Microsoft KB Archive/136861

= WD: Character, Word Count Differences in Word Processing Programs =

Article ID: 136861

Article Last Modified on 11/23/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Word 6.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Word 6.0a
 * Microsoft Word 6.0c
 * Microsoft Word 6.0 for Macintosh
 * Microsoft Word 6.01 for Macintosh
 * Microsoft Word 95 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Word 95a

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This article was previously published under Q136861



SYMPTOMS
In Microsoft Word, the number that is displayed in the Characters section when you click the Word Count command on the Tools menu may be less than the result of a character count in other word processing programs (such as WordPerfect for Windows or Ami Pro for Windows).



CAUSE
When you use the Word Count feature, Word does not count nonprinting characters, such as spaces, paragraph marks, line feed characters, or tabs. In contrast, other word processing programs may count these items.

Word 97 for Windows and Word 98 Macintosh Edition provide character counts including and excluding spaces.



WORKAROUND
The following macro counts all the characters in the document including spaces, tabs, and paragraph marks (except the last one in the document).

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 a Microsoft Certified Partner or the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about Microsoft Certified Partners, please visit the following Microsoft Web site:

https://partner.microsoft.com/global/30000104

For more information about the support options that are available and about how to contact Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS

Sub MAIN If IsMacro Then MsgBox "This will not run in a macro window." Else ScreenUpdating EditBookmark .Name = "NumCharPlaceHolder", .Add EditSelectAll Number = Len(Selection$) - 1 StartOfDocument EditGoTo .Destination = "t" While SelInfo(12) = - 1 If SelInfo(12) = - 1 Then Rows = SelInfo(15) * 2 While SelInfo(13) <> SelInfo(15) NextCell : Count = Count + 2 Wend Count = Count + (SelInfo(18) * 2) End If           Number = Number - Count - Rows count = 0 EndOfRow : CharRight 2 EditGoTo .Destination = "t" Wend EditBookmark .Name = "NumCharPlaceHolder", .Goto EditBookmark .Name = "NumCharPlaceHolder", .Delete End If     MsgBox "Character Count:" + Str$(Number) End Sub



STATUS
This behavior is by design of Microsoft Word.

Additional query words: tools word count character spaces perfect wordperfect wpft ami pro amipro basic macro space characters

Keywords: kbmacro kbmacroexample kbprb kbproof KB136861

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