Format text based on Tag

[melan]

Hello!

I have raw text in a .txt file that I am hoping to format using VBA. I haven't touched this stuff in over a decade so I am struggling very much and am looking for some pointers!

My raw text looks something like this:

@ALB = <Text that needs to be bolded>
@TRI = <Text that needs to be Italicized>
@QIU = <Text that needs to be Underlined>
@ALB = <Text that needs to be bolded>
@ALB = <Text that needs to be bolded>
@FSF = <Text that needs Font change>

In reality, the requirements of each line are slightly more complex than simple bolding or underlining. I have created appropriate Styles for each format, and they are using the same naming convention as the Tag they are associated with (ie. I've named the first style ALB, the second style TRI, etc).

After the text has been appropriately formatted, the code will also need to delete the tag portion (ie. "@ALB = ") so that only the formatted text remains, but I haven't gotten this far with my code.

Can you please let me know if I am on the right track? My code was working but began giving errors as my evening progressed and I'm currently getting error 5834.

Sub TextChanger()
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Dim StrFind As String, StrStyle As String, i As Long
StrFind = "ALB,TRI,QIU,FSF"
StrStyle = "ALB,TRI,QIU,FSF"

With ActiveDocument.Range.Find
  .ClearFormatting
  .Replacement.ClearFormatting
  .Forward = True
  .Format = True
  .Wrap = wdFindContinue
  .MatchWildcards = True
  For i = 0 To UBound(Split(StrFind, ","))
    .Text = "@" & Split(StrFind, ",")(i) & " = " & "[A-Za-z]*$"
    .Replacement.Style = Split(StrStyle, ",")(i)
    .Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
  Next i
End With
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub

Thanks in advance!

[Guessed]

The most obvious error would be the Paragraph styles not existing. Since you are opening a txt file it will contain only built-in stylenames and the styles you are trying to apply are not built-in names.

So your macro should either create those styles or import them from a template that does contain them. I've added a line to import the styles from the attached template - this will be Normal.dotm unless you have configure the attached template differently.

You don't need wildcards if the styles are Paragraph styles - the entire paragraph will get the style if you apply it this way.

Sub TextChanger()
  Dim arrFind() As String, i As Long
  
  'Application.ScreenUpdating = False
  ActiveDocument.UpdateStyles     'import styles from attached template
  arrFind = Split("ALB,TRI,QIU,FSF", ",")
  
  With ActiveDocument.Range.Find
    .ClearFormatting
    .Replacement.ClearFormatting
    .Forward = True
    .Format = True
    .Wrap = wdFindContinue
    .MatchWildcards = False
    For i = LBound(arrFind) To UBound(arrFind)
      .Text = "@" & arrFind(i)
      .Replacement.Style = arrFind(i)
      .Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    Next i
  End With
  'Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub

[gmayor]

If the styles exist in the document and the document is laid out as shown, try the following

Sub TextChanger()
Dim i As Long
Const StrFind As String = "ALB,TRI,QIU,FSF"
    On Error Resume Next
    Application.ScreenUpdating = False
    For i = 0 To UBound(Split(StrFind, ","))
        With ActiveDocument.Range.Find
            .ClearFormatting
            .Replacement.ClearFormatting
            .Forward = True
            .Format = True
            .Wrap = wdFindContinue
            .MatchWildcards = True
            .Text = "\@" & Split(StrFind, ",")(i) & " = (*^13)"
            .Replacement.Style = Split(StrFind, ",")(i)
            .Replacement.Text = "\1"
            .Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
        End With
    Next i
    Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub