Show Hidden Data

Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents can contain hidden information, some of which is shown by default when exported, and some of which is hidden by default. You can choose which types of hidden data to show.

NOTE: File Content Extraction does not consider white text on a white background to be hidden text. Export outputs the white text as black text to make it readable.

You can show several types of hidden data from Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents, each of which has a corresponding flag in the KVXMLConfig() function, which you can set to change the default behavior. The following table lists each data type, its default behavior, and its corresponding configuration API flag.

Hidden data settings

Hidden Data Type Default Behavior Configuration API Flag
Microsoft Word    
Comments1 Shown2 KVCFG_WP_NOCOMMENTS
Hidden text Hidden KVCFG_WP_SHOWHIDDENTEXT
Date field codes Calculated date KVCFG_WP_SHOWDATEFIELDCODE
File name field codes Document file name KVCFG_WP_SHOWFILENAMEFIELDCODE
Microsoft Excel    
Hidden information Hidden KVCFG_SS_SHOWHIDDENINFOR
Notes (previously known as comments) Hidden KVCFG_SS_SHOWCOMMENTS
Formulas Calculated value KVCFG_SS_SHOWFORMULA
Microsoft PowerPoint    
Hidden slides Shown KVCFG_PG_HIDEHIDDENSLIDE
Comments Shown3 KVCFG_PG_HIDECOMMENT
Comments slide Hidden KVCFG_PG_SHOWCOMMENTSSLIDE4
Slide notes5 Hidden KVCFG_PG_SHOWSLIDENOTES

To toggle the display of hidden data

  • In the C API, call KVXMLConfig() and set the third parameter to TRUE or FALSE:

    (*fpHTMLConfig)(pKVHTML, KVCFG_WP_NOCOMMENTS, TRUE, NULL)

    In this example, comments are not exported from Word documents.

    NOTE: The third parameter affects the default behavior. To change the default behavior, set it to TRUE.

Toggle Word Comment Settings in the formats_e.ini File

Microsoft Word 97 to 2003 comment settings can also be controlled through a parameter in the formats_e.ini file.

The formats_e.ini file is in the directory install\PLATFORM\bin, where install is the path of the Export SDK and PLATFORM is the name of the platform.

To toggle comment output in formats_e.ini

  1. Open the formats_e.ini file in a text editor.

  2. Under [Options], add the WP_NOCOMMENTS parameter and set it to 0 to show comments, or 1 to hide comments. For example:

    [Options]
    WP_NOCOMMENTS=1

    NOTE: The KVCFG_WP_NOCOMMENTS configuration API flag overrides the setting in formats_e.ini.

Toggle PowerPoint Slide Note Settings in the formats_e.ini File

Microsoft PowerPoint slide note settings can also be controlled through a parameter in the formats_e.ini file.

The formats_e.ini file is in the directory install\PLATFORM\bin, where install is the path of the Export SDK and PLATFORM is the name of the platform.

To toggle slide note output in formats_e.ini

  1. Open the formats_e.ini file in a text editor.

  2. Under [Options], add the ShowSlideNotes parameter and set it to 1 to show slide notes, or 0 to hide slide notes. For example:

    [Options]
    ShowSlideNotes=1

    NOTE: The KVCFG_PG_SHOWSLIDENOTES configuration API flag overrides the setting in formats_e.ini.