WD2000: Extraneous Characters Returned with ViewFieldCodes On

ID: Q212676

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word 2000

SYMPTOMS

When you use the Text property of the Range object to return a text string that contains a field, you may receive unpredictable results. For example, with field codes view turned on, the value returned for a text string that contains the Page field is enclosed in pipe (|) characters, like this:


   | PAGE  \* MERGEFORMAT |

WORKAROUND

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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

To work around this problem, use either of the following methods:

Turn off field codes view before you run your macro.

-or-

Use the following Visual Basic macro.

The following macro uses the TextRetrievalMode property to remove the unwanted characters:


Sub GetFieldTextExample()
   Dim MyRange As Object
   Set MyRange = ActiveDocument.Range(Start:=Selection.Range.Start, _
   End:=Selection.Range.End)
   MyRange.TextRetrievalMode.IncludeFieldCodes = False
   MsgBox MyRange.Text
End Sub

NOTE: Some field results cannot be returned at all. For example, the ListNum field result is displayed as a picture. If you attempt to retrieve the value for ListNum using any Visual Basic for Applications methods or properties, you receive either an unwanted character or an empty result. Currently, there is no workaround for a field type that displays its results as a picture.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about TextRetrievalMode, in the Visual Basic Editor, click Microsoft Visual Basic Help on the Help menu, type "TextRetrievalMode" in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

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

Q106655 WD: GetText$ Encloses Fields in Pipe (Vertical Bar) Characters

For more information about using the sample code in this article, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

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

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 vbe vba vertical bar


Keywords          : kbdta kbdtacode kbmacroexample wd2000 
Version           : WINDOWS:2000
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbbug

Last Reviewed: July 6, 1999