Discrepancy between VBA and Word interface

[larrysulky]

Me again, but different problem.

I have a macro that selects all of the paragraph where the cursor is,
except for the paragraph marker, and copies it into the Word clipboard.
(I know that I could monkey with the "Use smart paragraph selection"
setting, but I get more control over what's happening this way.)

I have another macro that selects the paragraph where the cursor is,
except for the paragraph marker, and pastes the Word clipboard in place
of it (this retains the style of the target paragraph). The macro then
re-applies the current style to remove any locally applied font -- in
other words, it ensures that the font of the target paragraph is what
the style says it should be.

These two macros together let me copy one paragraph over another,
keeping the contents of the source paragraph but the style of the
target paragraph.

Weirdness: If the source paragraph had some italic text in it, that
italicism is lost upon pasting. But if I undo one step, before the
style is re-applied, the italicism is restored. If I then apply the
current style via the Word style interface, the italicism is NOT lost.
Yet the VBA code was created basically by recording a macro of applying
the style via the interface!

Summary: Applying a style to a paragraph via a macro will wipe out
italics (and bold, I reckon) in the paragraph, but doing the same thing
via the Word interface (that was recorded to create the macro in the
first place) will NOT.

Any insights? I need to retain italic, bold, etc., but lose any
"on-a-whim" fonts.

Thanks --
--larry

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Sub ParaCopy()
On Error GoTo Error_Handler
Selection.MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
Selection.MoveUp Unit:=wdParagraph, Count:=1
Selection.MoveDown Unit:=wdParagraph, Count:=1, Extend:=wdExtend
Selection.MoveLeft Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1, Extend:=wdExtend
Selection.Copy
Error_Handler:
If Err.Number <> 0 Then
MsgBox Err.Description, vbExclamation, "ParaCopy"
End If
End Sub


Sub ParaPaste()
On Error GoTo Error_Handler
Dim myStyle As String
Selection.MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
Selection.MoveUp Unit:=wdParagraph, Count:=1
Selection.MoveDown Unit:=wdParagraph, Count:=1, Extend:=wdExtend
Selection.MoveLeft Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1, Extend:=wdExtend
Selection.Paste
myStyle = Selection.Style
' Selection.MoveLeft Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1 ' Doesn't help.
' Selection.MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1 ' Doesn't help!
' Selection.EndKey Unit:=wdLine ' Jeesh! Doesn't help!!
Selection.Style = ActiveDocument.Styles(myStyle)

Error_Handler:
If Err.Number <> 0 Then
MsgBox Err.Description, vbExclamation, "ParaPaste"
End If
End Sub

 

[larrysulky]

Sorry, I didn't make mention -- this solution has to work in Word 2000
and later. Hence some of the funny business in the macros about
selecting just the right bit. --larry

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi Larry

I need to retain italic, bold, etc., but lose any "on-a-whim" fonts.

The fundamental problem is that Word can't read your mind. It can't tell
whether italic or bold counts as "on-a-whim" formatting or not.

The general rule in the UI and also, as far as I know, in VBA is that if you
apply a paragraph style *to a paragraph* then direct formatting (like
italic) will be retained where it covers less than half the text in the
paragraph, and rejected when it covers more than half.

This is quite sensible. If, for example, you had a paragraph in style
Heading 1 and the text was "The sinking of the _Titanic_" and you applied
Heading 2 to that paragraph, then you'd expect the _Titanic_ to retain its
italics. If, however, the whole paragraph had been formatted green over the
top of Heading 1, and you applied Heading 2, then you'd expect Heading 2 to
be applied and the green to disappear.

The issue arises, however, as to whether you're applying the paragraph style
*to a paragraph*. In the UI, if you either (a) just click in the paragraph
and select nothing or (b) select the whole paragraph including the paragraph
marker or (c) select text that spans more than one paragraph, and then apply
a paragraph style, then it is applied to the whole paragraph(s). If you have
actually selected some text, then the paragraph style will be applied (well,
its font characteristics will be applied) only to the selected characters.

VBA is more forgiving. If you apply a paragraph style to a range using the
..Style property of a .Range object, then the style is applied to the
paragraph(s). That is, it works like Word pre-2002.

There are often discrepancies between what you do in the UI and record as a
macro, and what that macro will actually then do. For more on that, see
How to modify a recorded macro
http://word.mvps.org/FAQS/MacrosVBA/ModifyRecordedMacro.htm

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

 

[Helmut Weber]

Hi,

how about this one:

Sub Test800()
Dim sTmp As String
Dim prg1 As Range
Dim prg2 As Range
Set prg2 = selection.Paragraphs.Last.Range
Set prg1 = selection.Paragraphs.Last.Previous.Range
prg2.End = prg2.End - 1
prg2.Copy
sTmp = prg1.Font.Name
prg1.End = prg1.End - 1
prg1.Paste
prg1.Font.Name = sTmp
End Sub

Set a range to the actual paragaph.
Set a range to the preceding paragraph.
Reduce both ranges by one character.
Get the font of the preceding paragraph.
Copy actual paragraph's text over the preceding paragraph's text.
Reset the font of the preceding paragraph.

Which may work and may not work,
depending on all kinds of formatting issues,
e.g. if there are character styles,
or if the preceding paragraphs holds different fonts.

An lots of error handling would have to be done in addition,
e.g. if there was no preceding paragraph.

HTH, nevertheless.

--
Greetings from Bavaria, Germany

Helmut Weber, MVP WordVBA

Win XP, Office 2003
"red.sys" & Chr$(64) & "t-online.de"

 

[larrysulky]

Thanks for responding again, Shauna; you totally rock! (I am informed
by my teenagers that this is accurate, albeit quaint, usage of the
phrase.)

Hi Larry


The fundamental problem is that Word can't read your mind. It can't tell
whether italic or bold counts as "on-a-whim" formatting or not.

But I have ReadMyMind.dll installed, I'm sure of it!

The general rule in the UI and also, as far as I know, in VBA is that if you
apply a paragraph style *to a paragraph* then direct formatting (like
italic) will be retained where it covers less than half the text in the
paragraph, and rejected when it covers more than half.

I had no idea about this algorithm. Very interesting and, as you say,
sensible.

The issue arises, however, as to whether you're applying the paragraph style
*to a paragraph*.

I've discovered that the UI behaves differently in this regard if I (a)
select the whole paragraph versus (b) leave the cursor within the
paragraph but with nothing selected. In the latter case, I get my
desired behaviour; in the former, I don't. But VBA, regardless of
whether I use the selection or a range, behaves as if I had explicitly
selected the whole paragraph (that is, case (a)).

There are often discrepancies between what you do in the UI and record as a
macro, and what that macro will actually then do. For more on that, see
How to modify a recorded macro
http://word.mvps.org/FAQS/MacrosVBA/ModifyRecordedMacro.htm

Yep. What was odd to me was that recording the action of assigning a
style to a paragraph yields a one-command macro:

Selection.Style = ActiveDocument.Styles("EPG_SRC")

where I then replace the literal style with a variable. I don't see any
other way aside from setting selection style or range style, to do
this.

---larry