WD97: Range.Text Length Includes "End Of Cell" for Table Cell

• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When your Visual Basic for Applications macro returns the number of characters within a range of a table cell, if that range includes the entire cell, the number of characters returned is one more than expected.

CAUSE

By design, the End of Cell Mark (ASCII character number 7) is returned as part of the text when the cell range is set to include the entire cell. Using the Range.Text property includes the paragraph mark and the end of cell mark (ASCII 13 and ASCII 7) and returns them as a pair.

WORKAROUND

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To return the number of characters within a range of a table cell, excluding the end of cell mark, use one of the following methods.

   NOTE: Each method includes an example of a Visual Basic for Applications
   macro that:

   1. Sets a range object to an existing table.

   2. Collapses the range to the start of the range (the first cell in the
      table).

   3. Expands the range to equal the first cell of the table and returns
      the number of characters within the range.

method 1: Subtract 1 from the Return Value

You can simply subtract 1 from the returned value to exclude the end of cell mark from your character count. This method still includes any paragraph marks within the range of text:

   Sub RangeExpandCell()
      Dim oTableR As Object
      Set oTableR = ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Range
      oTableR.Collapse wdCollapseStart
      MsgBox Len(ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Cell(1, 1).Range.Text)-1
   End Sub

method 2: Use the Expand Method

The Expand method excludes the end of cell mark but includes any paragraph marks within the range of text.

   Sub RangeExpandCell()
      Dim oTableR As Object
      Set oTableR = ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Range
      oTableR.Collapse wdCollapseStart
      MsgBox oTableR.Expand(wdCell)
   End Sub

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about the Expand method, from the Visual Basic for Applications editor, click the Office Assistant, type "Expand Method," click Search, and then click to view "Expand Method."

NOTE: If the Assistant is hidden, click the Office Assistant button on the Standard toolbar. If Microsoft Help is not installed on your computer, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q120802
   TITLE     : Office: How to Add/Remove a Single Office
               Program or Component