WD98: Document Must Be Open to Change Properties by Macro

• Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition

SYMPTOMS

If you attempt to use Visual Basic for Applications to change the properties of a document, you may receive one of the following error messages:

   Run-time error '4248':
   This command is not available because a document window is not active.

 -or-

   Run-time error '4605':
   Bad File Name.

 -or-

   Run-time error '5941':
   The requested member of the collection does not exist.

CAUSE

These error messages occur when no documents are currently open or the document you are referencing is not open.

Word can only change the properties of an open document.

NOTE: In earlier versions of Word, no error message is displayed, and no document properties are changed.

WORKAROUND

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 engineers 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/default.asp

This sample includes code to trap the error, in case there are no documents open, and display a message:

   Sub ChangeDocProperties()
      On Error GoTo ErrHandler
      ActiveDocument.BuiltInDocumentProperties("Title") = "My Title"
   ErrHandler:
      If Err <> 0 Then
         ' Display an error message.
         MsgBox Err.Description
      End If
   End Sub

• Traps the error, in case there are no documents open.
• Within the error trap, create a new document.
• Resumes execution at the line that caused the error.

     Sub ChangeDocProperties()
        On Error GoTo ErrHandler
        ActiveDocument.BuiltInDocumentProperties("Title") = "My Title"
     ErrHandler:
        If Err <> 0 Then
           Documents.Add
           Resume
        End If
     End Sub
  
  

MORE INFORMATION

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

   ARTICLE-ID: Q181058
   TITLE     : OFF98: 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:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q163435
   TITLE     : VBA: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for 
               Applications