How do you save data input into a macro so that the input form can be populated with the data next time it runs? - vba

Question

I need to save data that was input into a Microsoft Word form in VBA after the macro terminates. I have a form that has about 40 fields with names, addresses, phone numbers etc and I don't want the user to have to input everything again in case they realize that they made a mistake and need to change 1 item. Currently, the macro deletes all the data that was input into the form when the form closes.
I've looked around on forums and Google but haven't had any luck.
This code brings up my input form from a word document with a command button:
Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()
InputForm.Show vbModeless
End Sub
This code closes the form:
Private Sub CloseForm_Click()
Dim Closing As Integer
Closing = MsgBox("This will exit the form and erase all the data that has been input. You may want to review the documents to ensure they were generated correctly before closing the form. Click Yes to proceed to close the form or No to go back to the form.", vbYesNo + vbQuestion, "Exit Confirmation")
If Closing = vbYes Then
Unload InputForm 'This closes the Input Form and returns the user to Word
End If
End Sub
The macro does not save the information input into the form. Whenever it closes, all the information is erased; I want it saved.

Answer 1

Options for saving data in the document
Document.Variables This has been available in Word since the very early days and is available in all versions since Word 2.0 (early 1990s). It's simply a place to store any number of strings, associated with an identifier (name). In essence, a key-value pair. Important to note: It must be a pair, there cannot be a key without a value and a value cannot be a zero-length string. Assigning a value to a name creates the Variable; deleting the value removes the Variable. These are not visible to the user.
Example:
Document.Variables("Name").Value = "John Doe"
Document.CustomDocumentProperties Similar to Variables but data-types other than strings are available. There is a limit to the length of the data that can be stored. They are visible to the user through the "Properties" interface. They must be explicitly created / destroyed. This was introduced in, I believe, Word 97.
Example:
Document.CustomDocumentProperties.Add(Name As String, LinkToContent As Boolean, _
[Type], [Value], [LinkSource])
CustomXMLParts These are XML "pages" saved in the docx zip package. This is a good way to save data, and it's easily accessible from the closed file. The capability was introduced in Word 2010, so won't be available in older versions nor in doc file formats, only docx.
The coding is more complex than for Variables or Properties.
The usual way to work with this in the described scenario is to create the CustomXMLPart in the document (or template - documents created from the template should carry over the CXP). Then all the code needs to do is read/write from the xml nodes already available. If the VBA coder has no background in XML parsing there will be a steep learning curve.
There are many ways to go about reading and writing, here's a snippet that demonstrates the basics of reading, to give an idea of what's involved:
Sub ReadCXP()
Dim cxp As Office.CustomXMLPart, CXPs As Office.CustomXMLParts
Dim doc As Word.Document
Dim sUri As String
Set doc = ActiveDocument
'object, not collection, because ID is unique and can return only one
'ID is unique to each CustomXMLPart - this is won't work as it stands!
Set cxp = doc.CustomXMLParts.SelectByID("{32B20BB8-F4FB-47D6-9DF4-FFAF5A1D8C18}")
Dim xmlNds As Office.CustomXMLNodes
Dim xmlNd As Office.CustomXMLNode
Set xmlNds = cxp.SelectSingleNode("trees").ChildNodes
For Each xmlNd In xmlNds
Debug.Print xmlNd.XML
Next
End Sub