## SubDocument class

Represents a **SubDocument** - which is a reference to an externally stored document.
To learn more, visit the [Aspose.Words Document Object Model (DOM)](https://docs.aspose.com/words/python-net/aspose-words-document-object-model/) documentation article.




### Remarks

In this version of Aspose.Words, [SubDocument](./) nodes do not provide public methods
and properties to create or modify a subdocument. In this version you are not able to instantiate
[SubDocument](./) nodes or modify existing except deleting them.

[SubDocument](./) can only be a child of [Paragraph](../paragraph/).




**Inheritance:** [SubDocument](./) → [Node](../node/)

### Properties

| Name | Description |
| --- | --- |
| [custom_node_id](../node/custom_node_id/) | Specifies custom node identifier.<br>(Inherited from [Node](../node/)) |
| [document](../node/document/) | Gets the document to which this node belongs.<br>(Inherited from [Node](../node/)) |
| [is_composite](../node/is_composite/) | Returns ``True`` if this node can contain other nodes.<br>(Inherited from [Node](../node/)) |
| [next_sibling](../node/next_sibling/) | Gets the node immediately following this node.<br>(Inherited from [Node](../node/)) |
| [node_type](./node_type/) | Returns [NodeType.SUB_DOCUMENT](../nodetype/#SUB_DOCUMENT). |
| [parent_node](../node/parent_node/) | Gets the immediate parent of this node.<br>(Inherited from [Node](../node/)) |
| [previous_sibling](../node/previous_sibling/) | Gets the node immediately preceding this node.<br>(Inherited from [Node](../node/)) |
| [range](../node/range/) | Returns a [Range](../range/) object that represents the portion of a document that is contained in this node.<br>(Inherited from [Node](../node/)) |

### Methods

| Name | Description |
| --- | --- |
|[ accept(visitor)](./accept/#documentvisitor) | Accepts a visitor. |
|[ clone(is_clone_children)](../node/clone/#bool) | Creates a duplicate of the node.<br>(Inherited from [Node](../node/)) |
|[ get_ancestor(ancestor_type)](../node/get_ancestor/#object) | Gets the first ancestor of the specified object type.<br>(Inherited from [Node](../node/)) |
|[ get_ancestor(ancestor_type)](../node/get_ancestor/#nodetype) | Gets the first ancestor of the specified [NodeType](../nodetype/).<br>(Inherited from [Node](../node/)) |
|[ get_text()](../node/get_text/#default) | Gets the text of this node and of all its children.<br>(Inherited from [Node](../node/)) |
|[ next_pre_order(root_node)](../node/next_pre_order/#node) | Gets next node according to the pre-order tree traversal algorithm.<br>(Inherited from [Node](../node/)) |
|[ node_type_to_string(node_type)](../node/node_type_to_string/#nodetype) | A utility method that converts a node type enum value into a user friendly string.<br>(Inherited from [Node](../node/)) |
|[ previous_pre_order(root_node)](../node/previous_pre_order/#node) | Gets the previous node according to the pre-order tree traversal algorithm.<br>(Inherited from [Node](../node/)) |
|[ remove()](../node/remove/#default) | Removes itself from the parent.<br>(Inherited from [Node](../node/)) |
|[ to_string(save_format)](../node/to_string/#saveformat) | Exports the content of the node into a string in the specified format.<br>(Inherited from [Node](../node/)) |
|[ to_string(save_options)](../node/to_string/#saveoptions) | Exports the content of the node into a string using the specified save options.<br>(Inherited from [Node](../node/)) |

### Examples

Shows how to access a master document's subdocument.

```python
doc = aw.Document(file_name=MY_DIR + 'Master document.docx')
sub_documents = doc.get_child_nodes(aw.NodeType.SUB_DOCUMENT, True)
# This node serves as a reference to an external document, and its contents cannot be accessed.
sub_document = sub_documents[0].as_sub_document()
self.assertFalse(sub_document.is_composite)
```

### See Also

* module [aspose.words](../)
* class [Node](../node/)