How to Work with Document Settings in .NET

Step 1: Get the Library

Clone the repository and build Aspose.Words.sln in Release configuration, then add a project reference to Aspose.Words.csproj from your own .NET project, as described in the Installation guide. Add using Aspose.Words; and using Aspose.Words.Settings; at the top of any file that reads or writes document settings.

Step 2: Set Legacy Compatibility Options

Document.CompatibilityOptions (a CompatibilityOptions instance) holds dozens of boolean switches that reproduce specific older-Word layout and spacing behaviors — for example GrowAutofit, UseWord2010TableStyleRules, AdjustLineHeightInTable, AlignTablesRowByRow, NoExtraLineSpacing, SuppressSpacingAtTopOfPage, and SpacingInWholePoints. Set the individual properties you need directly; OptimizeFor(MsWordVersion) is present on the class but throws NotImplementedException in this build, so there’s no shortcut that applies a whole version profile at once.

Step 3: Configure Hyphenation Preferences

Document.HyphenationOptions (a HyphenationOptions instance) stores Word’s hyphenation preferences for the document: AutoHyphenation, ConsecutiveHyphenLimit, HyphenateCaps, and HyphenationZone. These properties round-trip the request in the saved file; because this edition has no page-layout engine, the hyphenation breaks themselves are computed by Word when it opens and paginates the file, not by Aspose.Words FOSS.

Step 4: Read and Write Mail-Merge Configuration

Document.MailMergeSettings (a MailMergeSettings instance) stores the mail-merge configuration recorded in the document — MainDocumentType, CheckErrors, Destination, DataSource, DataType, Query, ConnectString, MailSubject, MailAsAttachment, ActiveRecord, and ViewMergedData — plus Clear() and Clone(). For an external data source connected through Word’s Office Data Source Object mechanism, MailMergeSettings.Odso exposes an Odso instance (DataSource, DataSourceType, TableName, ColumnDelimiter, FirstRowContainsColumnNames), whose FieldMapDatas and RecipientDatas collections describe the field mapping and recipient list. Reading and writing this stored configuration is available in this open-source edition; running the merge itself against a live data source is a separate concern outside this page’s scope.

Step 5: Configure Document View Settings

Document.ViewOptions (a ViewOptions instance) controls how Word displays the file once opened: ViewType, ZoomType, ZoomPercent, DisplayBackgroundShape, DoNotDisplayPageBoundaries, and FormsDesign. These properties are stored preferences that only affect Word’s own display of the document — they have no bearing on how Aspose.Words FOSS itself processes it.

Step 6: Apply Write Protection

Document.WriteProtection (a WriteProtection instance) exposes IsWriteProtected and ReadOnlyRecommended, with SetPassword() to establish a protection password and ValidatePassword() to check a candidate password against it. Call SetPassword() before setting IsWriteProtected = true, and use ValidatePassword() rather than storing or comparing the raw password string yourself.