Editable CV Showcase¶

The repository uses the professional S01b CV and the focused C04 capability sample to demonstrate complementary ownership choices.

S01b is the canonical professional CV showcase. It deliberately combines Writer-owned page design and repeatable native Sections with bounded PHP-owned RichText regions.

C04 is the canonical capability sample for declarative Writer-authored nested Section collections with template-shaped data.

Both produce editable ODT output. The important comparison is who owns each dynamic structure.

These CV examples are also architectural teaching material. S01b is the reference for a professionally styled PHP-owned region: it uses document-local paragraph styles, deliberate spacing and line-height, native lists, images, and skill ratings. C04 is the reference for keeping repeatable visual structure in LibreOffice and preserving it while native Sections are instantiated. A professional showcase should reuse those proven patterns when their ownership boundary applies instead of reducing them to minimally styled content.

The canonical professional showcase is S01b — Professional CV · Structured Template. It combines the two boundaries deliberately: the prepared template owns the page design, native Sections, and image-frame placement, while PHP expands the Section collections and supplies bounded RichText sidebar regions.

S01b — Professional mixed-ownership template¶

S01b deliberately chooses ownership per document region:

• Writer owns the two-column page design, native Sections, named image-frame geometry, Writer Frames, and the S01bSidebar* paragraph styles;
• PHP supplies scalar application data, replaces the authored image resource, fills bounded RichText sidebar regions, replaces bounded bookmark text, and instantiates Writer-authored Section collections;
• Writer remains responsible for physical pagination.

The current sample uses the normal OdtTemplate facade:

$template = new OdtTemplate(
    __DIR__ . '/templates/template_S01b_cv_structured.odt'
);

The profile/extract area is Writer-owned and addressed through bookmarks:

$template->bookmark('Extract')->replaceText('PROFILE');
$template->bookmark('ExtractJobHeadline')
    ->replaceText('Senior Project Manager with 10+ years of delivery leadership');

Repeatable main-column entries remain native Sections authored in LibreOffice:

$experienceInstances = $template
    ->section('Experience')
    ->section('JobSection')
    ->instantiateMany($experienceRows);

The sidebar is an intentional PHP-owned region inserted into template-authored Writer Frames:

$template->setElement('CVSidebarPage1', $sidebarPage1);
$template->setElement('CVSidebarPage2', $sidebarPage2);

The authored CVImage frame keeps its geometry and placement while PHP replaces its image resource through the current compatibility facade.

This is the central S01b lesson: do not impose one rendering mechanism on the whole document. Keep stable visual structure in Writer and use PHP-owned elements only where PHP genuinely owns the dynamic subtree.

C04 — Declarative Writer-owned collections¶

C04 keeps more structure in the ODT template itself. Scalar values still use ordinary assignment, while repeatable entries are native named sections authored in LibreOffice.

$template->assign([
    'firstname' => 'Max',
    'lastname' => 'Mustermann',
    'profession' => 'Senior Projektmanager',
]);

$experienceInstances = $template
    ->section('ExperienceEntry')
    ->instantiateMany($experienceRows);

Each generated experience instance then owns its own nested ActivityEntry prototype, which can be expanded independently.

foreach ($experienceInstances as $index => $experience) {
    $experience
        ->section('ActivityEntry')
        ->instantiateMany($activities[$index]);
}

This model is useful when repeatable blocks should remain visually editable in LibreOffice and PHP should address semantic template objects rather than reconstruct their native structure.

Choosing between the two¶

A useful rule is:

S01b is the structured-template variant of this comparison. It deliberately composes multiple mechanisms: C04-style native Sections for repeatable main-column structures, bounded bookmarks for the Writer-authored profile/extract text, named-image replacement for template-owned image geometry, and S01b-style RichText inserted into template-authored Writer Frames. The sidebar paragraph styles and tab-stop geometry are owned by the template. This mixed approach is intentional: the correct ownership mechanism is chosen per document region rather than imposed on the whole file.

S01b is also expected to be readable as an architectural example by coding agents. Its implementation should make these ownership decisions obvious and should demonstrate the strongest appropriate existing engine capabilities, not merely generate a structurally valid ODT.

S01b's main CV is not rebuilt as one large RichText block. Its Experience, Education, and AdditionalQualifications areas remain authored native Sections, while the sidebar is an intentional PHP-owned dynamic region. Empty collection areas are removed through the existing public instantiateMany([]) behavior, and Writer continues to determine physical pagination.

A practical lesson from S01b is that visually similar LibreOffice containers are not interchangeable. The original text-box approach did not provide the ordinary named-paragraph-style behavior required by the generated sidebar. Writer Frames did. The final template therefore owns the first-page and continuation Frame geometry plus S01bSidebar* paragraph styles. PHP builds the sidebar structure and references those styles without duplicating their typography as direct formatting. Skill ratings use Paragraph::addTab() and a 5.2 cm tab stop defined by the template style rather than spaces.

A normal table was also rejected for this sidebar design: tables participate in document flow and do not provide the page-positioned geometry needed beside the independently indented main Section. A header table remains constrained by header flow. This is a design-specific ownership lesson, not a general rule against tables.

The models can also coexist in one document. A named section may contain ordinary placeholders, and PHP-generated elements can still be used where application-owned structure is appropriate.

Why both matter¶

S01b is an important professional benchmark for combining Writer-owned structure with bounded structured PHP content: paragraphs, lists, images, styles, native Sections, bookmarks, and template-owned frame geometry.

C04 is the focused benchmark for declarative Writer-native collections: semantic Section identities, nested ownership, collection execution, and preservation of LibreOffice-authored structure.

Together they show the direction of the engine more accurately than either sample alone:

LibreOffice visual authoring
        +
lightweight template language
        +
programmatic ODT elements
        +
addressable native ODT structures
        ↓
editable ODT output

Continue exploring¶

For S01b, read Building Complex Documents.

For C04, read Named Sections and the Practical ODT template authoring guide.

For the complete canonical example map, see the Sample Guide.