Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications in MS Word 2010

Question

Hello,

I create a new Word 2010 document containing only the 5 character string "abcde". I place the cursor between the "b" and "c" characters. No characters are selected. I then open the "Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications" window by typing Alt-F11 and go to the "Immediate" window.

If I type "? selection.text" the "c" character is displayed.   I would expect an empty string to be returned.

If I type "? LEN(selection.text)" the number 1 is displayed.   I would expect the number 0 to be displayed.

If I type "? selection.start" the number 2 is displayed.   This is what I would expect.    

If I type "? selection.end" the number 2 is also displayed.   This is what I would expect.

My question is why does Word 2010 return the character "c" when I type "? selection.text" even though no characters are selected.

Thank you for any help you can provide.

Answer 1

If that's how Word 2010 is designed then I would argue Microsoft got  it wrong.

You can argue that if you wish, but it's been that way for as long as Word has had VBA. If you think MS should change it, you can post a suggestion at: http://word.uservoice.com/

Answer 2

Thanks for responding Paul.

If that's how Word 2010 is designed then I would argue Microsoft got  it wrong. Here is my argument.

It my example of the cursor positioned between "b" and "c":

  selection.Start = 2

  selection.End = 2

  selection.Type = 1   (wdSelectionIP)

Therefore, Word has confirmed there is no character selected but responds with:

  selection.Text = "c"

Now take the case where the character "c" is selected:

  selection.Start = 2

  selection.End = 3

  selection.Type = 2  (wdSelectionNormal)

In this case Word has confirmed there is a character selected and responds with:

  selection.Text = "c"

I argue Word can't have it both ways. It's illogical to return "c" if Start=2 and End=2 and at the same time return "c" if Start=2 and End=3. If Start=2 and End=2 then "selection.Text" should return an empty string.

Here is an example of Word correctly returning an empty string when the "Range" method is added to the above operations. Using my initial example of the cursor positioned between "b" and "c":

  selection.Range.Start = 2

  selection.Range.End = 2

  selection.Range.Text = ""

Why would Microsoft design "selection.Text" and "selection.Range.Text" to return different results when no text is selected? Note that this discrepancy only occurs if no text is selected in the document. If text is selected then "selection.Text" and "selection.Range.Text" return the same result.

I have to conclude that "selection.Text" returning a character when no characters are selected is a design flaw.

Thank you for your patience.

Answer 3

My question is why does Word 2010 return the character "c" when I type "? selection.text" even though no characters are selected.

Because that's how it's designed. If you want to test what the selection encompasses, use code like:

Dim StrRpt As String

With Selection

  Select Case .Type

    Case wdSelectionIP: StrRpt = "Insertion Point Selection"

    Case wdNoSelection: StrRpt = "No Selection"

    Case wdSelectionNormal: StrRpt = "Normal Selection: " & .Text

    Case wdSelectionBlock: StrRpt = "Block Selection"

    Case wdSelectionColumn: StrRpt = "Column Selection"

    Case wdSelectionRow: StrRpt = "Row Selection"

    Case wdSelectionInlineShape: StrRpt = "InlineShape Selection"

    Case wdSelectionShape: StrRpt = "Shape Selection"

    Case wdSelectionFrame: StrRpt = "Frame Selection"

  End Select

End With

MsgBox StrRpt