I have a Word document that uses VBA forms to generate the document content based on selection boxes. The VBA copies and pastes from other word documents into the main document. I use explicit paths to specify where it should go find the word documents.
It would be nice to use UNC paths instead, to remove some of the "explicitness" of the file locations (c:\Files\Example\Content\PROFILE.docx) and maybe replace it with something like "..\Content\Profile.docx "
Example of the code:
Sub GenerateProfile()
Dim currentPathProfile As String
currentPathProfileText = ActiveDocument.Path
currentPathProfileText = currentPathProfileText & "c:\Files\Example\Content\PROFILE.docx"
Documents.Open FileName:=currentPathProfileText
Dim currentPathProfileDoc As Document
Set currentPathProfileDoc = Documents(1)
currentPathProfileDoc.Activate
Call CopyWholeContent
currentPathProfileDoc.Close
Call PasteWholeContent
End Sub
If the other word documents are in a relative path position to the template holding the code you can do it. It is easier if they are in a subfolder. Generate the path of ThisDocument (your code holder) and use that as a base.
ThisDocument.Path
However, rather than pull from documents, why not have the text stored in your template in the form of AutoText and use that instead? If the information is needed in more than one template, it can be stored in a global template as AutoText. This is much more flexible and less prone to problems, IMO.
Related
Consider VBA for PowerPoint -
Is this a valid Presentations function call?
Presentations(".\directory\ppname.ppt")
Note that this will be called from within a PowerPoint presentation VBA, to open another one in a sub-directory.
The Microsoft Presentations examples (and most others) are not specific about the filename forms accepted, e.g. those using the ".", "..", "\" directives recognized in DOS scripts.
This seems to work with Powerpoint 2007.
As described in the comment, it takes a block of text (the TextRange), the starting position and length of file reference, also a LinkAddr. LinkAddr is essentially a DOS-style file reference, like "..\folder\ppfile.ppt".
The intention here is to launch another PowerPoint tool by invoking its show.ppt or show.ppsm file name. The file name can refer to some other directory using MSDOS file name stuff. I don't know whether it can span different machine platforms, but it seems to work within one Windows 10 system.
My difficulty in getting this to work was some full-path links to images, e.g. something like C:\blah\blah\image.jpg, in the Visual Basic code. PowerPoint didn't like these, instead asked about enabling macros, and just hung up when one of my file links were to be executed. By getting rid of the "macro" complaints, this suddenly started working.
Or maybe some bugs have been fixed in recent repairs to my 2007 PowerPoint tools??
Go figure...
Sub InsertLink(ByRef Trange As TextRange, fpos As Long, msglen As Long, LinkAddr As String)
' Insert an HTML link into the selected TextFrame.
' get the character range
Dim Hrange As TextRange
Set Hrange = Trange.Characters(Start:=fpos, length:=msglen)
' make it an HTML link
With Hrange.ActionSettings(ppMouseClick)
.Action = ppActionHyperlink
.Hyperlink.Address = LinkAddr
End With
End Sub
So my challange is this.
I've created a Word Macro Enabled Template (MS Word 2016) which creates a document using the MailMerge function using data from an Excel file which colleagues complete.
Once completed, they add in their signature - a scanned jpeg file of their signature from a central network.
My code worked on the principle of attaching to a bookmark, unbeknown to me that when executing a MailMerge, it removes all bookmarks.
I am thinking that if I can change my code after ActiveDocument so that instead of looking for Bookmark it looks for specific text, I can then insert this text in the specific place in the Word template so when the MailMerge is executed it places their signature in that specific [text] place.
Is this possible?
Thanks in advance.
My code is
Sub CurrentUserSignature()
Dim folder As String
folder = "C:\\MacroTemp\\"
Dim path As String
path = folder & Application.UserName & ".jpg"
Dim shape As InlineShape
Set shape = ActiveDocument.Bookmarks("Signature").Range.InlineShapes.AddPicture(path, False, True)
With shape
.LockAspectRatio = msoTrue
.Height = CentimetersToPoints(4.3)
End With
End Sub
`
You could simply insert a borderless single-cell table, a Rich Text Content Control, or a Picture Content Control at the desired location in the mailmerge main document, then access each of those in the output document. If you use a borderless single-cell table, you can give it a fixed height and width so the inserted image's size is automatically constrained to fit.
Where multiple output documents are being produced, each to be signed by the same person, you might do better to insert the signature into the mailmerge main document before execution, then close that without saving changes post-merge.
Alternatively, especially if different records require different signatures and the relevant details can be gleaned from the data source, you can add field coding to the mailmerge main document to automatically add the signature images. See Managing Mailmerge Graphics in the Mailmerge Tips and Tricks thread at:
http://www.msofficeforums.com/mail-merge/21803-mailmerge-tips-tricks.html
or:
http://windowssecrets.com/forums/showthread.php/163017-Word-Mailmerge-Tips-amp-Tricks
I just discovered that in MS Word it is possible to store a Variable in a MS Word File that can not be accessed through the regular interface when running Microsoft Word.
Sub SetMyVariable()
Dim VARNAME As String
VARNAME = "HiddenVar"
ActiveDocument.Variables.Add VARNAME, "My special info"
End Sub
This gets saved in the XML Schema under word\settings.xml
I have tried using the ThisWorkbook Object in Excel, but it doesn't seem to have a Variable object that can be added like in word.
I want to know if there is something similar in Excel to store information/varialbes that get saved with the file.
PS: the closest thing I can think of (and use in codig) is a hidden named range.
You can try with the CustomXMLParts property of the Workbook which from the link seems a generic feature of Office products and available in Excel. Given you noted that a user would have to manually inspect the XML within the unzipped xlsx files then this seems to map to the Word Variables feature. The code sample just substitutes ThisWorkbook for ActiveDocument:
Option Explicit
Sub TextXMLPart()
Dim objXMLPart As CustomXMLPart
'add
Set objXMLPart = ThisWorkbook.CustomXMLParts.Add("<foo>bar</foo>")
'inspect
For Each objXMLPart In ThisWorkbook.CustomXMLParts
Debug.Print objXMLPart.XML
Next objXMLPart
End Sub
The accepted answer to this question (which focuses on Excel and vsto) states that:
Custom XML parts For an application-level add in, this is my preferred method of storing any application data that needs to be persisted in a saved xls file without ever being visible to the user.
I'm trying to automate some report generation where Excel VBA is doing all the work. My employer has a standardized set of templates of which all documents are supposed to be generated from. I need to populate one of these templates from Excel VBA. The Word templates utilize VBA extensively.
This is (some of) my Excel VBA code:
Sub GenerateReport() ' (Tables, InputDataObj)
' code generating the WordApp object (works!)
WordApp.Documents.Add Template:="Brev.dot"
' Getting user information from Utilities.Userinfo macro in Document
Call WordApp.Run("Autoexec") ' generating a public variable
Call WordApp.Run("Utilities.UserInfo")
' more code
End sub
In the Word VBA Autoexec module, a public variable named user is defined and declared. The Userinfo sub from the Utilities module populates user. Both these routines are run without any complaints from VBA. I would then like to be able to access the user variable in my Excel VBA, but I get the following error
Compile Error: Variable not yet created in this context.
How can I access the Word VBA variable in Excel VBA? I thought it more or less was the same?
EDIT: the user variable is a user defined Type with only String attributes. Copying the Word VBA functions that populate the user variable is absolutely doable, just more work than I though was necessary...
In a Word module:
Public Function GetUserVariable() As String '// or whatever data type
GetUserVariable = user
End Function
In an Excel module:
myUser = WordApp.Run("GetUserVariable")
Alternatively, you could be able to replicate the variables value - as it's called user I suspect it is returning some information about a user, or author, of a document. In which case one of the following might be what you're after:
'// Username assigned to the application
MsgBox WordApp.UserName
'// Username defined by the system
MsgBox Environ$("USERNAME")
'// Name of the author of the file specified
MsgBox CreateObject("Shell.Application").Namespace("C:\Users\Documents").GetDetailsOf("MyDocument.doc", 9)
Another option - if you could only add a line of code to the Utilities.UserInfo sub (after setting your public variable):
ActiveDocument.Variables("var_user") = user
Then you could access it easily afterwards in Excel:
Sub GenerateReport() ' (Tables, InputDataObj)
' code generating the WordApp object (works!)
'I am assuming your WordApp object is public, as you don't declare it.
'Capture the new document object
Dim newdoc as Object
set newdoc = WordApp.Documents.Add(Template:="Brev.dot")
' Getting user information from Utilities.Userinfo macro in Document
Call WordApp.Run("Autoexec") ' generating a public variable
Call WordApp.Run("Utilities.UserInfo")
'Get and show the value of "user"
Dim user as String
user = newdoc.Variables("var_user")
msgbox, user
End Sub
This is assuming that useris a string.
EDIT: As it is a requirement to work only on the Excel VBA, I would definely try the approach suggested by Scott and MacroMan - replicating the same functionality of the Word macros in Excel - if possible.
I assume that you've already ruled out the possibility of using an edited copy of the original template, set in a public folder...
For the sake of completness, there is another possibility: actually it is possible to inject VBA code in a Word document without the VBProject Object Model, by "brute force". If you rename a Word document as a .zip file and open it, you will notice a \word\vbaProject.bin file in it. This file contains the VBA project for the document and, in principle, one could add or change VBA code by modifying or replacing it.
I did some tests transplanting code from one document to another by simply copying the vbaProject.bin file, and the concept works. If you are interested in learning more about this file, this topic could be of use.
Notice, however, that to do what you want with such a technique would be somewhat complex (it would involve, for starters, updating zip files from your Excel VBA), and would require a lot of experimentation to mitigate the risk of accidentally corrupting your files. Definetly not recommended if you are looking for an easy and simple solution - but it is possible.
I have several hundred .doc word documents to which I need to add a macro which runs when the .doc file is opened and creates a header for said document based on the file name. Is there a way to do this as a batch? I have been individually opening each document and going into visual basic --> Project --> This Document then inserting a .txt file which contains the code. Is there a fast way to do this for multiple documents?
As a learning exercise, put this into the "ThisDocument" part of Normal (the Normal.dot template) in the VBE
Open a word document and watch what happens.
I don't think you need to put your code in every single file, I think you should be OK with using the Document_Open event in Normal.dot.
Just make sure it shows up as a reference in your word documents that you open but I don't see why it wouldn't
If you absolutely need it in every file then it can be done but the problem is if you make one small change to the code, you have to go through all this again. The idea with code is to write it once, use it many times.
You can write VBA code that alters the VBA code in other documents, but you need to "Trust access to the VBA project object model" in the Trust Centre options. This could open you up to viral code if you download Word documents with malicious VBA code in them. What you want to do, essentially, is write a VBA virus. There are legitimate reasons for doing this, and also malicious ones, I leave the ethics of the uses of these techniques up to the user. Knowledge itself is not malicious.
Here's the meat, you will need to write your own code to loop through the documents and possibly save them as .docm files.
Sub ReplaceCode()
Set oDoc = ActiveDocument
Set oComponents = oDoc.VBProject.VBComponents
For i = oComponents.Count To 1 Step -1
If oComponents(i).Type = 100 And oComponents(i).Name = "ThisDocument" Then
With oComponents(i).CodeModule
.DeleteLines 1, .CountOfLines
.AddFromFile "C:\ThisDocument.cls"
End With
End If
Next i
End Sub
Also, if you create your code file by exporting from VBA, you will need to remove this from the top of the .cls file:
VERSION 1.0 CLASS
BEGIN
MultiUse = -1 'True
END
Personally, I would drive this from Excel, maybe using a worksheet to hold a list of the files or locations to update, and another sheet for the code to populate with a list of files updated.