Article ID: 159791
Article Last Modified on 1/19/2007
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Word 97 Standard Edition
This article was previously published under Q159791
For a Microsoft Word 2002 version of this article, see 291447.
SYMPTOMS
When you use the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Words property to return a word count, the number of words returned appears to be inaccurate.
CAUSE
The Words property returns a collection that represents all the words in a range, selection, or document. The collection includes all punctuation and paragraph marks in the selection or the document.
For example, if you attempt to determine the word count of the following three lines of text using the Words property, the result is 21 words:
This is x number of words<return>
This is x number of words<return>
This is x number of words<return>
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 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:
For more information about the support options that are available and about how to contact Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
To return only the number of words in a document or a selection, exclusive of paragraph marks and punctuation, use the Dialogs object instead of the Words property.
The Dialogs object returns a word count that does not include paragraph marks or punctuation. Using the example from the "Cause" section, the Dialogs object returns a count of 18 words.
The following Visual Basic for Applications code shows the difference between using the Words property and the Dialogs object method to return a word count for a document.
Sub CountWords()
' Retrieve the number of words including paragraph marks and
' punctuation using the Dialogs collection. This returns the
' same result as if you used the Word Count command (Tools menu).
Set wdDTWC = Dialogs(wdDialogToolsWordCount)
wdDTWC.Execute
dlgwordcount$ = wdDTWC.Words
MsgBox "Word Count from Tools Word Count: " & dlgwordcount$
' Retrieve the number of words from the Words collection.
selwordcount$ = ActiveDocument.Words.Count
MsgBox "Word Count from Words Collection: " & selwordcount$
End Sub
For more information about the Dialogs Object, from the Visual Basic Editor, click the Office Assistant, type Dialogs, click Search, and then click to view "Dialogs Object."
NOTE: If the Assistant is hidden, click the Office Assistant button on the Standard toolbar. If the Assistant is not able to answer your query, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
176476 OFF: Office Assistant Not Answering Visual Basic Questions
MORE INFORMATION
For additional information about word counts, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
241316 WD97: Word Count Macro Available to Count Words in a Selection
For additional information about getting help with Visual Basic for Applications, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
163435 VBA: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for Applications
173707 OFF97: How to Run Sample Code from Knowledge Base Articles
Additional query words: wordcon vb vba vbe
Keywords: kbdtacode kbmacro kbprb kbusage KB159791
