Word VBA: Cannot Edit Range (Delete characters except the first in a table cell)

[tinfanide]

CannotEditRange.zip

Sub t()
''' Retain every first character of each cell in Table 1


Dim oRange As Range

With Selection
    Set oRange = .Range
    With oRange
        .Start = .Start - 1
        .Delete ''' Run-time error 5904: Cannot edit Range
    End With
End With

End Sub

There's a table with 3 cells / rows.
Each row has a string like "abcde".
I want to delete all the characters except the first one.
I don't know why my codes above only show errors when the strings are inside a table cell. (If "abcde" is in a paragraph, it works)

[tinfanide]

Dim str As String
Dim oRange As Range

With ActiveDocument
    With .Tables(1)
        For Each Cell In .Range.Cells
            With Selection
                Set oRange = Cell.Range
                With oRange

''' It seems that for table cells .Start cannot function
''' First we should .End = .End - 1 first

                    .End = .End - 1
                    .Start = .Start + 1
                    .Delete
                End With
            End With
            
        Next
    End With
End With

See the comments above.

[macropod]

Hi tinfanide,

Try:

Sub Demo()
Dim oCel As Cell
With Selection
  If .Information(wdWithInTable) = False Then Exit Sub
  For Each oCel In .Tables(1).Range.Cells
    oCel.Range.Text = oCel.Range.Characters.First
  Next
End With
End Sub

[tinfanide]

Yes, I was just confusing myself when doing all the best in Range. It should have been avoided. Your approach is simpler.