I have already reviewed a couple of similar posts here, here, here (including referenced link) and here in careful detail, and not found anything that helped.
My script starts in an Excel construction estimate and outputs a proposal draft in Word. The general structure of the program is in three parts:
It pulls the data from the active worksheet (lines 1-226), then
It queries the user for some final needed bits of info via a userform (lines 227-265), then
It opens a letterhead template in Word and dumps everything into it (lines 266-763).
The first time I run the script from the Excel estimate, it executes flawlessly, all the way through to saving the Word document. But if I close that generated Word document and click the "Draft proposal" button again, it gets to a very specific line, not far into the Word portion of the program, and gives me an error, every time. That error is,
"Run-time error '462': The remote server machine does not exist or is unavailable."
Here is the script, starting at the beginning of the Word portion. It breaks at the line where we give our "$TBD" price, right-justified, at the end of trailing dots.
I used a macro to generate this little block of code. I have attempted to fix this bug by simplifying the code here. I used to have unnecessary lines wDoc.DefaultTabStop = InchesToPoints(0.5) and sel.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.ClearAll and it used to break at those lines, but I deleted both of them, and the program still breaks right at the same spot.
'open the Word document with the appropriate template, bind worksheet & doc together,
'activate the window (bring to front), and move cursor to the end of the document
Dim wApp As Word.Application
Dim wDoc As Word.Document
Set wApp = CreateObject("Word.Application")
Set wDoc = wApp.Documents.Add(Template:="C:\Users\" & MyUserName & "\"
'The rest of the filepath is included here, but I'm omitting it for security purposes, ending in "Letterhead.dotm")
wApp.Visible = True
wApp.Activate
Dim sel As Word.Selection
Set sel = wDoc.Application.Selection
sel.EndKey (wdStory)
'create date and address block
sel.InsertDateTime DateTimeFormat:="MMMM dd, yyyy", InsertAsField:=False
sel.TypeParagraph
sel.TypeParagraph
sel.TypeText Text:=ContactName
sel.TypeText Text:=Chr(11)
sel.Font.Bold = wdToggle
sel.TypeText Text:=GCName
sel.TypeParagraph
sel.TypeParagraph
sel.TypeText "Reference: " & vbTab
sel.TypeText Text:=JobName
sel.Font.Bold = wdToggle
sel.TypeParagraph
sel.TypeParagraph
'create the introductory matter to the proposal
sel.TypeText "We are pleased to offer our proposal for the electrical portion of work " & _
"at " & JobAddress & ". Work is based upon " & ArchitectName & " " & PlanType & _
" drawings, dated " & PlansDated & "."
sel.TypeParagraph
sel.TypeParagraph
'make the line of dots before TBD, copy-pasting from a macro
sel.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.Add Position:=InchesToPoints(6.67), Alignment:=wdAlignTabRight, _
Leader:=wdTabLeaderDots 'This is the two-line statement where it breaks.
Oddly, if I delete the offending statement, it gets a little further but then breaks at another random line a little ways down, the ".NumberPosition" property definition within the myNLT With block:
'write the price line, and then erase the single-use tab stop we just set up
sel.Font.Bold = wdToggle
sel.TypeText "We will perform this work for" & vbTab & "$TBD"
sel.Font.Bold = wdToggle
sel.TypeParagraph
sel.TypeParagraph
sel.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.ClearAll
'introduce the itemized SOW
sel.Font.Bold = wdToggle
sel.Font.Underline = wdUnderlineSingle
sel.TypeText "Scope of work to include the following:"
sel.TypeParagraph
sel.Font.Underline = wdUnderlineNone
sel.Font.Bold = wdToggle
'set up itemized list, copy-pasting from a macro, list starts at 1
'establish myNLT as the numbered list template
Dim myNLT As ListTemplate
Set myNLT = wApp.ListGalleries(wdNumberGallery).ListTemplates(1)
With myNLT.ListLevels(1)
.NumberFormat = "%1."
.TrailingCharacter = wdTrailingTab
.NumberStyle = wdListNumberStyleArabic
.NumberPosition = InchesToPoints(0.25) 'If I delete the line indicated
'in the previous block of code, then this is the next place it breaks.
.Alignment = wdListLevelAlignLeft
.TextPosition = InchesToPoints(0.5)
.ResetOnHigher = 0
.StartAt = 1
.LinkedStyle = ""
End With
I have tried On Error Resume Next and I've tried even adding, as "Next," an Application.Wait for two seconds followed by a repetition of the TabStops.Add, but this does nothing but mess up my formatting.
I also tried changing sel.ParagraphFormat.Tabstops.Add to Word.Selection.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.Add - also didn't work.
Following a suggestion in comments also did not work: If I remove everything after .Add, I get
Compile error: Argument not optional.
If I then add back in the first argument, Position:=InchesToPoints(6.67) and leave off Alignment and Leader, then the error comes back.
I connected two weighing scales to my PC and used a VBA tutorial and the XMComm to create Excel userform that collects the weight data from a scale and places it in a cell.
I can retrieve the weight from each scale with separate command buttons. I would like to combine both scales into one command button.
I've tried by putting ActiveCell.Offset(0,1).Select between the two Userforms in the command button. However, when I use this command button, the Active Cell shifts right immediately and only one of the two weight values is placed.
I use ActiveCell to place this information in any cells.
I think it may be an issue with the individual userforms themselves. When I try to place a single weight from a command button tied to just one userform, the weight is sometimes not placed.
Here is the userform code:
Private Sub XMCommCRC1_OnComm()
Static sInput As String
Dim sTerminator As String
Dim Buffer As Variant
' Branch according to the CommEvent property
Select Case XMCommCRC1.CommEvent
Case XMCOMM_EV_RECEIVE
Buffer = XMCommCRC1.InputData ' Use Input property for MSComm
sInput = sInput & Buffer
If Worksheets("Settings").Range("Terminator") = "CR/LF" Then
sTerminator = vbCrLf
Else
sTerminaotr = vbCr
End If
If Right$(sInput, Len(sTerminator)) = sTerminator Then
XMCommCRC1.PortOpen = False
sInput = Left$(sInput, Len(sInput) - Len(sTerminator))
Select Case Left$(sInput, 2)
Case "ST", "S "
ActiveCell.Value = CDbl(Mid$(sInput, 7, 8))
ActiveCell.Activate
Case "US", "SD"
MsgBox "The balance is unstable."
Case "OL", "SI"
MsgBox "The balance is showing an eror value."
End Select
sInput = ""
End If
End Select
End Sub
Public Sub RequestBalanceData()
With Worksheets("Settings")
' Configure and open the COM port
If Not XMCommCRC1.PortOpen Then
XMCommCRC1.RThreshold = 1
XMCommCRC1.RTSEnable = True
XMCommCRC1.CommPort = .Range("COM_Port")
XMCommCRC1.Settings = .Range("Baud_Rate") & "," & _
.Range("Parity") & "," & _
.Range("Data_Bits") & "," & _
.Range("Stop_Bits")
XMCommCRC1.PortOpen = True
End If
' Send balance's "SI" (Send Immediate) command
' to request weighing data immediately
If .Range("Terminator") = "CR/LF" Then
XMCommCRC1.Output = "R" & vbCrLf
Else
XMCommCRC1.Output = "R" & vbCr
End If
End With
End Sub
I am using Excel 2007.
The VBA tutorial - http://www.msclims.com/lims/diybalance.html
The link to XMCOMM - http://www.hardandsoftware.net/xmcomm.htm
I have a audit trail that records two fields. I just want to ask if its possible to save changes in audit trail while on read mode? My code doesn't record anything while on read mode. Can you help me guys? Here's my code:
Querysave:
Sub Querysave(Source As Notesuidocument, Continue As Variant)
initial = Source.IsNewDoc
If initial Then m$ = session.CommonUserName & " - " & Cstr(Now()) & " - Document Created"
Forall F In old
v$ = Source.FieldGetText(Listtag(F))
If Not initial And Not v$ = F Then
If m$ = "" Then
m$ = session.CommonUserName & " - " & Cstr(Now()) & " - Modified "
Else
m$ = m$ & ", "
End If
If F = "" Then F = {""}
m$ = m$ & Listtag(F) & " from " & F & " to " & v$
End If
F = v$
End Forall
If initial Then
Source.FieldSetText "History", m$
Elseif Not m$ = "" Then
Source.FieldAppendText "History", Chr$(10) & m$
End If
X: Exit Sub
E: Continue = False
Resume X
End Sub
Postopen:
Sub Postopen(Source As Notesuidocument)
Set session = New NotesSession
old("DocName") = Source.FieldGetText("DocName")
old("DocStatus") = Source.FieldGetText("DocStatus")
'Disable edit in double click
Set uidoc = source
Set doc = uidoc.Document
doc.mc = 1
End
End Sub
Whenever you need to use variables/objects between events and do not want to pollute the document with temporary values, use global variables for everything.
On postOpen the document is presumably in read mode, any changes you make to fields on the backend document (ie uidoc.document) during this event while the document is in read mode will not "stick" because you're writing to an object that is currently in read-mode. That "old" list variable is global (?), instead of trying to write to the "history" field, setup your "History" variable as a global string variable, don't try and write it to the document during postopen. When QuerySave event triggers write the global "history" string variable onto the history field on the document.
The best way (in my opinion) to create a history/audit trail when documents are saved is to put that code in the PostSave event, using backend classes.
That code is executed after the save.
One think that I often do is declaring a global list of strings. In the PostOpen event, I populate it with values from all fields except the ones that start with $.
In the PostSave (or even Terminate) event I then compare the values in that list with the current values on the document, if any value is different, I can update the document history/audit field.
Hey all. I'll try to make this brief and simple. :)
I have
40 or so boilerplate word documents with a series of fields (Name, address, etc) that need to be filled in. This is historically done manually, but it's repetitive and cumbersome.
A workbook where a user has filled a huge set of information about an individual.
I need
A way to programatically (from Excel VBA) open up these boilerplate documents, edit in the value of fields from various named ranges in the workbook, and save the filled in templates to a local folder.
If I were using VBA to programatically edit particular values in a set of spreadsheets, I would edit all those spreadsheets to contain a set of named ranges which could be used during the auto-fill process, but I'm not aware of any 'named field' feature in a Word document.
How could I edit the documents, and create a VBA routine, so that I can open each document, look for a set of fields which might need to be filled in, and substitute a value?
For instance, something that works like:
for each document in set_of_templates
if document.FieldExists("Name") then document.Field("Name").value = strName
if document.FieldExists("Address") then document.Field("Name").value = strAddress
...
document.saveAs( thisWorkbook.Path & "\GeneratedDocs\ " & document.Name )
next document
Things I've considered:
Mail merge - but this is insufficient because it requires opening each document manually and structuring the workbook as a data source, I kind of want the opposite. The templates are the data source and the workbook is iterating through them. Also, mail merge is for creating many identical documents using a table of different data. I have many documents all using the same data.
Using placeholder text such as "#NAME#" and opening each document for a search and replace. This is the solution I would resort to if nothing more elegant is proposed.
It's been a long time since I asked this question, and my solution has undergone more and more refinement. I've had to deal with all sorts of special cases, such as values that come directly from the workbook, sections that need to be specially generated based on lists, and the need to do replacements in headers and footers.
As it turns out, it did not suffice to use bookmarks, as it was possible for users to later edit documents to change, add, and remove placeholder values from the documents. The solution was in fact to use keywords such as this:
This is just a page from a sample document which uses some of the possible values that can get automatically inserted into a document. Over 50 documents exist with completely different structures and layouts, and using different parameters. The only common knowledge shared by the word documents and the excel spreadsheet is a knowledge of what these placeholder values are meant to represent. In excel, this is stored in a list of document generation keywords, which contain the keyword, followed by a reference to the range that actually contains this value:
These were the key two ingredients required. Now with some clever code, all I had to do was iterate over each document to be generated, and then iterate over the range of all known keywords, and do a search and replace for each keyword in each document.
First, I have the wrapper method, which takes care of maintaining an instance of microsoft word iterating over all documents selected for generation, numbering the documents, and doing the user interface stuff (like handling errors, displaying the folder to the user, etc.)
' Purpose: Iterates over and generates all documents in the list of forms to generate
' Improves speed by creating a persistant Word application used for all generated documents
Public Sub GeneratePolicy()
Dim oWrd As New Word.Application
Dim srcPath As String
Dim cel As Range
If ERROR_HANDLING Then On Error GoTo errmsg
If Forms.Cells(2, FormsToGenerateCol) = vbNullString Then _
Err.Raise 1, , "There are no forms selected for document generation."
'Get the path of the document repository where the forms will be found.
srcPath = FindConstant("Document Repository")
'Each form generated will be numbered sequentially by calling a static counter function. This resets it.
GetNextEndorsementNumber reset:=True
'Iterate over each form, calling a function to replace the keywords and save a copy to the output folder
For Each cel In Forms.Range(Forms.Cells(2, FormsToGenerateCol), Forms.Cells(1, FormsToGenerateCol).End(xlDown))
RunReplacements cel.value, CreateDocGenPath(cel.Offset(0, 1).value), oWrd
Next cel
oWrd.Quit
On Error Resume Next
'Display the folder containing the generated documents
Call Shell("explorer.exe " & CreateDocGenPath, vbNormalFocus)
oWrd.Quit False
Application.StatusBar = False
If MsgBox("Policy generation complete. The reserving information will now be recorded.", vbOKCancel, _
"Policy Generated. OK to store reserving info?") = vbOK Then Push_Reserving_Requirements
Exit Sub
errmsg:
MsgBox Err.Description, , "Error generating Policy Documents"
End Sub
That routine calls RunReplacements which takes care of opening the document, prepping the environment for a fast replacement, updating links once done, handling errors, etc:
' Purpose: Opens up a document and replaces all instances of special keywords with their respective values.
' Creates an instance of Word if an existing one is not passed as a parameter.
' Saves a document to the target path once the template has been filled in.
'
' Replacements are done using two helper functions, one for doing simple keyword replacements,
' and one for the more complex replacements like conditional statements and schedules.
Private Sub RunReplacements(ByVal DocumentPath As String, ByVal SaveAsPath As String, _
Optional ByRef oWrd As Word.Application = Nothing)
Dim oDoc As Word.Document
Dim oWrdGiven As Boolean
If oWrd Is Nothing Then Set oWrd = New Word.Application Else oWrdGiven = True
If ERROR_HANDLING Then On Error GoTo docGenError
oWrd.Visible = False
oWrd.DisplayAlerts = wdAlertsNone
Application.StatusBar = "Opening " & Mid(DocumentPath, InStrRev(DocumentPath, "\") + 1)
Set oDoc = oWrd.Documents.Open(Filename:=DocumentPath, Visible:=False)
RunAdvancedReplacements oDoc
RunSimpleReplacements oDoc
UpdateLinks oDoc 'Routine which will update calculated statements in Word (like current date)
Application.StatusBar = "Saving " & Mid(DocumentPath, InStrRev(DocumentPath, "\") + 1)
oDoc.SaveAs SaveAsPath
GoTo Finally
docGenError:
MsgBox "Un unknown error occurred while generating document: " & DocumentPath & vbNewLine _
& vbNewLine & Err.Description, vbCritical, "Document Generation"
Finally:
If Not oDoc Is Nothing Then oDoc.Close False: Set oDoc = Nothing
If Not oWrdGiven Then oWrd.Quit False
End Sub
That routine then invokes RunSimpleReplacements. and RunAdvancedReplacements. In the former, we iterate over the set of Document Generation Keywords and call WordDocReplace if the document contains our keyword. Note that it's much faster to try and Find a bunch of words to figure out that they don't exist, then to call replace indiscriminately, so we always check if a keyword exists before attempting to replace it.
' Purpose: While short, this short module does most of the work with the help of the generation keywords
' range on the lists sheet. It loops through every simple keyword that might appear in a document
' and calls a function to have it replaced with the corresponding data from pricing.
Private Sub RunSimpleReplacements(ByRef oDoc As Word.Document)
Dim DocGenKeys As Range, valueSrc As Range
Dim value As String
Dim i As Integer
Set DocGenKeys = Lists.Range("DocumentGenerationKeywords")
For i = 1 To DocGenKeys.Rows.Count
If WordDocContains(oDoc, "#" & DocGenKeys.Cells(i, 1).Text & "#") Then
'Find the text that we will be replacing the placeholder keyword with
Set valueSrc = Range(Mid(DocGenKeys.Cells(i, 2).Formula, 2))
If valueSrc.MergeCells Then value = valueSrc.MergeArea.Cells(1, 1).Text Else value = valueSrc.Text
'Perform the replacement
WordDocReplace oDoc, "#" & DocGenKeys.Cells(i, 1).Text & "#", value
End If
Next i
End Sub
This is the function used to detect whether a keyword exists in the document:
' Purpose: Function called for each replacement to first determine as quickly as possible whether
' the document contains the keyword, and thus whether replacement actions must be taken.
Public Function WordDocContains(ByRef oDoc As Word.Document, ByVal searchFor As String) As Boolean
Application.StatusBar = "Checking for keyword: " & searchFor
WordDocContains = False
Dim storyRange As Word.Range
For Each storyRange In oDoc.StoryRanges
With storyRange.Find
.Text = searchFor
WordDocContains = WordDocContains Or .Execute
End With
If WordDocContains Then Exit For
Next
End Function
And this is where the rubber meets the road - the code that executes the replacement. This routine got more complicated as I encountered difficulties. Here are the lessons you will only learn from experience:
You can set the replacement text directly, or you can use the clipboard. I found out the hard way that if you are doing a VBA replace in word using a string longer than 255 characters, the text will get truncated if you try to place it in the Find.Replacement.Text, but you can use "^c" as your replacement text, and it will get it directly from the clipboard. This was the workaround I got to use.
Simply calling replace will miss keywords in some text areas like headers and footers. Because of this, you actually need to iterate over the document.StoryRanges and run the search and replace on each one to ensure that you catch all instances of the word you want to replace.
If you're setting the Replacement.Text directly, you need to convert Excel line breaks (vbNewLine and Chr(10)) with a simple vbCr for them to appear properly in word. Otherwise, anywhere your replacement text has line breaks coming from an excel cell will end up inserting strange symbols into word. If you use the clipboard method however, you do not need to do this, as the line breaks get converted automatically when put in the clipboard.
That explains everything. Comments should be pretty clear too. Here's the golden routine that executes the magic:
' Purpose: This function actually performs replacements using the Microsoft Word API
Public Sub WordDocReplace(ByRef oDoc As Word.Document, ByVal replaceMe As String, ByVal replaceWith As String)
Dim clipBoard As New MSForms.DataObject
Dim storyRange As Word.Range
Dim tooLong As Boolean
Application.StatusBar = "Replacing instances of keyword: " & replaceMe
'We want to use regular search and replace if we can. It's faster and preserves the formatting that
'the keyword being replaced held (like bold). If the string is longer than 255 chars though, the
'standard replace method doesn't work, and so we must use the clipboard method (^c special character),
'which does not preserve formatting. This is alright for schedules though, which are always plain text.
If Len(replaceWith) > 255 Then tooLong = True
If tooLong Then
clipBoard.SetText IIf(replaceWith = vbNullString, "", replaceWith)
clipBoard.PutInClipboard
Else
'Convert excel in-cell line breaks to word line breaks. (Not necessary if using clipboard)
replaceWith = Replace(replaceWith, vbNewLine, vbCr)
replaceWith = Replace(replaceWith, Chr(10), vbCr)
End If
'Replacement must be done on multiple 'StoryRanges'. Unfortunately, simply calling replace will miss
'keywords in some text areas like headers and footers.
For Each storyRange In oDoc.StoryRanges
Do
With storyRange.Find
.MatchWildcards = True
.Text = replaceMe
.Replacement.Text = IIf(tooLong, "^c", replaceWith)
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End With
On Error Resume Next
Set storyRange = storyRange.NextStoryRange
On Error GoTo 0
Loop While Not storyRange Is Nothing
Next
If tooLong Then clipBoard.SetText ""
If tooLong Then clipBoard.PutInClipboard
End Sub
When the dust settles, we're left with a beautiful version of the initial document with production values in place of those hash marked keywords. I'd love to show an example, but of course every filled in document contain all-proprietary information.
The only think left to mention I guess would be that RunAdvancedReplacements section. It does something extremely similar - it ends up calling the same WordDocReplace function, but what's special about the keywords used here is that they don't link to a single cell in the original workbook, they get generated in the code-behind from lists in the workbook. So for instance, one of the advanced replacements would look like this:
'Generate the schedule of vessels
If WordDocContains(oDoc, "#VESSELSCHEDULE#") Then _
WordDocReplace oDoc, "#VESSELSCHEDULE#", GenerateVesselSchedule()
And then there will be a corresponding routine which puts together a string containing all the vessel information as configured by the user:
' Purpose: Generates the list of vessels from the "Vessels" sheet based on the user's configuration
' in the booking tab. The user has the option to generate one or both of Owned Vessels
' and Chartered Vessels, as well as what fields to display. Uses a helper function.
Public Function GenerateVesselSchedule() As String
Dim value As String
Application.StatusBar = "Generating Schedule of Vessels."
If Booking.Range("ListVessels").value = "Yes" Then
Dim VesselCount As Long
If Booking.Range("ListVessels").Offset(1).value = "Yes" Then _
value = value & GenerateVesselScheduleHelper("Vessels", VesselCount)
If Booking.Range("ListVessels").Offset(1).value = "Yes" And _
Booking.Range("ListVessels").Offset(2).value = "Yes" Then _
value = value & "(Chartered Vessels)" & vbNewLine
If Booking.Range("ListVessels").Offset(2).value = "Yes" Then _
value = value & GenerateVesselScheduleHelper("CharteredVessels", VesselCount)
If Len(value) > 2 Then value = Left(value, Len(value) - 2) 'Remove the trailing line break
Else
GenerateVesselSchedule = Booking.Range("VesselSchedAlternateText").Text
End If
GenerateVesselSchedule = value
End Function
' Purpose: Helper function for the Vessel Schedule generation routine. Generates either the Owned or
' Chartered vessels based on the schedule parameter passed. The list is numbered and contains
' the information selected by the user on the Booking sheet.
' SENSITIVE: Note that this routine is sensitive to the layout of the Vessel Schedule tab and the
' parameters on the Configure Quotes tab. If either changes, it should be revisited.
Public Function GenerateVesselScheduleHelper(ByVal schedule As String, ByRef VesselCount As Long) As String
Dim value As String, nextline As String
Dim numInfo As Long, iRow As Long, iCol As Long
Dim Inclusions() As Boolean, Columns() As Long
'Gather info about vessel info to display in the schedule
With Booking.Range("VesselInfoToInclude")
numInfo = Booking.Range(.Cells(1, 1), .End(xlToRight)).Columns.Count - 1
ReDim Inclusions(1 To numInfo)
ReDim Columns(1 To numInfo)
On Error Resume Next 'Some columns won't be identified
For iCol = 1 To numInfo
Inclusions(iCol) = .Offset(0, iCol) = "Yes"
Columns(iCol) = sumSchedVessels.Range(schedule).Cells(1).EntireRow.Find(.Offset(-1, iCol)).Column
Next iCol
On Error GoTo 0
End With
'Build the schedule
With sumSchedVessels.Range(schedule)
For iRow = .row + 1 To .row + .Rows.Count - 1
If Len(sumSchedVessels.Cells(iRow, Columns(1)).value) > 0 Then
VesselCount = VesselCount + 1
value = value & VesselCount & "." & vbTab
nextline = vbNullString
'Add each property that was included to the description string
If Inclusions(1) Then nextline = nextline & sumSchedVessels.Cells(iRow, Columns(1)) & vbTab
If Inclusions(2) Then nextline = nextline & "Built: " & sumSchedVessels.Cells(iRow, Columns(2)) & vbTab
If Inclusions(3) Then nextline = nextline & "Length: " & _
Format(sumSchedVessels.Cells(iRow, Columns(3)), "#'") & vbTab
If Inclusions(4) Then nextline = nextline & "" & sumSchedVessels.Cells(iRow, Columns(4)) & vbTab
If Inclusions(5) Then nextline = nextline & "Hull Value: " & _
Format(sumSchedVessels.Cells(iRow, Columns(5)), "$#,##0") & vbTab
If Inclusions(6) Then nextline = nextline & "IV: " & _
Format(sumSchedVessels.Cells(iRow, Columns(6)), "$#,##0") & vbTab
If Inclusions(7) Then nextline = nextline & "TIV: " & _
Format(sumSchedVessels.Cells(iRow, Columns(7)), "$#,##0") & vbTab
If Inclusions(8) And schedule = "CharteredVessels" Then _
nextline = nextline & "Deductible: " & Format(bmCharterers.Range(schedule).Cells( _
iRow - .row, 9), "$#,##0") & vbTab
nextline = Left(nextline, Len(nextline) - 1) 'Remove the trailing tab
'If more than 4 properties were included insert a new line after the 4th one
Dim tabloc As Long: tabloc = 0
Dim counter As Long: counter = 0
Do
tabloc = tabloc + 1
tabloc = InStr(tabloc, nextline, vbTab)
If tabloc > 0 Then counter = counter + 1
Loop While tabloc > 0 And counter < 4
If counter = 4 Then nextline = Left(nextline, tabloc - 1) & vbNewLine & Mid(nextline, tabloc)
value = value & nextline & vbNewLine
End If
Next iRow
End With
GenerateVesselScheduleHelper = value
End Function
the resulting string can be used just like the contents of any excel cell, and passed to the replacement function, which will appropriately use the clipboard method if it exceeds 255 characters.
So this template:
Plus this spreadsheet data:
Becomes this document:
I sincerely hope that this helps someone out some day. It was definitely a huge undertaking and a complex wheel to have to re-invent. The application is huge, with over 50,000 lines of VBA code, so if I've referenced a crucial method in my code somewhere that someone needs, please leave a comment and I'll add it in here.
http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=224 Describes the use of Word bookmarks
A section of text in a document can be bookmarked, and given a variable name. Using VBA, this variable can be accessed and the content in the document can be replaced with alternate content. This is a solution to having placeholders such as Name and Address in the document.
Furthermore, using bookmarks, documents can be modified to reference bookmarked text. If a name appears several times throughout a document, the first instance can be bookmarked, and additional instances can reference the bookmark. Now when the first instance is programatically changed, all other instances of the variable throughout the document are also automatically changed.
Now all that's needed is to update all the documents by bookmarking the placeholder text and using a consistent naming convention throughout the documents, then iterate through each documents replacing the bookmark if it exists:
document.Bookmarks("myBookmark").Range.Text = "Inserted Text"
I can probably solve the problem of variables that don't appear in a given document using the on error resume next clause before attempting each replacement.
Thanks to Doug Glancy for mentioning the existance of bookmarks in his comment. I had no knowledge of their existence beforehand. I will keep this topic posted on whether this solution suffices.
You might consider an XML based approach.
Word has a feature called Custom XML data-binding, or data-bound content controls. A content control is essentially a point in the document which can contain content. A "data-bound" content control gets its content from an XML document you include in the docx zip file. An XPath expression is used to say which bit of XML. So all you need to do is include your XML file, and Word will do the rest.
Excel has ways to get data out of it as XML, so the whole solution should work nicely.
There is plenty of information on content control data-binding on MSDN (some of which has been referenced in earlier SO questions) so I won't bother including them here.
But you do need a way of setting up the bindings. You can either use the Content Control Toolkit, or if you want to do it from within Word, my OpenDoPE add-in.
Having done a similar task I found that inserting values into tables was much quicker than searching for named tags - the data can then be inserted like this:
With oDoc.Tables(5)
For i = 0 To Data.InvoiceDictionary.Count - 1
If i > 0 Then
oDoc.Tables(5).rows.Add
End If
Set invoice = Data.InvoiceDictionary.Items(i)
.Cell(i + 2, 1).Range.Text = invoice.InvoiceCCNumber
.Cell(i + 2, 2).Range.Text = invoice.InvoiceDate
.Cell(i + 2, 3).Range.Text = invoice.TransactionType
.Cell(i + 2, 4).Range.Text = invoice.Description
.Cell(i + 2, 5).Range.Text = invoice.SumOfValue
Next i
.Cell(i + 1, 4).Range.Text = "Total:"
End With
in this case row 1 of the table was the headers; row 2 was empty and there were no further rows - thus the rows.add applies once more than one row was attached. The tables can be very detailed documents and by hiding the borders and cell borders can be made to look like ordinary text. Tables are numbered sequentially following the document flow. (i.e. Doc.Tables(1) is the first table...