VBA loop for calling files in a folder - vba

Question

I'm trying to create a macro which compares text files. However, I need a loop to compare all the files within a folder.
The macro I have now only compares between template1 and spool1 for example.
I need a loop that compares template1 with spool1.. template2 with spool2 etc. Any idea on how to do so?
I think I have to add the files into a collection first and then call it.. I'm not sure though.
Here's my codes
ChangeFileOpenDirectory "D:\Users\tmp4jj\Desktop\ComparisonTool\"
Dim template1 As Word.Document
Dim spool1 As Word.Document
Set template1 = Documents.Open("D:\Users\tmp4jj\Desktop\ComparisonTool\template1.docx")
Set spool1 = Documents.Open("D:\Users\tmp4jj\Desktop\ComparisonTool\spool1.txt")
Application.CompareDocuments OriginalDocument:=Documents("template1.docx") _
, RevisedDocument:=Documents("spool1.txt"), Destination:= _
wdCompareDestinationNew, Granularity:=wdGranularityWordLevel, _
CompareFormatting:=False, CompareCaseChanges:=True, CompareWhitespace:= _
False, CompareTables:=True, CompareHeaders:=True, CompareFootnotes:=True, _
CompareTextboxes:=True, CompareFields:=True, CompareComments:=True, _
CompareMoves:=False, RevisedAuthor:="UOB", IgnoreAllComparisonWarnings:= _
False
Thanks in advance as I'm very new to coding!

Answer 1

If the filenames always correspond, you can use the Dir$() function with a wildcard to find one or the other of the pair, then build the other filename out of the result. Dir$() returns the next result on subsequent calls, and then an empty String when all the files have been returned. This makes it easy to build a loop around:
ChangeFileOpenDirectory "D:\...\ComparisonTool\"
Dim template_doc As Word.Document
Dim spool_doc As Word.Document
Dim spool As String
Dim templ As String
spool = Dir$("D:\...\ComparisonTool\spool*.txt")
Do While spool <> vbNullString
templ = "template" & Left$(Left$(Right$(spool, Len(spool) - 5), _
Len(spool) - 4), Len(spool) - 9) & ".docx"
Set template_doc = Documents.Open("D:\...\ComparisonTool\" & templ)
Set spool_doc = Documents.Open("D:\...\ComparisonTool\" & spool)
Application.CompareDocuments OriginalDocument:=Documents(templ) _
, RevisedDocument:=Documents(spool), Destination:= _
wdCompareDestinationNew, Granularity:=wdGranularityWordLevel, _
CompareFormatting:=False, CompareCaseChanges:=True, _
CompareWhitespace:=False, CompareTables:=True, CompareHeaders:=True, _
CompareFootnotes:=True, CompareTextboxes:=True, CompareFields:=True, _
CompareComments:=True, CompareMoves:=False, RevisedAuthor:="UOB", _
IgnoreAllComparisonWarnings:=False
spool = Dir$
Loop
NOTE: I shortened the directory names to get rid of the side scrolling - you'll need to replace them with the actual directory path.