Headers and Footers in Rich Text Documents

• Jul 15, 2024
• 4 minutes to read

The RichEditControl provides the following approaches to manage document headers and footers:

• Headers and Footers in the User Interface
• Manage Headers and Footers in Code

Headers and Footers in the User Interface

End-users can use the Insert ribbon tab to edit a section’s header or footer. If the document already has headers or footers, double-click the corresponding page area to activate the header or footer.

The Header and Footer Tools tab is available when you open a header or footer. This tab allows end-users to navigate through document’s headers and footers, set or break the link between two section’s headers or footers, specify different settings for the first page or distinguish between odd and even pages.

Handle the RichEditControl.StartHeaderFooterEditing event to determine when an end-user enters the header/footer editing mode. The RichEditControl.FinishHeaderFooterEditing occurs when they close the editing mode.

Tip

Set the DocumentCapabilitiesOptions.HeadersFooters to DocumentCapability.Disabled or DocumentCapability.Hidden to restrict users from editing headers or footers.

Manage Headers and Footers in Code

Each section has a header and footer. If a section does not have headers or footers, the previous sections’ headers and footers (if any) are used.

Create Headers and Footers

You can use the Section.BeginUpdateHeader and Section.BeginUpdateFooter methods to access the section’s header or footer. Pass one of the HeaderFooterType enumeration values as a type parameter to define the header or footer’s type. Use the following API to access headers and footers in code:

API	Description
Section.BeginUpdateHeader Section.BeginUpdateFooter	Accesses the document’s header or footer.
Section.HasHeader Section.HasFooter	Checks whether the given section contains a header or footer.
Section.EndUpdateHeader Section.EndUpdateFooter	Finalizes the header or footer update.

The code sample below creates an empty document header:

View Example

HeaderAndFooter.cs

Section firstSection = document.Sections[0];
// Create an empty header.
SubDocument newHeader = firstSection.BeginUpdateHeader();
firstSection.EndUpdateHeader(newHeader);
// Check whether the document already has a header (the same header for all pages).
if (firstSection.HasHeader(HeaderFooterType.Primary))
{
    SubDocument headerDocument = firstSection.BeginUpdateHeader();
    document.ChangeActiveDocument(headerDocument);
    document.CaretPosition = headerDocument.CreatePosition(0);
    firstSection.EndUpdateHeader(headerDocument);
}

HeaderAndFooter.vb

Dim firstSection As Section = document.Sections(0)
' Create an empty header.
Dim newHeader As SubDocument = firstSection.BeginUpdateHeader()
firstSection.EndUpdateHeader(newHeader)
' Check whether the document already has a header (the same header for all pages).
If firstSection.HasHeader(HeaderFooterType.Primary) Then
    Dim headerDocument As SubDocument = firstSection.BeginUpdateHeader()
    document.ChangeActiveDocument(headerDocument)
    document.CaretPosition = headerDocument.CreatePosition(0)
    firstSection.EndUpdateHeader(headerDocument)
End If

Modify Headers and Footers

Headers’ and footers’ content is located in a separate SubDocument. Call the Section.BeginUpdateHeader or Section.BeginUpdateFooter method to access the header’s or footer’s content. Headers and footers can contain inline images, floating objects (textboxes or images) and tables. You cannot add comments to headers’ or footers’ text.

Note

The header or footer fields belong to a separate FieldCollection. Retrieve the header’s or footer’s SubDocument and call the FieldCollection.Update method to update these fields.

The following code snippet opens the first section’s header for editing. The header type is HeaderFooterType.First, so it is displayed for the first page only if the corresponding mode is enabled (use the Section.DifferentFirstPage property). Then, the text string and a PAGE field are inserted and the Section.EndUpdateHeader method is called to finalize the modification.

HeaderAndFooter.cs

document.AppendSection();
Section firstSection = document.Sections[0];
// Modify the header of the HeaderFooterType.First type.
SubDocument myHeader = firstSection.BeginUpdateHeader(HeaderFooterType.First);
DocumentRange range = myHeader.InsertText(myHeader.CreatePosition(0), " PAGE NUMBER ");
Field fld = myHeader.Fields.Create(range.End, "PAGE \\* ARABICDASH");
myHeader.Fields.Update();
firstSection.EndUpdateHeader(myHeader);
// Display the header of the HeaderFooterType.First type on the first page.
firstSection.DifferentFirstPage = true;

HeaderAndFooter.vb

document.AppendSection()
Dim firstSection As Section = document.Sections(0)
' Modify the header of the HeaderFooterType.First type.
Dim myHeader As SubDocument = firstSection.BeginUpdateHeader(HeaderFooterType.First)
Dim range As DocumentRange = myHeader.InsertText(myHeader.CreatePosition(0), " PAGE NUMBER ")
Dim fld As Field = myHeader.Fields.Create(range.End, "PAGE \* ARABICDASH")
myHeader.Fields.Update()
firstSection.EndUpdateHeader(myHeader)
' Display the header of the HeaderFooterType.First type on the first page.
firstSection.DifferentFirstPage = True

Tip

Call the Document.ChangeActiveDocument method to switch to the header’s or footer’s SubDocument. This step allows you to select text ranges or place the caret in the header or footer. Call the Document.ChangeActiveDocument again to switch to the main document body.

Use the following API to change header/footer options in code:

API	Description
Section.DifferentFirstPage	Defines whether to display a different header/footer (if any) for the section’s first page.
Document.DifferentOddAndEvenPages	Specifies whether the even-numbered pages should have a different header or footer than odd-numbered pages.
SectionMargins.HeaderOffset SectionMargins.FooterOffset	Specifies the distance between the header or footer and the page top or bottom.
Section.LinkHeaderToNext Section.LinkFooterToNext	Links the current section’s header or footer to the next section’s header or footer.
Section.LinkHeaderToPrevious Section.LinkFooterToPrevious	Links the current section’s header or footer to the previous section’s header or footer.
Section.IsHeaderLinkedToNext Section.IsFooterLinkedToNext	Checks whether the current section’s header or footer is linked to the next section’s header or footer.
Section.IsHeaderLinkedToPrevious Section.IsFooterLinkedToPrevious	Checks whether the current section’s header or footer is linked to the previous section’s header or footer.
Section.UnlinkHeaderFromNext Section.UnlinkFooterFromNext	Unlinks the current section’s header or footer from the next section’s header or footer.
Section.UnlinkHeaderFromPrevious Section.UnlinkFooterFromPrevious	Unlinks the current section’s header or footer from the next section’s header or footer.