Having troubles creating and formatting Word tables from Excel VBA - excel

Question

I'm new to MS Word VBA and am having troubles with manipulating Word documents from Excel.
The Biggest problem so far is: codes that work in Word VBA just don't work in Excel. Very strange and frustrating.
Below are the codes:
Sub abc()
Dim MSWordApp As Object, MSWordDoc As Object
Set MSWordApp = CreateObject("Word.Application")
Set MSWordDoc = MSWordApp.Documents.Add
MSWordApp.Visible = True
With MSWordDoc
With .PageSetup
.TopMargin = Application.CentimetersToPoints(0.51)
.BottomMargin = Application.CentimetersToPoints(0.51)
.LeftMargin = Application.CentimetersToPoints(0.51)
.RightMargin = Application.CentimetersToPoints(0.51)
End With
.Tables.Add Range:=.Range(0, 0), NumRows:=3, NumColumns:=2
With .Tables(1)
.Rows.Alignment = wdAlignRowCenter
.Rows.HeightRule = wdRowHeightExactly
.Rows.Height = Application.CentimetersToPoints(9.55)
.Columns.PreferredWidthType = wdPreferredWidthPoints
.Columns.PreferredWidth = Application.CentimetersToPoints(9.9)
End With
End With
MSWordApp.Activate
Set MSWordApp = Nothing
Set MSWordDoc = Nothing
End Sub
These codes work perfectly in MS Word (Of course I've changed the names of object etc when I use them in MS Word).
However, weird things happen in Excel:
1) ".Rows.Alignment = wdAlignRowCenter" just don't work at all. The Rows.Alignment of the Word table just remains as default.
2) ".Columns.PreferredWidthType = wdPreferredWidthPoints" causes error in Excel. It works fine in Word; though in Excel, an empty error msg will pop up when every time I call this property. Have no idea why...

Answer 1

When controlling Microsoft Word from Excel VBA, you need to add a reference to the Microsoft Word Object Library. To do so, make sure you are on your module in the VBA window, and then click Tools then References.... In the popup, scroll down to find "Microsoft Word XX.X Object Library". The version # will vary based on what you have installed.
If it doesn't show in the list, you can find it on your hard drive, by clicking "Browse..." and navigating to the program files folder where MS Word is installed, then selecting the file called "MSWORD.OLB".

Answer 2

Since your code is written for use with late binding, you should NOT be adding a reference to Word. Instead, you need to either define or replace the Word constants you're using. For example, instead of:
.Rows.Alignment = wdAlignRowCenter
.Rows.HeightRule = wdRowHeightExactly
you could use:
.Rows.Alignment = 1 '1=wdAlignRowCenter
.Rows.HeightRule = 2 '2=wdRowHeightExactly
Alternatively, after:
Dim MSWordApp As Object, MSWordDoc As Object
you would insert:
Const wdAlignRowCenter as Long = 1: Const wdRowHeightExactly as Long = 2
Otherwise, if you're going to set a reference to Word, you should make your code consistent with early binding throughout. For example, instead of:
Dim MSWordApp As Object, MSWordDoc As Object
Set MSWordApp = CreateObject("Word.Application")
Set MSWordDoc = MSWordApp.Documents.Add
you might use:
Dim MSWordApp As New Word.Application, MSWordDoc As Word.Document
Set MSWordDoc = MSWordApp.Documents.Add