Can you add a Horizontal Line to a Google Document using their API?

Other Questions Google docs
1

I’m working on a PHP project where I need to add different elements to a Google Doc. I can add text and page breaks, but I’m stuck on horizontal lines. Here’s what I’ve tried:

$textRequest = new MyGoogleDocsRequest([
    'addContent' => [
        'content' => 'Some text here',
        'position' => $insertSpot,
    ],
]);

$pageBreakRequest = new MyGoogleDocsRequest([
    'addPageBreak' => [
        'position' => $insertSpot,
    ],
]);

$updateDoc = new MyGoogleDocsBatchUpdate(['changes' => [$textRequest, $pageBreakRequest]]);
$googleDocsAPI->updateDocument($docId, $updateDoc);

This works fine for text and page breaks. But I can’t figure out how to add a horizontal line. The manual Google Docs interface lets you do it, and you can see horizontal lines when you check a document’s structure. But I can’t find any API method for it.

Does anyone know if it’s possible to add a horizontal line with the Google Docs API? If so, how? I’m trying to copy one Google Doc into another, so if there’s a better way to do that, I’d love to hear it too!

2

I’ve been in a similar situation, and I found a workaround that might help. Instead of a traditional horizontal line, you can create the illusion of one using text with special Unicode characters. Here’s what I did:

$requests = new Google_Service_Docs_Request([
‘insertText’ => [
‘text’ => str_repeat(‘─’, 50) . ‘\n’,
‘location’ => [‘index’ => $endIndex]
]
]);

$requests = new Google_Service_Docs_Request([
‘updateTextStyle’ => [
‘range’ => [
‘startIndex’ => $endIndex,
‘endIndex’ => $endIndex + 51
],
‘textStyle’ => [
‘fontSize’ => [‘magnitude’ => 6, ‘unit’ => ‘PT’]
],
‘fields’ => ‘fontSize’
]
]);

This creates a line of small dashes that spans the width of the document. It’s not perfect, but it’s a decent alternative when you need something that looks like a horizontal line. You can adjust the number of repetitions and font size to fit your needs. Just remember that this method might not scale well if the document width changes.

3

hey sophia, i’ve dealt with this before. sadly, there’s no direct way to add horizontal lines via the API. :frowning: but here’s a workaround - you can use a paragraph with a bottom border. it looks like this:

$requests[] = new Google_Service_Docs_Request([
    'insertText' => [
        'text' => "\n",
        'location' => ['index' => $endIndex]
    ]
]);
$requests[] = new Google_Service_Docs_Request([
    'updateParagraphStyle' => [
        'range' => [
            'startIndex' => $endIndex,
            'endIndex' => $endIndex + 1
        ],
        'paragraphStyle' => [
            'borderBottom' => [
                'color' => ['color' => ['rgbColor' => ['red' => 0, 'green' => 0, 'blue' => 0]]],
                'width' => ['magnitude' => 1, 'unit' => 'PT'],
                'dashStyle' => 'SOLID'
            ]
        ],
        'fields' => 'borderBottom'
    ]
]);

hope this helps!

4

While the Google Docs API doesn’t offer a direct method for inserting horizontal lines, there’s an alternative approach you might find useful. Instead of a true horizontal line, you can create a single-cell table with a border, which visually resembles a horizontal line. Here’s how you could implement this:

$requests[] = new Google_Service_Docs_Request([
    'insertTable' => [
        'rows' => 1,
        'columns' => 1,
        'location' => ['index' => $endIndex]
    ]
]);

$requests[] = new Google_Service_Docs_Request([
    'updateTableCellStyle' => [
        'tableStartLocation' => ['index' => $endIndex],
        'tableCellStyle' => [
            'borderBottom' => [
                'color' => ['color' => ['rgbColor' => ['red' => 0, 'green' => 0, 'blue' => 0]]],
                'width' => ['magnitude' => 1, 'unit' => 'PT'],
                'dashStyle' => 'SOLID'
            ]
        ],
        'fields' => 'borderBottom'
    ]
]);

This method creates a subtle line that integrates well with the document’s layout. It’s not perfect, but it’s a practical workaround given the API’s limitations.