WD97: Macros to Test for an Existing AutoText Entry Name

• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SUMMARY

When you write macros in Microsoft Word for Windows, it may be necessary to test for the existence of an AutoText entry before inserting the contents of the entry. If your macro does not check for the existence of an AutoText entry before attempting to insert the contents into the document, you may receive the following error message:

   Run-time error '5941':

   The requested member of the collection does not exist.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft provides examples of Visual Basic for Applications procedures for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. The Visual Basic procedures in this article are provided 'as is' and Microsoft does not guarantee that they can be used in all situations. While Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular macro, they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality, nor will they help you construct macros to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to consult one of the Microsoft Solution Providers. Solution Providers offer a wide range of fee-based services, including creating custom macros. For more information about Microsoft Solution Providers, call Microsoft Customer Information Service at (800) 426-9400.

If the "Attention:" AutoText entry resides in the Normal template, the following macro example posts a message indicating that it does exist.

   Sub AutoTextExists()
      'Looks in normal template for certain autotext entry.
      For Each entry In NormalTemplate.AutoTextEntries
         If entry.Name = "Attention:" Then MsgBox "Entry Exists!"
      Next entry
   End Sub

   Sub InsertAutoTextIfExist()
      'This will insert the autotext entry if it exists.
      Dim aEntry As AutoTextEntry
      For Each aEntry In NormalTemplate.AutoTextEntries
         If aEntry.Name = "Attention:" Then
            aEntry.Insert Where:=Selection.Range
         End If
      Next aEntry
   End Sub

   Sub InsertAttachedTemplateAutoText()
      'This will insert the autotext entry if it exists.
      Dim aEntry As AutoTextEntry
      For Each aEntry In ActiveDocument.AttachedTemplate.AutoTextEntries
         If aEntry.Name = "Attention:" Then
            aEntry.Insert Where:=Selection.Range
         End If
      Next aEntry
End Sub

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