How to Use Named WordBasic Arguments in OLE Automation

ID: Q120979

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

This article describes how to create a routine in Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications that uses named and position arguments to send commands to Word for Windows using OLE Automation. For example, you can send OLE Automation commands to Word from a Microsoft Excel Visual Basic for Applications macro to perform a print merge operation in Word (see the "Sample Visual Basic for Applications Module to Run Mail Merge in Word" section at the end of this article).

MORE INFORMATION

The syntax for named arguments in Visual Basic, Applications Edition, is similar to the WordBasic syntax in Word for Windows. You can see the similarities in the following sample WordBasic and Visual Basic for Applications syntax, both of which start a new Word document based on the LETTER1.DOT template: 

   WordBasic Syntax
   ----------------

   FileNew .Template = "C:\WINWORD\TEMPLATE\LETTER1.DOT", .NewTemplate = 0

   Visual Basic, Applications Edition, Syntax
   ------------------------------------------

   .FileNew Template := "c:\winword\template\letter1.dot", NewTemplate := 0
NOTE: The syntax differences are small but significant. In Visual Basic for Applications, the Word command is preceded by a period (.), there is no period (.) before the command arguments, and a colon (:) appears before the equal sign (=). If your Visual Basic for Applications syntax is incorrect, the following error message may occur: 

   Object doesn't support this property or method.

Sample Visual Basic for Applications Module and WordBasic Macro

WARNING: ANY USE BY YOU OF THE CODE PROVIDED IN THIS ARTICLE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. Microsoft provides this macro code "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose.

The following sample Visual Basic for Applications module uses OLE Automation to send named arguments to Word and create a new document: 

Sub Test()
Dim Word As Object Set Word = CreateObject("word.basic") With Word 
  .FileNewDefault
  .Insert "This text appears here because of OLE Automation."
  .StartOfLine 1
  .FormatFont Points:="12", SmallCaps:=1, Font:="Courier New", Bold:=1
  .StartOfDocument
  .FormatParagraph Alignment:=1, WidowControl:=0
End With 
End Sub
NOTE: Word should be active before you run this Visual Basic for Applications module. If Word is not running, you will not see the result in Word because when OLE Automation starts Word, OLE closes Word after the Visual Basic for Applications module runs.

The following is the WordBasic macro equivalent of the above Visual Basic for Applications module: 

Sub MAIN
FileNewDefault Insert "This text appears here because of OLE Automation." StartOfLine 1 FormatFont .Points = "12", .SmallCaps = 1, .Font = "Courier New", .Bold = 1 StartOfDocument FormatParagraph .Alignment = 1, .WidowControl = 0 
End Sub

Sample Visual Basic for Applications Module to Run Mail Merge in Word

For the following mail merge example to work, you need to have Word 6.x running with a main mail merge document open. 

Sub Print_Merge()
Set wordobject = CreateObject("word.document.6") Set wordbasic = wordobject.Application.wordbasic 
    With wordbasic
         .MailMerge CheckErrors:=1, Destination:=0, MergeRecords:=0,
From:="", To:="", Suppression:=0, MailMerge:=1, MailSubject:="", MailAsAttachment:=0, MailAddress:="" 
    End With
End Sub

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Word Developer's Kit," version 6.0, Microsoft Press, 1994, pages 174-182 

KBCategory:   kbmacro
KBSubcategory: kbmacro kbmerge 
Additional reference words: winword 6.0 6.0a 6.0c   7.0 word95
word7 word6 
Keywords          : kbinterop kbmacro kbole kbmerge 
Version           : 6.0 6.0a 6.0c 7.0
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: November 18, 1998