Perhaps it's an updated template you should have been distributing?

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

***Disregard, I see it previously was discussed. Thanks so much***

Dear Paul,

I hope you still check this from time to time. I am curious if I would have to change any of the Macro to get this to work in an existing table? Happy to give more details if you need them.

Thanks

Ok I admit it, I am no Word Wizard.
I have a word document with a drop down of three selections (so far) I want to move the value of each or even multiple selections down to a control text area in the document template below.

I know nothing about Macros, it's my first try at them. Driving me crazy. Two days. Sugar and caffeine high come and gone multiple time. Now at the "pulling out hair stage", don't want to progress to the "banging head on desk" stage.

And any VB experience I have is over 25 years old, and haven't used VB in over 15 years.

Someone said record what you want it to do, it is as simple as start recording the macro, clicking on the drop down selection and then clicking on the text control area and then clicking stop on the macro recorder?

Or am I missing a large part of all of this?
HELP!

Did you try the demo in post #2 (https://www.msofficeforums.com/word-...html#post46903). If so, what doesn't that do that you want done?

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Don't think its the Macro, it's the Operator having the issue, and too many hours trying to resolve it myself. but I have that file saved, going to attempt it again tomorrow after I get some food and sleep and stop stressing over it.

Cross-posted at: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...b-6b6db6bc9336
For cross-posting etiquette, please read: http://www.excelguru.ca/content.php?184

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Well I still don't understand how to get this to work.
I guess I am a "lead me by the hand" type of person.
Not thick or stupid, I just don't understand the "why" or "how" part I guess, or even the basics of it all.

Let me ask you this question.
If I did succeed it getting this to work, I would have to save it as a ".doxm" correct?
Would the person(s) wanting to use this form also have to have the macro installed and have to run it every time they fill in the info, or would it be automatic?

Please understand, the less clicks and fiddling around to get the form filled out and printed with the info the better.

Thanks again for the help.
Beth

Beth

doxm is not a standard format. Perhaps you meant docm or dotm. The formats that end with m can contain macros. Your macros can exist in several possible templates or even the document itself in order to be available but if you are distributing the resulting documents AND those users need access to the macros then your options for storing the macros become more limited and you rely on them trusting you enough to enable the macros.

It is most efficient to store the macros in an 'attached dotm template' and save the new documents as docx with that template available to it.

__________________
Andrew Lockton
Chrysalis Design, Melbourne Australia

If you were to save the document as a dotm template, double-clicking on that would allow the user to create a docx file that has full access to the code that drives the process. Alternatively, if the users are unlikely to have access to the template, you could distribute a docm document such as the one attached to post #2.

Whether the macro runs automatically in the case of a docm document largely depends on the user's macro security settings. With the template approach, that's not an issue.

As for "the less clicks and fiddling around to get the form filled out", all the user need do is select the appropriate entry from the dropdown and the output will be generated/updated as soon as the dropdown is exited. It could hardly be any simpler than that.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Hi, my first post. Thanks to all for the effort.

I am making a template to analyze the legal position of potential clients facing residential evictions. I found this forum and thread because I wanted to be able to embed in my analysis document a drop down list from which to choose the type of eviction at hand. I want that selection to then generate for me the legal notes I have related to that type of eviction. The solutions posted here totally work and I am very happy with it. But now I am wondering if I could do more.

What I would like is to still have a single drop down to select eviction type, but I would like multiple output boxes with multiple values attached to the eviction selection. Specifically I want to be able to select the [eviction type] and see in one part of the document the {legal notes and elements} for that eviction type and then in another box the {notice requirements} for that eviction type.

I am pretty sure that this type of functionality could be created but I wonder if this solution is not the right way to achieve it. I have seen some documents that draw from spreadsheets. Maybe a spreadsheet would be the better way to define the various values that come with the eviction type selection.

If this method is ideal how would I go about defining the additional values? If there is a better way i'd appreciate any input. One of the hardest parts about being a novice with these tools is not knowing how to ask the right questions.

To output different elements from a selected item to different content controls, see:
https://www.msofficeforums.com/word-...tml#post120392
in this thread.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Thank you for the quick reply. So the solution presented in the example in post #71 ... am I correct that the function of the pipe "|"now serves to define the bounds of the different outputs as opposed to entering a line break?

That's neat, and I can imagine uses for that function in other projects but I don't think it is going to work here.

The ideal solution for my needs would be to: 1 select from a list of eviction types in one control box, 2 generate a legal elements outline for the selected type(would love if it could display in multi level list formatting, though this might be too much to ask), and then 3 generate a serious of questions contained in a table (geared to evaluate the validity of the eviction notice).

I might be asking too much of word. It occurs to me that I am basically trying to embed a chatbot in a word document. Maybe I should just figure out a chatbot with the ability to generate a report based on the entries provided.

[if anyone is interested... evictions and access to (affordable) legal help are a real problem in our county (Marion, OR). My firm (wife and I) are doing our best to offer really low cost eviction defense by basically having templated/processed out all of the different eviction representation variables that there are. The template I am working on would help us very quickly and therefore cheaply assist people facing evictions here.]

Greg

What you are asking is certainly in scope of what can be done in Word but it can be tricky to set up when there are lots of different parameters. Whilst you could do it following the guidance of this thread, it is probably not the easiest way to arrive at a solution.

I would be more inclined to do this by preparing a document which contains all content and then use a form to make selections and a macro which either hides or deletes the unwanted parts. All parts would be tagged in some way (either bookmarks, Content Controls or headings) so the code could show or hide them easily. I think this approach would be much simpler to create and maintain.

__________________
Andrew Lockton
Chrysalis Design, Melbourne Australia

In that case, I think you would do better to have as many separate eviction templates as you need, one each with all the boilerplate content for each eviction type, then simply choose the appropriate template for a given case. No code required, simple to maintain, and all formatting in-place as required.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Hi All,

This thread has been quite helpful; however, I have a more complex need.

I would like to have a drop-down selection auto-populate relevant paragraphs farther down in the document.

The paragraphs that I want to auto-populate already contain their own legacy form fields for dates and numbers, and some are cross-referenced.

Is it possible to make all of this work together?

Thanks,

Laura