support

Example

Example input slides.

Example output slides.