How can I debug a corrupt docx file?

Question

I have an issue where .doc and .pdf files are coming out OK but a .docx file is coming out corrupt.

In order to solve that I am trying to debug why the .docx is corrup

Answer 1

Usually, when there is an error with a particular XML file, Word tells you on which line of which file the error happens. So I believe the problem comes from either the Zipping of the file, either the folder structure.

Here is the folder structure of a Word file:

The .docx format is a zipped file that contains the following folders:

+--docProps
|  +  app.xml
|  \  core.xml
+  res.log
+--word //this folder contains most of the files that control the content of the document
|  +  document.xml //Is the actual content of the document
|  +  endnotes.xml
|  +  fontTable.xml
|  +  footer1.xml //Containst the elements in the footer of the document
|  +  footnotes.xml
|  +--media //This folder contains all images embedded in the word
|  |  \  image1.jpeg
|  +  settings.xml
|  +  styles.xml
|  +  stylesWithEffects.xml
|  +--theme
|  |  \  theme1.xml
|  +  webSettings.xml
|  \--_rels
|     \  document.xml.rels //this document tells word where the images are situated
+  [Content_Types].xml
\--_rels
   \  .rels

It seems that you have only what is inside the word folder, isn't it ? If this doesn't work, could you please either send the corrupted Docx or post the structure of your folders inside your zip ?