Open XML SDK for Rust

ooxmlsdk is a Rust library for reading, writing, and round-tripping Office Open XML documents such as .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx. The public package API is intentionally aligned with the .NET Open XML SDK container model, while the implementation is code-generated for Rust and organized around generated schema types, namespaces, serializers, deserializers, and strongly typed package parts.

Features

The runtime crate exposes a small public feature surface:

default: enables microsoft365 and parts; this is the recommended configuration for most users
parts: enables package-level OOXML read/write support such as WordprocessingDocument, SpreadsheetDocument, and PresentationDocument
microsoft365: enables the post-Office 2007 schema and part surface used by newer Office releases
validators: enables optional validator APIs

The always-available modules in the crate root are:

common
namespaces
schemas
sdk
simple_type

Feature-gated modules are:

parts behind parts
validator behind validators

Version Coverage

This repository treats Office 2007 as the compatibility baseline for the narrower package surface:

--no-default-features --features parts: Office 2007-oriented package and schema coverage
default build: Office 2007 baseline plus the broader microsoft365 surface

The microsoft365 feature name is an umbrella label for everything newer than the Office 2007-oriented surface in this repository. It is not limited to Microsoft 365 subscription documents.

When microsoft365 is enabled, the checked-in generated runtime covers newer OOXML namespaces and parts associated with:

Office 2010
Office 2013
Office 2016
Office 2019
Office 2021
Microsoft 365-era extensions and newer upstream namespace revisions currently present in the checked-in metadata, including 2022, 2023, and 2024-dated schema additions

In practical terms, this is the feature that pulls in support for newer namespaces and package relationships such as later DrawingML, chart extensions, SVG and 3D-related parts, threaded comments, dynamic-array-era spreadsheet extensions, and other post-2007 additions tracked in the upstream Open XML SDK metadata.

Quick Start

Most users should keep the default features enabled:

[dependencies]
ooxmlsdk = "0.5.0"

If you want the narrower Office 2007-oriented package surface, disable default features and enable only parts:

[dependencies]
ooxmlsdk = { version = "0.5.0", default-features = false, features = ["parts"] }

Read, inspect, and save a package:

use ooxmlsdk::parts::wordprocessing_document::WordprocessingDocument;
use ooxmlsdk::sdk::SdkPackage;

fn round_trip(path: &std::path::Path) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
  let document = WordprocessingDocument::new_from_file(path)?;
  let main_part = document.main_document_part().expect("main document part");
  assert!(document.get_id_of_part(&main_part).is_some());

  let mut out = std::io::Cursor::new(Vec::new());
  document.save(&mut out)?;
  Ok(())
}

Parse XML into generated schema types:

use ooxmlsdk::schemas::opc_core_properties::CoreProperties;

fn parse_core_properties(xml: &str) -> Result<CoreProperties, Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
  Ok(xml.parse()?)
}

Package API

The parts feature exposes package-level APIs for .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx files. The intended public surface follows upstream Open XML SDK concepts:

open and create packages with constructors such as new, new_lazy, new_from_file, and new_from_file_lazy
save packages with save
inspect package and part relationships with parts, get_all_parts, get_part_by_id, get_parts_of_type, and relationship-specific helpers
access well-known child parts through typed methods such as main_document_part, workbook_part, presentation_part, worksheet_parts, font_table_part, and chart-related part accessors
read or replace part payloads through public data helpers and root-element helpers

Raw package storage, raw relationship sets, generated factory internals, and unchecked dynamic part plumbing are not part of the public API. Prefer the package and part methods above when writing code that should survive generator updates.

XML And MCE Compatibility

The generated XML reader/writer preserves markup compatibility data needed for stable round trips, including common mc:* attributes, mc:AlternateContent, choice/fallback content, and extension namespace attributes used by newer Office documents.

Current integration coverage includes upstream-derived MCE and extension samples such as mcdoc.docx, mcinleaf.docx, MCExecl.xlsx, excel14.xlsx, extlst.xlsx, and Office 2016 extended chart packages. These tests focus on public Rust APIs and stable XML/package round trips.

Full Open XML SDK-style OpenSettings markup compatibility processing, unknown-element DOM editing, and markup compatibility validator behavior are still future work.

Project Structure

crates/ooxmlsdk: runtime library exposed to downstream users
crates/ooxmlsdk-build: generator that turns checked-in metadata into Rust code
crates/ooxmlsdk-derive: derive macros used by the generated runtime code
crates/ooxmlsdk-test: integration tests and benchmarks
sdk_data/: checked-in intermediate generator data
data/: upstream-derived metadata snapshots consumed by the generator pipeline
schemas/OpenPackagingConventions-XMLSchema/: package schema inputs used by the generator

The generated runtime code under crates/ooxmlsdk/src/schemas/, crates/ooxmlsdk/src/deserializers/, crates/ooxmlsdk/src/serializers/, crates/ooxmlsdk/src/parts/, and related module files is intended to be checked in and reviewed as generated artifacts.

Validation And Benchmarks

For release validation, this repository uses the full workspace sequence:

cargo test -p ooxmlsdk-build test_gen -- --ignored --nocapture
cargo test --workspace
cargo test --workspace --no-default-features
cargo test --workspace --no-default-features --features parts
cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets --no-default-features -- -D warnings
cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets --no-default-features --features parts -- -D warnings
cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings
cargo fmt --all

For runtime performance work, prefer evaluating cargo bench -p ooxmlsdk-test as a whole. The packages and xml suites have shown a persistent disagreement on wordprocessing_document/write/parsed, so treat that one case as an anomaly rather than as the sole performance signal.

Known Limitations

There is no serde integration.
The validator surface is optional and still narrower than the core read/write path.
Open XML SDK-style OpenSettings, full markup compatibility processing modes, and unknown-element DOM APIs are not yet exposed.
Some schema shapes still map to generated enum-based child collections rather than a fully particle-aware hand-modeled API.
to_string() is just Display; prefer the XML-oriented APIs when you care about write performance.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md.

Data Provenance

data/ is directly copied from the upstream .NET Open XML SDK.

sdk_data/ is generated from the upstream .NET Open XML SDK, and schemas/OpenPackagingConventions-XMLSchema/ contains package schema inputs derived from the Open Packaging Conventions XSDs. Review upstream licensing before redistributing refreshed snapshots.

License

MIT OR Apache-2.0

ooxmlsdk 0.5.0