WD97: Using the ASCII and ANSI Characters in Word for Windows

ID: Q187818

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

This article contains a sample Visual Basic for Applications macro that inserts the extended ANSI character set into a document for a chosen font.

MORE INFORMATION

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 the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. 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/refguide/
For printing and display on a computer system, each font has its own character set according to ASCII, ANSI, OEM, or other industry standard that defines what character is represented by a specific keystroke. Windows uses the ANSI character set. Many non-Windows-based applications use the ASCII character set.

Microsoft Word for Windows allows you to access special characters from the ASCII and ANSI character sets. The ANSI characters, not the ASCII characters, are the characters returned when using the CHR() macro function. You can also get these characters by pressing ALT+0 and typing the ANSI table number for the character on the numeric keypad. For example, pressing ALT and typing 065 (on the numeric keypad) inserts a capital letter A into your document.

You can obtain a list of the ANSI characters 128-255 by using the following sample Visual Basic for Applications macro routine: 

   Sub AnsiChars()
      Dim dlgFont As Dialog
      Dim iCount As Integer
      Dim defFont As String

      ' Create a new document.
      Documents.Add

      ' Get name of default font
      defFont = Selection.Font.Name

      ' Display Font dialog box to choose the font
      ' from which the ANSI character will be retrieved.
      Set dlgFont = Dialogs(wdDialogFormatFont)
      dlgFont.Display

      With Selection
         ' Insert the name of the chosen font.
         .TypeText dlgFont.Font & vbCr
         ' Set the point size of the chosen font.
         .Font.Size = dlgFont.Points
         ' Retrieve ANSI character set.
         For iCount = 128 To 255
            ' Set font to default font.
            .Font.Name = defFont
            ' Insert ANSI character number.
            .TypeText CStr(iCount) & " - "
            ' Set font to chosen font.
            .Font.Name = dlgFont.Font
            ' Insert ANSI character.
            .TypeText Chr(iCount) & vbCr
         ' Loop until done.
         Next iCount
      End With
   End Sub

REFERENCES

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

   ARTICLE-ID: Q163435
   TITLE     : VBA: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for
               Applications
For more information about running sample code, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 

   ARTICLE-ID: Q173707
   TITLE     : OFF97: How to Run Sample Code from Knowledge Base Articles
Additional query words: wordcon vba vb vbe print printer 
Keywords          : kbdta OffVBA word8 kbwordvba word97 KbVBA 
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: April 7, 1999