Word VBA Getting page number of a specific footer in section - vba

Question

Couldn't find the answer I was looking for.
I want to get the current page number String including its format.
For example: Some sections may have chapter identifier (1-1), some are in Roman style, etc..
My hope was to get the selection of the specific footer, then loop through the fields and get the Page field data (Output is the String I want).
So far as I can see, there is no option to loop through the footers of a given section, just get the general template and try working with it.
I'm aware of wdActiveEndAdjustedPageNumber from Selection.Range.Information, but it just gives me partial information.
Am I wrong? Is there a way to work with a specific footer I choose?
If not, can you guide me how to get the following data:
Closest chapter number value
Getting the page number value of a special format such as Roman, Alphabetical font (Meaning applying the page format on the wdActiveEndAdjustedPageNumber)
Thanks.
Edit for clarification:
In my word template, the Heading 1 style creates the following header: Chapter 1, followed by Chapter 2 and so on.
In page number format, there is an option to include the current Chapter value to the page number.
For example: Assuming the following setup
will result with these pages in the { PAGE } field: 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, ...
My goal is to somehow get this entire "value" for a specific page footer.
Here is a code snippet which won't work properly:
Sub getPageFieldInFooter()
' get current section number
Dim sectionNum As Integer
sectionNum = Selection.Range.Information(wdActiveEndSectionNumber)
'select first page footer, loop through its fields and find Page field
ActiveDocument.Sections(sectionNum).Footers(wdHeaderFooterPrimary).Range.Select
Dim f As Field
For Each f In Selection.Fields
If f.Type = wdFieldPage Then
' do something with the page data
MsgBox f.Data
End If
Next f
End Sub
The output of such a method is '1-1'
The reason it won't work is because it can retrieve the first page only (or the second using wdHeaderFooterEvenPages).
Same goes for Roman number format, or any other from that list.
For the following page number settings, I wish to get the "value" in a specific footer.
The code above will return the values for first or second page, and that's it.
Is there a way to access any footer in the document and perform my code example?
If not, how can I get the page number "value" for any footer I choose?
Hope this is clearer.

Answer 1

The following is working for me, although I'm not certain how reliable it is. Apparently, if I query the Footer (or Header) of the current selection in the document it will return the information for the Footer (or Header) of that page.
Things get very complicated as soon as you start working with multiple sections and Different First Page. I've done some testing for that in the code below, but I wouldn't swear it's "production code". However, it should give you a starting place.
Sub GetFormattedPageNumberFromSelection()
Dim sel As word.Selection
Dim sec As word.Section
Dim r As word.Range, rOriginal As word.Range
Dim fld As word.Field
Dim secCurrIndex As Long
Dim sNoPageNumber As String
Set sel = Selection
If Not sel.InRange(sel.Document.content) Then Exit Sub
Set sec = sel.Sections(1)
If Not sec.Footers(wdHeaderFooterFirstPage).exists Then
Set r = sec.Footers(wdHeaderFooterPrimary).Range
Else
Set r = sel.Range
Set rOriginal = r.Duplicate
secCurrIndex = sec.index
If secCurrIndex <> 1 Then
sel.GoToPrevious wdGoToPage
If sel.Sections(1).index = secCurrIndex Then
Set r = sec.Footers(wdHeaderFooterPrimary).Range
Else
Set r = sec.Footers(wdHeaderFooterFirstPage).Range
End If
rOriginal.Select 'return to original selection
ElseIf r.Information(wdActiveEndPageNumber) = 1 Then
Set r = sec.Footers(wdHeaderFooterFirstPage).Range
Else
Set r = sec.Footers(wdHeaderFooterPrimary).Range
End If
End If
For Each fld In r.Fields
sNoPageNumber = "No page number"
If fld.Type = wdFieldPage Then
Debug.Print fld.result
sNoPageNumber = ""
Exit For
End If
Next
If Len(sNoPageNumber) > 0 Then Debug.Print sNoPageNumber
End Sub

Answer 2

...and sometimes we don't see the simplest way.
Insert a Page field at the current selection, read the result, then delete it again:
Sub GetFormattedPageNumberFromSelection2()
Dim rng As word.Range
Dim fld As word.Field
Set rng = Selection.Range
Set fld = rng.Fields.Add(rng, wdFieldPage)
Debug.Print fld.result
fld.Delete
End Sub

Answer 3

What you haven't told us is how you're 'choosing' the page you want the reference for. Assuming it's based in whatever page is selected/displayed, you could use something like the following for a page header:
Sub Demo()
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Dim Rng As Range, Fld As Field
ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.SeekView = wdSeekCurrentPageHeader
For Each Fld In Selection.HeaderFooter.Range.Fields
If Fld.Type = wdFieldPage Then
MsgBox Fld.Result
Exit For
End If
Next
ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.SeekView = wdSeekMainDocument
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub
Unfortunately, wdSeekCurrentPageFooter returns the next page's footer!, so you can't use that for the current footer. The following, however, should work wherever the PAGE # field is located:
Sub Demo()
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Dim i As Long, Fld As Field, bExit As Boolean: bExit = False
With ActiveWindow.ActivePane.Pages(Selection.Information(wdActiveEndAdjustedPageNumber))
For i = 1 To .Rectangles.Count
With .Rectangles(i).Range
For Each Fld In .Fields
If Fld.Type = wdFieldPage Then
MsgBox Fld.Result
bExit = True: Exit For
End If
Next
End With
If bExit = True Then Exit For
Next
End With
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub