How to Find the Exact Position of a Content Control

Question

I have an Access application that creates Word documents. I have used Styles to make subheadings. When a subheading splits a page I programmed the app to add a paragraph at the end of the previous page and add a copy of the subheading with the word "...continued" added.  The problem occurs when a Content Control is split across two pages.  When attempting to add a paragraph (.TypeParagraph) to the end of the previous page I get an error.  So I added code that would move the cursor to the point just before the ContentControl and add the paragraph at this point.  However, this only works if there is one Content Control on the last line of the previous page and the Content Control is at the end of the line.  But if the Content Control is at the beginning of the line this causes an error when some of the content of the Content Control is also in the second line from the bottom of the previous page.

It seems my best solution is to determine if the Content Control is at the end of the last line of the previous page.  Is there any way to determine where the Content Control is in a line or sentence? Or better still determine if the cursor is inside of a Content Control?

Answer 1

To find if your current selection point is within a content control, you have to compare ranges. Here is some example code for how it could be done.

Sub InContentControl()
    Dim doc As Word.Document, rng As Word.Range, i As Integer, cc As Word.contentControl
    
    Set doc = ActiveDocument
    If doc.ContentControls.Count = 0 Then Exit Sub
    For i = 1 To doc.ContentControls.Count
        Set cc = doc.ContentControls(i)
        If Selection.Range.InRange(cc.Range) Then
            Debug.Print "In one"
            Set rng = cc.Range
            rng.MoveStart Word.WdUnits.wdCharacter, Count:=-1
            rng.MoveEnd Word.WdUnits.wdCharacter, Count:=1
            If Asc(rng.Characters.First) = 13 Then
                'the character before the Content Control is a Page Break
                'The Content Control is at the beginning of a new paragraph
                'Now do something
            ElseIf Asc(rng.Characters.Last) = 13 Then
                'the character following the Content Control is a Page Break
                'the Content Control is at the end of a paragraph
                'Now do something
            Else
                'the Content Control is in the middle of a paragraph
                'now do something
            End If
        End If
    Next
End Sub

Hope it helps

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Kind Regards, Rich ... http://greatcirclelearning.com

Answer 2

Rich,

Here your code throws an error.  Wouldn't it be best to test to see if the CC spans pages?

Sub EvaluateCC()
Dim oDoc As Word.Document
Dim oRng As Word.Range, oRngS As Word.Range, oRngE As Word.Range
Dim lngIndex As Long, oCC As Word.ContentControl
  Set oDoc = ActiveDocument
  If Selection.Information(wdInContentControl) Then
    For lngIndex = 1 To oDoc.ContentControls.Count
      Set oCC = oDoc.ContentControls(lngIndex)
      If Selection.Range.InRange(oCC.Range) Then
        Debug.Print "In one"
        Set oRng = oCC.Range
            oRng.MoveStart Word.WdUnits.wdCharacter, Count:=-1
            oRng.MoveEnd Word.WdUnits.wdCharacter, Count:=1
            Set oRngS = oRng.Duplicate
            Set oRngE = oRng.Duplicate
            oRngS.Collapse wdCollapseStart
            oRngE.Collapse wdCollapseEnd
            Select Case True
              Case oRngS.Information(wdActiveEndPageNumber) <> oRngE.Information(wdActiveEndPageNumber)
                MsgBox "The cursor is in a CC and the CC spans two or more pages"
              Case Else
               MsgBox "The cursor is in a CC and the CC does not span pages"
            End Select
        End If
    Next
  End If
End Sub

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Greg Maxey Please visit my website at: http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/word_tips.htm

Answer 3

Excellent improvement Greg.

Thanks

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Kind Regards, Rich ... http://greatcirclelearning.com

Answer 4

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! This was so simple. It was the "Selection.Information(wdInContentControl)" statement that solved the issue. I just needed to know if the last character of the last line on the page was in a content control. Here's the code:

 If wDoc.Application.Selection.Characters(1) <> Chr(13) Then

            If wDoc.Application.Selection.Information(wdInContentControl) Then
             'If the cursor is in a Content Control
  wDoc.Application.Selection.Bookmarks("\Line").Select
                wDoc.Application.Selection.ContentControls(wDoc.Application.Selection.ContentControls.Count).Range.Select
                wDoc.Application.Selection.Collapse Direction:=wdCollapseStart
                wDoc.Application.Selection.MoveLeft Unit:=wdWord, Count:=1, Extend:=wdMove
            Else
                wDoc.Application.Selection.Collapse Direction:=wdCollapseStart
                wDoc.Application.Selection.MoveEnd Unit:=wdLine, Count:=1
                wDoc.Application.Selection.Collapse Direction:=wdCollapseEnd
                'wDoc.Application.Selection.MoveLeft Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1, Extend:=wdMove
            End If
                wDoc.Application.Selection.TypeParagraph
        Else
         wDoc.Application.Selection.MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1, Extend:=wdMove
        End If