LINK command without brackets throws TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'split')

[davidjb]

A common typo I've encountered from user templates is with the LINK command, where a user misses the brackets in the command's options:

// Was
{{ link {url: 'https://example.com'} }}

// Should be
{{ link ({url: 'https://example.com'}) }}

If the surrounding () happens to be missed, an exception gets thrown when calling createReport:

node_modules/docx-templates/lib/xml.js:90
    var segments = str.split(options.literalXmlDelimiter);
                       ^
TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'split')
    at sanitizeText (node_modules/docx-templates/lib/xml.js:90:24)
    at buildXml (node_modules/docx-templates/lib/xml.js:65:16)
    at node_modules/docx-templates/lib/xml.js:77:20
    at Array.forEach (<anonymous>)
    at buildXml (node_modules/docx-templates/lib/xml.js:76:24)
    at node_modules/docx-templates/lib/xml.js:77:20
    at Array.forEach (<anonymous>)
    at buildXml (node_modules/docx-templates/lib/xml.js:76:24)
    at node_modules/docx-templates/lib/xml.js:77:20
    at Array.forEach (<anonymous>)

This is invalid syntax according the docx-templates docs but it's an easy mistake to overlook and it's a hard failure and even with failFast: false gets thrown separately to other in-document errors. Ideally the failure would be softer, like how missing a mismatched or missing {{ end-for }} command occurs and not throw an unhandled exception, being incorporated into other document errors.

Otherwise, if feasible, avoid requiring the brackets in the syntax would avoid them being forgotten.

---

When reporting a bug, please provide:

• A small reproducible example consisting of the code and .docx template you used.

Code:

import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
import { createReport } from 'docx-templates';

createReport({
  cmdDelimiter: ['{{', '}}'],
  failFast: false,
  template: readFile('template.docx'),
});

template.docx:

{{ link {url: 'https://example.com'} }}

• A screenshot of the result you get and an explanation as to why this result is unexpected: See above
• Information about your compiler toolchain version (e.g. Angular, Webpack, etc.): Direct usage in Node
• Information about your runtime environment (which browser, Electron, or NodeJS version):
  Node, docx-template 4.13.0