Delete or reset values for all custom document properties

[Eric F.]

As part of an automated document cleanup process, I created a VBA userform
that lets the user select up to 14 kinds of things to be removed from a Word
document (tracked changes, comments, hidden text, etc.) This is kind of an
ersatz Remove Hidden Data tool.

I would like to be able to include in this form the option to remove any
custom document properties that have been set in a Word document before we
send the document outside the office. We sometimes send many dozens of files
at once and each may have many custom document properties set for it. We have
received files from outside the office that contained custom document
properties that I know the sender would not have wanted us to see and I want
to make sure we avoid that same problem.

The problem is I can't find a way to automatically remove all custom
properties. These can be of two kinds: the custom document properties that
are already in the document (from the template - I can manually delete the
value but the name remains) and those created by document users (I can
manually delete both the property name and the value for these). While it is
quite easy to add new custom document properties and property values with
VBA, I cannot find a way to automatically delete all custom document
properties or their values. I can automatically remove the values for those
custom document properties that are in the template (since I know each
property's name) but I cannot find a way to delete or at least remove the
value for a custom property created by a user. It would be sufficient for me
to reset the value of a user-created custom document property to no data or a
space or some other text, but I have been unable to get anything to work.
Although just removing the value might leave the user-created custom property
name visible in the document properties, at least the value would be gone. At
this point, I don't need to choose to keep any custom document properties. It
appears that it will be sufficient to just remove all and I don't need the
option to preserve some of the custom properties for the files we send out. I
have searched several groups and through the VBA help but can't find a
solution. I would appreciate help with some VBA code that would handle all
the custom document properties. Thanks.

 

[Greg Maxey]

Sub ScratchMacro1()
'This will delete user added Custom Properties and set the value of built-in
'Custom Properties to nothing
Dim oProp As DocumentProperty
For Each oProp In ActiveDocument.CustomDocumentProperties
MsgBox oProp.Name
MsgBox oProp.Value
oProp.Delete
Next
End Sub


I wouldn't mind seeing that UserForm.

 

[Eric F.]

Thanks for the quick reply. It works well. I am teaching myself VBA and have
quite a ways to go.

I can send you the UserForm. It is pretty basic and I am sure the underlying
code could be much more efficient. The UserForm currently has 14 check boxes
with most pre-checked. I have buttons to select all, select none, or reset to
the default selections as well as "OK" and "Cancel." The OK button executes
separate macros based on which checkboxes are selected. I wrote some of the
macros but most of the macros are ones I have found on this site, the Word
MVP site, Microsoft's knowledgebase, and other forums/groups. I believe
several of the macros have code that originally came from you. I have tweaked
some of the macros I have found to get functionality I thought I wanted. Many
of the items are ones identified by Microsoft in the "How to minimize
metadata in Word 2003" knowledgebase article
<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/825576/en-us>. Other items just came from
observing how people edit documents (like using highlighting and different
font colors to "comment" on something).

The current options are: clear Routing Slip info, turn Track Changes off,
delete any Versions, turn off FastSave, unlink field links, reset the
template to normal.dot, accept tracked changes and delete comments and ink
annotations, delete hidden text, clear any search entries, Microsoft's Remove
Personal information, remove hyperlinks, delete document variables, clear
highlighting, and set font color to black. I may add a couple more items and
may add in things like asking the user if they want to start out with a "save
as" and if the want to make the document read-only and password protected. I
would certainly be open to any suggestions that anyone might have.

Again, thanks Greg.

Eric F.

 

[Greg Maxey]

Yes, I would like to see what you have done.