# OfficeCLI View Modes: Complete Guide to Document Inspection and Export > Explore OfficeCLI view modes including outline text annotated stats html svg pdf and more Transform documents into structured data visual previews or export-ready formats. - Repository: [OfficeAI/OfficeCLI](https://github.com/iofficeai/OfficeCLI) - Tags: deep-dive - Published: 2026-07-22 --- **OfficeCLI supports ten distinct view modes—including outline, text, annotated, stats, issues, html, svg, screenshot, pdf, and forms—that transform Office documents into structured data, visual previews, or export-ready formats.** The iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI repository provides a powerful command-line interface for programmatic Office document manipulation. Its `view` verb serves as the primary entry point for read-only document representation, offering specialized OfficeCLI view modes for everything from structural analysis to pixel-accurate rendering. ## OfficeCLI View Command Architecture The view command is dispatched in [`src/officecli/ResidentServer.cs`](https://github.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/blob/main/src/officecli/ResidentServer.cs) (lines 1080–1082), which routes requests to format-specific handlers. Each handler implements view modes tailored to its document type: - [`WordHandler.View.cs`](https://github.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/blob/main/WordHandler.View.cs) handles Word documents - [`PptHandler.View.cs`](https://github.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/blob/main/PptHandler.View.cs) handles PowerPoint presentations - [`ExcelHandler.View.cs`](https://github.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/blob/main/ExcelHandler.View.cs) handles Excel spreadsheets The rendering pipeline utilizes `HtmlPreview` and `SvgRenderer` classes, with a shared state machine ensuring text and visual markers remain synchronized (see [`WordHandler.StyleList.cs`](https://github.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/blob/main/WordHandler.StyleList.cs) lines 1245–1248). ## Text and Structure Analysis Modes These modes extract or analyze document content without visual rendering. ### Outline Mode **`outline`** generates a hierarchical representation of document structure—slides in PowerPoint or headings in Word—ideal for quickly understanding document organization. ### Text Mode **`text`** performs plain-text extraction, emitting raw content without formatting. This mode walks the OOXML DOM to strip all styling, producing content suitable for text-only processing or search indexing. ### Annotated Mode **`annotated`** displays text with inline markup markers indicating runs, styles, and formatting boundaries. Use this for debugging formatting issues or analyzing style applications. ### Statistics Mode **`stats`** (alias **`page-count`**) returns high-level metadata including page counts, slide totals, and element statistics. This validates document size before export operations. ### Issues Mode **`issues`** enumerates structural problems such as content overflow, missing alt-text, or accessibility violations, enabling automated quality checks before delivery. ## Visual Rendering and Export Modes These modes generate viewable files or graphics from Office documents. ### HTML Preview **`html`** generates self-contained HTML previews with inlined assets, suitable for browser rendering or AI agent consumption. The built-in rendering engine produces these via the `HtmlPreview` class. ### SVG Rendering **`svg`** creates vector renderings of individual pages or slides. This mode invokes the `SvgRenderer` for scalable graphic output suitable for further manipulation. ### Screenshot Capture **`screenshot`** renders pages or slides to PNG images, supporting `--page` for specific pages and `--grid` for contact-sheet layouts. This enables pixel-accurate visual audits of layout bugs. ### PDF Export **`pdf`** exports documents to PDF format via the exporter plugin, producing archival or distribution-ready output. ### Form Inspection **`forms`** (available for .docx via the format-handler plugin) renders interactive form fields as visual representations, validating fillable template structures. ## Command Syntax and Practical Examples The standard syntax follows: ```bash officecli view [options] ``` Retrieve a PowerPoint outline: ```bash officecli view deck.pptx outline ``` Extract plain text from a Word document: ```bash officecli view report.docx text ``` Generate a browser-ready HTML preview: ```bash officecli view proposal.docx html -o ./proposal.html ``` Capture a specific slide as PNG: ```bash officecli view deck.pptx screenshot --page 2 -o /tmp/slide2.png ``` Create an SVG of the first slide: ```bash officecli view deck.pptx svg --page 1 -o /tmp/slide1.svg ``` Export JSON-formatted issue reports: ```bash officecli view report.docx issues --json ``` Generate a contact sheet of all slides: ```bash officecli view deck.pptx screenshot --grid auto -o ./deck-contact-sheet.png ``` ## Summary - OfficeCLI provides **ten view modes** across three handlers (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) for comprehensive document inspection. - **Text-based modes** (outline, text, annotated, stats, issues) analyze structure and content via OOXML DOM traversal. - **Visual modes** (html, svg, screenshot) leverage the `HtmlPreview` and `SvgRenderer` classes for graphical output. - **Export modes** (pdf, forms) require plugin extensions for additional format support. - The command dispatcher in [`ResidentServer.cs`](https://github.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/blob/main/ResidentServer.cs) routes all view requests to specialized handlers like [`WordHandler.View.cs`](https://github.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/blob/main/WordHandler.View.cs) and [`PptHandler.View.cs`](https://github.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/blob/main/PptHandler.View.cs). ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is the difference between text and annotated view modes in OfficeCLI? The `text` mode extracts raw plain text by walking the OOXML DOM and stripping all formatting, producing clean content for search or processing. The `annotated` mode preserves inline markup markers that indicate style runs and formatting boundaries, making it suitable for debugging document structure according to the source implementation in [`WordHandler.View.cs`](https://github.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/blob/main/WordHandler.View.cs). ### How do I export a specific slide as PNG using OfficeCLI? Use the `screenshot` mode with the `--page` option. For example: `officecli view deck.pptx screenshot --page 2 -o slide2.png`. You can also use `--grid auto` to generate a contact sheet of all slides in a single PNG file, leveraging the rendering pipeline shared with the `HtmlPreview` class. ### Which OfficeCLI view modes require plugins? The `pdf` mode requires the exporter plugin, and the `forms` mode requires the format-handler plugin (available only for .docx files). All other modes—including outline, text, html, svg, and screenshot—are built into the core OfficeCLI distribution as implemented in the primary handler files. ### Where is the view command logic implemented in the OfficeCLI source code? The view verb is dispatched in [`src/officecli/ResidentServer.cs`](https://github.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/blob/main/src/officecli/ResidentServer.cs) (lines 1080–1082). Format-specific implementations reside in [`WordHandler.View.cs`](https://github.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/blob/main/WordHandler.View.cs), [`PptHandler.View.cs`](https://github.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/blob/main/PptHandler.View.cs), and [`ExcelHandler.View.cs`](https://github.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/blob/main/ExcelHandler.View.cs). Visual rendering logic is contained in the `HtmlPreview` and `SvgRenderer` classes, with style consistency managed in [`WordHandler.StyleList.cs`](https://github.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/blob/main/WordHandler.StyleList.cs) (lines 1245–1248).