Iterate through paragraphs and trim spaces in MS Word - vba

Question

I need to create a macros which removes whitespaces and indent before all paragraphs in the active MS Word document. I've tried following:
For Each p In ActiveDocument.Paragraphs
p.Range.Text = Trim(p.range.Text)
Next p
which sets macros into eternal loop. If I try to assign string literal to the paragraphs, vba always creates only 1 paragraph:
For Each p In ActiveDocument.Paragraphs
p.Range.Text = "test"
Next p
I think I have a general misconception about paragraph object. I would appreciate any enlightment on the subject.

Answer 1

The reason the code in the question is looping is because replacing one paragraph with the processed (trimmed) text is changing the paragraphs collection. So the code will continually process the same paragraph at some point.
This is normal behavior with objects that are getting deleted and recreated "behind the scenes". The way to work around it is to loop the collection from the end to the front:
For i = ActiveDocument.Paragraphs.Count To 1 Step -1
Set p = ActiveDocument.Paragraphs(i)
p.Range.Text = Trim(p.Range.Text)
Next
That said, if the paragraphs in the document contain any formatting this will be lost. String processing does not retain formatting.
An alternative would be to check the first character of each paragraph for the kinds of characters you consider to be "white space". If present, extend the range until no more of these characters are detected, and delete. That will leave the formatting intact. (Since this does not change the entire paragraph a "normal" loop works.)
Sub TestTrimParas()
Dim p As Word.Paragraph
Dim i As Long
Dim rng As Word.Range
For Each p In ActiveDocument.Paragraphs
Set rng = p.Range.Characters.First
'Test for a space or TAB character
If rng.Text = " " Or rng.Text = Chr(9) Then
i = rng.MoveEndWhile(" " + Chr(9))
Debug.Print i
rng.Delete
End If
Next p
End Sub

Answer 2

You could, of course, do this in a fraction of the time without a loop, using nothing fancier than Find/Replace. For example:
Find = ^p^w
Replace = ^p
and
Find = ^w^p
Replace = ^p
As a macro this becomes:
Sub Demo()
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
With ActiveDocument.Range
.InsertBefore vbCr
With .Find
.ClearFormatting
.Replacement.ClearFormatting
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.Text = "^p^w"
.Replacement.Text = "^p"
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "^w^p"
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End With
.Characters.First.Text = vbNullString
End With
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub
Note also that trimming text the way you're doing is liable to destroy all intra-paragraph formatting, cross-reference fields, and the like; it also won't change indents. Indents can be removed by selecting the entire document and changing the paragraph format; better still, modify the underlying Styles (assuming they've been used correctly).

Answer 3

Entering "eternal" loop is a bit unpleasant. Only Chuck Norris can exit one. Anyway, try to make a check before trimming and it will not enter:
Sub TestMe()
Dim p As Paragraph
For Each p In ThisDocument.Paragraphs
If p.Range <> Trim(p.Range) Then p.Range = Trim(p.Range)
Next p
End Sub

Answer 4

As has been said by #Cindy Meister, I need to prevent endless creation of another paragraphs by trimming them. I bear in mind that paragraph range contains at least 1 character, so processing range - 1 character would be safe. Following has worked for me
Sub ProcessParagraphs()
Set docContent = ActiveDocument.Content
' replace TAB symbols throughout the document to single space (trim does not remove TAB)
docContent.Find.Execute FindText:=vbTab, ReplaceWith:=" ", Replace:=wdReplaceAll
For Each p In ActiveDocument.Paragraphs
' delete empty paragraph (delete operation is safe, we cannot enter enternal loop here)
If Len(p.range.Text) = 1 Then
p.range.Delete
' remove whitespaces
Else
Set thisRg = p.range
' shrink range by 1 character
thisRg.MoveEnd wdCharacter, -1
thisRg.Text = Trim(thisRg.Text)
End If
p.LeftIndent = 0
p.FirstLineIndent = 0
p.Reset
p.range.Font.Reset
Next
With Selection
.ClearFormatting
End With
End Sub

Answer 5

I saw a number of solutions here are what worked for me. Note I turn off track changes and then revert back to original document tracking status.
I hope this helps some.
Option Explicit
Public Function TrimParagraphSpaces()
Dim TrackChangeStatus: TrackChangeStatus = ActiveDocument.TrackRevisions
ActiveDocument.TrackRevisions = False
Dim oPara As Paragraph
For Each oPara In ActiveDocument.StoryRanges(wdMainTextStory).Paragraphs
Dim oRange As Range: Set oRange = oPara.Range
Dim endRange, startRange As Range
Set startRange = oRange.Characters.First
Do While (startRange = Space(1))
startRange.Delete 'Remove last space in each paragraphs
Set startRange = oRange.Characters.First
Loop
Set endRange = oRange
' NOTE: for end range must select the before last characted. endRange.characters.Last returns the chr(13) return
endRange.SetRange Start:=oRange.End - 2, End:=oRange.End - 1
Do While (endRange = Space(1))
'endRange.Delete 'NOTE delete somehow does not work for the last paragraph
endRange.Text = "" 'Remove last space in each paragraphs
Set endRange = oPara.Range
endRange.SetRange Start:=oRange.End - 1, End:=oRange.End
Loop
Next
ActiveDocument.TrackRevisions = TrackChangeStatus
End Function