Knowledge Base

WD97: "Replace With" Format Incorrect with Recorded Macro

Article ID: 162207

Article Last Modified on 1/19/2007

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Word 97 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q162207

SYMPTOMS

When you run a macro that was recorded to find and replace formatting, the "Replace With" formatting will be applied to the text located at the insertion point.

CAUSE

When you use the Find or Replace commands on the Edit menu, you can specify formatting by choosing that formatting item from one of the built-in toolbars.

For example, to find all paragraphs formatted for Center alignment:

In the Find and Replace dialog box, click the Find What box.
Click the Center Alignment button on the Formatting toolbar.

This will apply center alignment as a search criteria.

When you record a macro to perform these steps, the action of clicking on the formatting button is recorded as part of the Edit or Replace command as expected. However, these actions are also recorded as separate commands in the macro. When the recorded macro is run, this results in the Replace With formatting being applied to the area where the search begins.

For example, if you have the following text in your document

   This is paragraph one that is Left Aligned.
               This is paragraph two that is Center Aligned.
   This is paragraph three that is Left Aligned.

and, for this example,

The search criteria in the recorded macro for Find What is set to Center Alignment.
The Replace With criteria is set to Right Alignment.
The insertion point is in the first paragraph prior to running the macro.

the result will format both paragraphs one and two with right alignment, as in the following example:

                          This is paragraph one that was Left Aligned.
                          This is paragraph two that was Center Aligned.
This is paragraph three that is Left Aligned.

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:

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

Method 1: Use the Format Button in the Find and Replace Dialog Box

In the Find And Replace dialog box, use the Format button to set the Find What and Replace With criteria (the Format button is located at the bottom of the Find and Replace dialog box).

Method 2: Edit the Recorded Macro and Remove the Extra Commands

You can remove or disable the formatting commands that were applied when you recorded the macro.

To edit the macro, use the following steps:

On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Macros.
From the list of available macros, select the macro to edit.
Click the Edit button.

In the Visual Basic Editor window, scroll through the macro until you see commands similar to the following:

   Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphCenter
   Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphRight
   Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
   Selection.Find.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphCenter
   Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
   Selection.Find.Replacement.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = _
      wdAlignParagraphRight
   With Selection.Find

Comment the two lines of code prior to Selection.Find.ClearFormatting by adding an apostrophe at the beginning of the lines.

For example:

   'Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphCenter
   'Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphRight
   Selection.Find.ClearFormatting

On the File menu, click Close and Return to Microsoft Word.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the products listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

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

173707 OFF97: How to Run Sample Code from Knowledge Base Articles

REFERENCES

For more information about getting help with Visual Basic for Applications, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

163435 VBA: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for Applications

Additional query words: wordcon vb vba vbe

Keywords: kbbug kbpending kbualink97 KB162207

Microsoft KB Archive/162207

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