StartOf Method

Applies To

Range object, Selection object.

Description

Moves or extends the start position of the specified range or selection to the beginning of the nearest specified text unit. This method returns a value that indicates the number of characters by which the range or selection was moved or extended. The method returns a negative number if the movement is backward through the document.

Syntax

expression.StartOf(Unit, Extend)

expression Required. An expression that returns a Range or Selection object.

Unit Optional Variant. The unit by which the start position of the specified range or selection is to be moved. Can be one of the following WdUnits constants: wdCell, wdCharacter, wdColumn, wdParagraph, wdRow, wdSection, wdSentence, wdStory, wdTable, or wdWord. If expression returns a Selection object, you can also use wdLine. The default value is wdWord.

Extend Optional Variant. Can be either of the following WdMovementType constants: wdMove or wdExtend. If you use wdMove, both ends of the range or selection are moved to the beginning of the specified unit. If you use wdExtend, the beginning of the range or selection is extended to the beginning of the specified unit. The default value is wdMove.

Remarks

If the beginning of the specified range or selection is already at the beginning of the specified unit, this method doesn't move or extend the range or selection. For example, if the selection is at the beginning of a line, the following example returns 0 (zero) and doesn't change the selection.

char = Selection.StartOf(Unit:=wdLine, Extend:=wdMove)

See Also

EndOf method, Move method, MoveLeft method, MoveRight method, MoveStart method.

Example

This example selects the text from the insertion point to the beginning of the line. The number of characters selected is stored in charmoved.

Selection.Collapse Direction:=wdCollapseStart
charmoved = Selection.StartOf(Unit:=wdLine, Extend:=wdExtend)

This example moves myRange to the beginning of the second sentence in the document (myRange is collapsed and positioned at the beginning of the second sentence). The example uses the Select method to show the location of myRange.

Set myRange = ActiveDocument.Sentences(2)
myRange.StartOf Unit:=wdSentence, Extend:=wdMove
myRange.Select

This example moves the selection to the beginning of the paragraph.

Selection.StartOf Unit:=wdParagraph, Extend:=wdMove