Question about using Find with a Range object

[Max Moor]

Hi All,
I'm trying to learn enough about Range objects and Find (et. al.)
to do some reformatting of a long document. I got the code below from
Jay, and it works like a charm, but I don't grasp how entirely.

I understand that if I use Find on a Range object, the range
object is redefined if the Find is successful. In the code below, the
oRg range is originally set to the whole document. When the Find
executes, it appears that the oRg Start and End are redefined to bound
just the reference field found.

I expected that only the start point of the range would be
redefined, but oIns is a duplicate of it. When oIns is collapsed to its
end, it's the end of the field found, not the end of the document.

So... if oRg has been redefined to bound only the found field,
how does Find get beyond that range to find the next matching field,
later in the document, on the next loop???

Also, given the code below, how can I access the text of the field
that is found? The variable strCode is set to the reference code
itself, with brackets and big numbers. I want to get the text that is
actually visible in the document. In my case, it's the name of a
header. Ho do I get to that?

Thanks, Max




Sub AddPageNumberRefs()
Dim oRg As Range
Dim oIns As Range
Dim strCode As String
Dim fldPg As Field

Set oRg = ActiveDocument.Range
oRg.TextRetrievalMode.IncludeFieldCodes = True
With oRg.Find
.Forward = True
.Format = True
.Style = ActiveDocument.Styles("Cross-reference Char")
.Text = "^d REF"
Do While .Execute
strCode = oRg.Fields(1).Code.Text
Set oIns = oRg.Duplicate
With oIns
.Collapse wdCollapseEnd
.Text = ", pg "
.Collapse wdCollapseEnd
Set fldPg = ActiveDocument.Fields.Add(Range:=oIns, Type:
=wdFieldEmpty)
fldPg.Code.Text = " PAGE" & LTrim(strCode)
fldPg.Update
End With
Loop
End With
End Sub

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi Max

When the Find
executes, it appears that the oRg Start and End are redefined to bound
just the reference field found.
Yes.

I expected that only the start point of the range would be
redefined, but oIns is a duplicate of it.

The line
Set oIns = oRg.Duplicate
duplicates the oRg range. It doesn't duplicate the content of the range
within the document. It creates another range object (olns) that points to
the same part of the content of the document that oRg points to. It is
necessary to do this for this code, because you need to muck around with the
result of the .Find.

how can I access the text of the field that is found?

Change the line
strCode = oRg.Fields(1).Code.Text
to
strCode = oRg.Fields(1).Result.Text


Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

 

[Jezebel]

The search range is effectively a hidden property of the Find object. The
reference is created when the Find object is instantiated (ie, either the
Selection or the Range of which the object is a property), and is not then
changed. So while the range referenced by oRg is redefined with each
iteration, the base range through which Find is progressing, is not.

The displayed text of a field is its Result. So you could use

oRg.Fields(1).Result


Seperately, as a matter of good programming practice, when you declare
object variables you should specify the library they belong to --

Dim oRg As Word.Range
Dim fldPg As Word.Field

It costs nothing to do this, and it will save you grief when you start
referencing other libraries (like Excel) in your projects. There are many
libraries that have Range and Field objects, and they are not
interchangeable.

 

[Max Moor]

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

It absolutely does! I've been working with Access in VB for quite
a while. I'm new to doing it with word. It's like starting over.

Could you tell me about how the Find executes the second (or
later) loop? Once Find has been successful, oRg bounds the found field,
and no longer encompasses the whole of the document.

I would think the second execution of Find would be only on oRg's
new range (the field previously found). How can it find any later
fields in the document, beyond its new, redefined range? (I hope this
question makes sense. It's really bugging me.)

- Max

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi Max

I think Jezebel has answered the question.

It's really bugging me.

As a Sunday evening brain teaser, create a new document, type =rand(3,2),
press Enter, and step through the following code watching what happens to
the document:

Sub Test1()

Dim oRange As Word.Range
Set oRange = ActiveDocument.Range

With oRange.Find
.Text = "brown"
.Wrap = wdFindStop
Do While .Execute
oRange.Bold = True
Loop
End With

With ActiveDocument.Range.Find
.Text = "brown"
.Wrap = wdFindStop
Do While .Execute
ActiveDocument.Range.Bold = True
Loop
End With

End Sub


Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

 

[Max Moor]

The search range is effectively a hidden property of the Find object.
The reference is created when the Find object is instantiated (ie,
either the Selection or the Range of which the object is a property),
and is not then changed. So while the range referenced by oRg is
redefined with each iteration, the base range through which Find is
progressing, is not.

The displayed text of a field is its Result. So you could use

oRg.Fields(1).Result


Seperately, as a matter of good programming practice, when you declare
object variables you should specify the library they belong to --

Dim oRg As Word.Range
Dim fldPg As Word.Field

It costs nothing to do this, and it will save you grief when you start
referencing other libraries (like Excel) in your projects. There are
many libraries that have Range and Field objects, and they are not
interchangeable.

HA! No Jezebel, you!

Thank you, so much. I hate hidden things, but what you say makes
perfect sense.

I appreciate your note about referencing libraries, also. As I
mentioned, I've done fairly extensive programming in VB for MS Access.
(My foray into Word is to help me ultimately re-format my Access App's
user manual, written in Word, into a set of HTML files from which I can
make a .chm help file.) Specifying whether something is an ADO or DAO
object is a similar "good practice" in Access-land. Ah, why can't
everything be simple and non-ambiguous?

Again, thanks to you, Shauna, and Jay for the help. I still have
a long way to go to get my ultimate macro written, but you've all gotten
me a fair bit closer.

Thanks, Max

 

[Jezebel]

I played around with this earlier today (before reading your post) in
exactly this way, but using 'dog' instead of 'brown' --- what does this say
about our respective psyches?

 

[Max Moor]

http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

Hi Shauna,
I tried your brain teaser, but nothing happened. Let me make sure I
understand...
I created a new document, and on the first line, typed "=rand(3,2)"
Then I pressed return. I opened the VB window, and pasted the code, then
ran it. It never enters either of the loops. Should the 'rand' line have
generated something? Do I have something turned off that would let it?

- Max

 

[Jezebel]

You need autocorrect turned on.

Hi Shauna,
I tried your brain teaser, but nothing happened. Let me make sure I
understand...
I created a new document, and on the first line, typed "=rand(3,2)"
Then I pressed return. I opened the VB window, and pasted the code, then
ran it. It never enters either of the loops. Should the 'rand' line have
generated something? Do I have something turned off that would let it?

- Max

 

[Max Moor]

You need autocorrect turned on.

Got it. I see what's happening. The bolding part makes sense to me. rand
is a new one though.

- Max

 

[Jay Freedman]

Got it. I see what's happening. The bolding part makes sense to me. rand
is a new one though.

- Max

http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/DummyText.htm

 

[Max Moor]

http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/DummyText.htm

Hello Again Jay,

Thanks for the pointer. Interesting article. I like the history
behind 'lorem ipsum," too. I took just enough Latin years ago to be
confused by it, but never tried to look it up.

As an aside, I've been using the code snippet you sent me to test out
other things as I learn them. I've gotten LOTS of use out of it. Thanks
again for that.

- Max