Q184050: WD97: Assigned Selected Adjacent Text Variable Doubles

Article: Q184050
Product(s): Word 97 for Windows
Version(s): WINDOWS:97
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbdta kbconversion WordCon kbmacroexample kbwordvba kbconvert KbVBA
Last Modified: 31-JUL-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Word 97 for Windows 
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SYMPTOMS
========

In Microsoft Word, when you create a macro to select adjacent text from left to
right and then assign the selections to two different variables, if you then set
the first variable to be equal to the value of the second variable, you may
receive unexpected results. Specifically, the value of the second variable will
be twice as many words as what you expect.

For example, take the phrase "We are testing some text." If you use the following
code to assign the second word to the variable oSelection and the third word to
oSelection2, and if you then look at the value of the oSelection2 variable after
the assignment statement, the value is "testing testing."

Sample Macro
------------

      Sub SelctionAssign()

        ActiveDocument.Content = "We are testing some text in a selection."

        Set oSelection = ActiveDocument.Content.Words(2)
        Set oSelection2 = ActiveDocument.Content.Words(3)

        MsgBox "Selection one = " & oSelection.Text & Chr(13) & _
        "Selection two = " & oSelection2.Text, Title:="Before Assigning"

        oSelection.Text = oSelection2.Text

        MsgBox "Selection one = " & oSelection.Text & Chr(13) & _
        "Selection two = " & oSelection2.Text, Title:="After Assigning"

     End Sub

If you run this macro, the message box shows that the second variable oSelection2
takes the value "testing testing." This is an order and position issue: if you
select word three and then word two, or if you select word two and then word
four, this problem will not occur.

CAUSE
=====

This behavior is by design of Microsoft Word. If you have a selection, and if
you insert text to the left of the first character, that text becomes part of
the selection. To see how Word adjusts selections, follow these steps:

1. Open a new document.

2. Type "sample text" (without the quotation marks), and then select it.

3. On the Window menu, click New Window.

4. At the beginning of "sample text," type "IP" (without the quotation marks)
  and then type any text.

5. Switch to the first window.

6. Whatever you typed plus sample text is selected.

The sample macro in this article simulates this type of behavior in code.

REFERENCES
==========

For more information about getting help with Visual Basic for Applications,
please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q163435 VBA: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for Applications

Additional query words:

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Keywords          : kbdta kbconversion WordCon kbmacroexample kbwordvba kbconvert KbVBA 
Technology        : kbWordSearch kbWord97 kbWord97Search kbZNotKeyword2
Version           : WINDOWS:97
Issue type        : kbprb

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