Using Control Toolbox

A

Andrea

I'm using Office 2003 and want to be able to type on a slide during a
presentation, preferably in bullets or at least in a list. After using
PowerPoint for years, I've just discovered that I can access the control
toolbox and set up a textbox on a slide to be filled in with a font of my
choice during the presentation. The problem is that my Enter key doesn't
work in this mode. Nor does word wrap. I've tried to adjust these from the
Properties menu, but nothing changes. I could settle for a row of words if I
had to, but they have to at least word wrap. Is there a way to do this? I'm
using Windows XP, SP3. Thanks.
 
B

Bill Dilworth

Right click on the textbox you inserted with the Control tool box. Select
Properties.

Try setting it like this:
EnterKeyBehavior = True
MultiLine = True <== I think this is the one you missed
ScrollBars (optional) = Vertical
WordWrap = True

Try changing this and you should get a textbox that does what you want.

Bill Dilworth
 
A

Andrea

Hi John,

Thank you. That really helped me to create a list. Now is there any way to
have it bulleted?

Andrea
 
T

tohlz

You can't have it bulleted. Try using dash '-' as a replacement instead.
--
Shawn Toh (tohlz)
Microsoft MVP PowerPoint

(Amazing PowerPoint animations, artworks, games here)
http://pptheaven.mvps.org
PowerPoint Heaven - The Power to Animate
 
A

Andrea

OK, thanks. I did see a presenter using bullets, but maybe she was using
2007? Or an addon?
 
J

John Wilson

As Shawn says bullets are not really available. You can get the symbol
(rather clumsily) by holding down alt and typing 149 on the numeric key pad
(on a lappie you will have to use numlock). Might be a little easier to copy
the symbol and maybe a space and use ctrl V to add it
--

john ATSIGN PPTAlchemy.co.uk
Custom vba coding and PPT Makeovers
Free PPT Hints, Tips and Tutorials
http://www.pptalchemy.co.uk/powerpoint_hints_and_tips_tutorials.html
 
T

tohlz

Hold down Alt key, enter 0149, then release. This should gives you the bullet.
--
Shawn Toh (tohlz)
Microsoft MVP PowerPoint

(Amazing PowerPoint animations, artworks, games here)
http://pptheaven.mvps.org
PowerPoint Heaven - The Power to Animate
 
J

John Wilson

SNAP

If vba is an option try this

Right click the box > View code

Paste this between the lines that pop up (assuming the default name
"TextBox1")

Dim strRight As String
Dim strText As String
strText = TextBox1.Text
strRight = Right$(strText, 1)
If strRight = "-" Then TextBox1.Text = Left$(strText, _
Len(strText) - 1) & Chr$(149) & " "


john ATSIGN PPTAlchemy.co.uk
Custom vba coding and PPT Makeovers
Free PPT Hints, Tips and Tutorials
http://www.pptalchemy.co.uk/powerpoint_hints_and_tips_tutorials.html
 
A

Andrea

OK, that works, but it's more trouble than it's worth for what I want
because it has to be done for each bullet. I'll just use a dash. Thanks.
 
A

Andrea

I don't know anything about using VBA, but it was Textbox1, so I pasted the
code in. Um, then what am I supposed to do? I closed it, but how do I use
it? I'm not sure what it's supposed to do. When I right clicked again, the
new code was there, so it apparently worked, but . . .
 
A

Andrea

Sorry, but I don't understand what you mean. I understand that you're
suggesting I change a symbol such as @ with a bullet, but I don't understand
how to do it.
 
A

Andrea

This was working fine and then I saved the file. When I later reopened it,
typing a dash produced a dash instead of a bullet. The code is still there
though. Any suggestions?
 
B

Bill Dilworth

Just a thought ...
Using an outside variable to track when the linecount changes might be an
easier way to automate this...


Dim LC As Integer

Private Sub TextBox1_Change()
With TextBox1
If .TextLength = 1 Then
LC = 1
.Text = Chr$(149) & " " & .Text
Exit Sub
End If
If LC < .LineCount Then
LC = .LineCount
.Text = .Text & Chr$(149) & " "
End If
End With
End Sub

Bill Dilworth
 
A

Andrea

OK, the security was set at high. Setting at medium helped, and I needed to
enable macros. Now everytime I open PPT, I'm asked about enabling macros. Is
there a way to permanently enable them?

Andrea
 
A

Andrea

This has been a lot of fun! John's code enables me to type a dash to get a
bullet. Steve's code does the same thing with the @ symbol, but that takes
more time because I have to also hold down the Shift key. I didn't
understand how to get Bill's code to work. Actually, it did work but not at
the top of the textbox. It began several lines down. Maybe I did something
wrong; I'm not sure where the Dim LC As Integer goes. It seems to want to
draw a line between it and the rest. Omitting it, I discovered, creates an
entire textbox of bullets! Steve, I don't understand what Static LC as Long
means. Also, is there a way to permanently enable this macro without
lowering the security? (I have it at medium now.) If not, is it a good idea
to always get the warning to enable macros before opening a file?
 
J

John Wilson

Hi Andrea

Glad you're having fun!

Bill's code works perfectly here. The line you see is normal. Easiest way is
delete all the default code and paste in all of Bill's code.

To enable YOUR macros with high security you will need a self certificate,
not so hard!

Locate selfcert.exe (should be in Program Files/Microsoft Office/ Office xx)
Run and create a cert with your name.

Open your presentation with the code (you'll still get the message)
Alt f11 and then open the Tools menu > Digital Certificates and add the new
cert to your presentation.

Save and reopen - This time you should get an option to "Always Trust"

The cert will only work on your PC
--

john ATSIGN PPTAlchemy.co.uk
Custom vba coding and PPT Makeovers
Free PPT Hints, Tips and Tutorials
http://www.pptalchemy.co.uk/powerpoint_hints_and_tips_tutorials.html
 

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