VBA to insert reference page into MS word endnote - vba

Question

Book endnotes often forgo superscript numbers for page numbers. E.g., instead of
Abe Lincoln was assassinated with a pistol.^33
:
33. A single-shot derringer pistol.
books by several authors write
Abe Lincoln was assassinated with a pistol.
:
Page 297. Abe Lincoln was shot single-shot derringer pistol.
Word doesn't have this feature, so I believe it would have to be a Macro. I came up with simple code below that loops through all of the endnotes and adds
"Page ???. "
before each endnote, but what does "???" need to be to correctly insert the page number in my manuscript that the citation's located on?
Sub RedefineExistingEndNotes()
Dim fn As Endnote
For Each fn In ActiveDocument.Endnotes
fn.Range.Paragraphs(1).Range.Font.Reset
fn.Range.Paragraphs(1).Range.Characters(1).InsertBefore "Page" & "???" & " - "
Next fn
End Sub

Answer 1

Try the below VBA code:
Sub InsertPageNumberForEndnotes()
Dim endNoteCount As Integer
Dim curPageNumber As Integer
If ActiveDocument.Endnotes.Count > 0 Then
For endNoteCount = 1 To ActiveDocument.Endnotes.Count
Selection.GoTo What:=wdGoToEndnote, Which:=wdGoToAbsolute, Count:=endNoteCount
curPageNumber = Selection.Information(wdActiveEndPageNumber)
ActiveDocument.Endnotes(endNoteCount).Range.Select
ActiveDocument.Application.Selection.Collapse (WdCollapseDirection.wdCollapseStart)
ActiveDocument.Application.Selection.Paragraphs(1).Range.Characters(1).InsertBefore "Page " & CStr(curPageNumber) & " - "
Next
End If
End Sub

Answer 2

An alternative might be to use PAGEREF fields and hide the endnote references, e.g.
Sub modifyEndNotes()
Const bookmarkText As String = "endnote"
Dim en As Word.Endnote
Dim rng As Word.Range
For Each en In ActiveDocument.Endnotes
en.Reference.Bookmarks.Add bookmarkText & en.Index
en.Reference.Font.Hidden = True
Set rng = en.Range
rng.Paragraphs(1).Range.Font.Hidden = True
rng.Collapse WdCollapseDirection.wdCollapseStart
rng.Text = "Page . "
rng.SetRange rng.End - 2, rng.End - 2
rng.Fields.Add rng, WdFieldType.wdFieldEmpty, "PAGEREF " & bookmarkText & en.Index & " \h", False
'if necessary...
'rng.Fields.Update
en.Range.Font.Hidden = False
Next
Set rng = Nothing
End Sub
For a second run, you'd need to remove and re-insert the text and fields you had added.
Unfortunately, a further look suggests that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to hide the endnote references (in the endnotes themselves) without hiding the paragraph marker at the end of the first endnote para, which means that all the endnotes will end up looking like a single messy note. So I deleted this Answer.
However, the OP thought the approach could be modified in a useful way so I have undeleted. I can't re-research it right away but some possibilities might be to replace every endnote mark by a bullet (as suggested by the OP) or perhaps even something as simple as a space or a "-".
For example, something like this (which also hides the references using a different technique)...
Sub modifyEndNotes2()
' this version also formats the endnotes under page headings
Const bookmarkText As String = "endnote"
Dim en As Word.Endnote
Dim f As Word.Field
Dim i As Integer
Dim rng As Word.Range
Dim strSavedPage As String
strSavedPage = ""
For Each en In ActiveDocument.Endnotes
en.Reference.Bookmarks.Add bookmarkText & en.Index
Set rng = en.Range
rng.Collapse WdCollapseDirection.wdCollapseStart
If CStr(en.Reference.Information(wdActiveEndPageNumber)) <> strSavedPage Then
strSavedPage = CStr(en.Reference.Information(wdActiveEndPageNumber))
rng.Text = "Page :-" & vbCr & " - "
rng.SetRange rng.End - 6, rng.End - 6
rng.Fields.Add rng, WdFieldType.wdFieldEmpty, "PAGEREF " & bookmarkText & en.Index & " \h", False
rng.Collapse WdCollapseDirection.wdCollapseEnd
Else
rng.Text = "- "
End If
Next
If ActiveDocument.Endnotes.Count > 1 Then
ActiveDocument.Styles(wdStyleEndnoteReference).Font.Hidden = True
Else
ActiveDocument.Styles(wdStyleEndnoteReference).Font.Hidden = False
End If
Set rng = Nothing
End Sub
In the above case, notice that there is only one link to each page, that formatting might be needed to make it obvious that it is a link, and so on.