WD98: Use TextBox Control to Work Around 255 Character Limit

ID: Q181791

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition

SUMMARY

The Word FILLIN field prompts you for text that is used as the FILLIN field result. The maximum number of characters that can be entered in a FILLIN field is 255. In addition, the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications InputBox statement is restricted to this 255 character limitation.

Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications allows you to construct a dialog box using the UserForm command. The form can contain text box controls into which you can type more than 255 characters. This article describes how to create and display the form.

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/

Creating the UserForm

Follow these steps to create the form:

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

 2. In the Visual Basic project window, click Normal.

    The form will be available to all documents.

 3. On the Insert menu, click UserForm.

 4. Click the TextBox control on the Toolbox toolbar, and then click the
    form.

    The text box control appears in the default size. Drag a sizing
    handle to resize the control, or drag the control to move it to a new
    location.

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

    The command button appears in the default size. 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.

 6. Select the first command button, and then click Code on the View
    menu.

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

       Private Sub CommandButton1_Click ()

          Selection.TypeText TextBox1.Text

          ' When you click this button on the form, the contents of the
          ' text box are inserted into the active document at the location
          ' of the insertion point.

       End Sub

 8. On the View menu, click Object to return to the form.

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

10. In the Code window, type "End" (without the quotation marks), so

    your code looks like this:

       Private Sub CommandButton2_Click ()

          End

          ' When you click this button after you click the first command
          ' button, the form is closed. If you click this button instead of
          ' the first command button, the form is canceled.

       End Sub

11. On the File menu, click Save Normal.

Displaying the Form

To display the form, switch to Word, and then follow these steps:

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

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

4. In the Code window, type "UserForm1.Show" (without the quotation marks),

   so your code looks like the following:

      Sub FillInForm()
         UserForm1.Show
      End Sub

5. Save and close the macro.

6. Close the Visual Basic Editor.

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

If you want default text to appear in the text box, create the following Initialize event for the UserForm object. To do this, use the following steps:

1. Double-click the form.

2. In the Object list, click UserForm.

3. In the Procedure list, click Initialize.

4. In the Code window, type the following code:

      Private Sub UserForm_Initialize()
         TextBox1.Text = "<default text>"
      End Sub

   where <default text> is the text you want to appear in the text box when
   the form appears.

REFERENCES

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

   ARTICLE-ID: Q93706
   TITLE     : Word: FILLIN Field Is Limited to 255 Characters

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q173707
   TITLE     : OFF97: How to Run Sample Code from Knowledge Base Articles

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

Additional query words:

Keywords          : kbdta kbdtacode OffVBA kbmacroexample macword98 
Platform          : MACINTOSH
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: April 8, 1999