WordBasic Error Using Caret for Exponentiation in Math Formula

ID: Q87717

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 1.0, 1.1, 1.1a, 2.0, 2.0a, 2.0a-CD, 2.0b, 2.0c, 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a

SUMMARY

If you use the caret character (^) to perform exponentiation in a Microsoft Word for Windows macro, the following error message is generated:

   WordBasic Err=100
   Syntax error

MORE INFORMATION

Page 31 of the "Using WordBasic" manual, written by WexTech Systems and Microsoft, documents exponentiation in mathematical formulas using the caret character within a WordBasic macro.

The example shown is as follows:

   CircleArea = pi*r^2

If you run a macro that contains this line, the WordBasic syntax error occurs. There is no supported mathematical operator in WordBASIC for exponential calculations.

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

   ARTICLE-ID: Q74050
   TITLE     : Supported Mathematical Operators in WordBasic

STATUS

This problem was corrected in Word 97.

WORKAROUND

To perform a mathematical calculation that involves exponents, you can use the ToolsCalculate() function. This functions returns a value to a numeric variable. For example, to find the value of two to the eighth power (2^8), use the following WordBASIC statement:

   x=ToolsCalculate("2^8")

 -or-

   Sub MAIN
   pi = 3.14159
   x = ToolsCalculate("2^2")
   CircleArea = pi * x
   Print circlearea
   End Sub

The ToolsCalculate method does not accept variable names such as power and base. For example, the following macro results in a WordBasic bad parameter error:

 power = 8
 base = 2
 x = ToolsCalculate("base^power")

The following macro example performs the sample calculation using variables:

 Sub MAIN
 power = 8
 base = 2
 result = 1
 For count = 1 To power
  result = result * base
 Next
 Print result
 End Sub

REFERENCES

"Using WordBasic," by WexTech Systems and Microsoft, page 31

"Microsoft Word Developer's Tools Forum," page 113 (from the Macro Developers Kit)

Kbcategory: kbusage kbmacro KBSubcategory: Additional query words: 2.0 2.0a 2.0a-CD 2.0b winword word6 winword 7.0 word95 word7 docerr doc err exponent exponentiate power calculate mdk winword2 6.0 ToolsCalculate

Version           : 2.x 6.0 6.0a 6.0c 7.0 7.0a
Platform          : WINDOWS

Last Reviewed: July 30, 1997