WD2000: Creating a Password-Style Macro Dialog Text Box

ID: Q212708

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word 2000

SUMMARY

You can use Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications to create a dialog box that prompts a user for a password. Using the PasswordChar property, you can display "placeholder" characters, such as asterisks, that appear when a user types the password.

MORE INFORMATION

You can use the PasswordChar property of the TextBox control to protect sensitive information, such as passwords or security codes. The value of PasswordChar is the character that appears in a control instead of the actual characters that the user types. If you do not specify a character, the control displays the characters that the user types.

In the following example, the UserForm contains a TextBox control that uses the PasswordChar property to display asterisks instead of the password that the user types.

Creating the UserForm

Create the UserForm using the following steps:

On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Visual Basic Editor.

In the Visual Basic project window, click Normal.

This makes the UserForm available to all documents and templates.

On the Insert menu, click UserForm.

Click the TextBox control on the Toolbox toolbar and then click the UserForm.

The TextBox control appears in the default size. Click the Textbox control on the UserForm and drag a sizing handle to resize the control, or drag the control to move it to a new location.

Select the TextBox control and press F4.

The Properties window appears.

In the Properties window, type an "*" (without the quotation marks) for the value of the PasswordChar property.

Click the CommandButton control on the Toolbox toolbar, and then click the UserForm.

The CommandButton control appears in the default size. Click the CommandButton control on the UserForm and drag a sizing handle to resize the control, or drag the control to move it to a new location.

Repeat this step to add a second CommandButton control.

Select the first CommandButton control, and then click Code on the View menu.

In the Code window, type "MsgBox TextBox1.Text" (without the quotation marks), so that your code looks like this:


Private Sub CommandButton1_Click ()
   ' When you click this button on the UserForm,
   ' the contents of the text
   ' box appear in a message box.
   MsgBox TextBox1.Text
End sub

On the View menu, click Object to return to the UserForm.

Select the second CommandButton control, and then click Code on the View menu.

In the Code window, type "Unload UserForm1" (without the quotation marks), so that your code looks like this:


Private Sub CommandButton2_Click ()
   ' When this button is clicked, the Userform is unloaded
   ' and the program ends.
    Unload UserForm1
End sub

On the File menu, click Save Normal.

Displaying the UserForm

To display the UserForm, switch to Word, and then do the following:

On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Macros.

In the Macro Name box, type FillInForm and then click Create.

In the Code window, type "UserForm1.Show" (without the quotation marks), so that your code looks like this:
```
Sub FillInForm()
'This macro displays the UserForm.
   UserForm1.Show
End Sub 
```

Save and close the macro.

Close the Visual Basic Editor.

You can now run the macro from Word to display the UserForm.

For additional information about how to do this in earlier versions of Word, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q114299 Creating a Password-Style Macro Dialog Text Box

For more information about using the sample code in this article, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q212536 OFF2000: How to Run Sample Code from Knowledge Base Articles

Microsoft provides programming examples 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. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact a Microsoft Certified Solution Provider or the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about Microsoft Certified Solution Providers, please see the following page on the World Wide Web:

http://www.microsoft.com/mcsp/

For more information about the support options available from Microsoft, please see the following page on the World Wide Web:

http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/overview/overview.asp

REFERENCES

For more information about getting help with Visual Basic for Applications, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q226118 OFF2000: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for Applications

Additional query words: vb vba vbe

Keywords : kbmacro kbusage kbdta kbwordvba wd2000
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto