VBA Move Footnote References Before Punctuation

Shelley Lou · #1 08-17-2022, 06:16 AM

I have been given quite a few 200 page contract documents to house style/format each containing over 300 footnotes. I recorded a find and replace to move the punctuation before the footnotes refs - but when I added code to remove spaces before footnotes refs it stopped working.

Code:

.text = "([.,:;\?\!])(^2)"

Another issue is that if the sentence/paragraph ends with a square bracket in a field it will only move the footnote ref if its not in a field and I don't know how to tell the code to do both. Some might end with double square brackets in fields which makes it even more confusing.

What have I missed from the code to make it work correctly.

Capture.PNG

Code:

Sub MoveFootnotesBeforePunctuation()
Dim oRng As Range, oFN As Footnote
  For Each oFN In ActiveDocument.Footnotes 'Remove spaces before footnote refs
    Do While oFN.Reference.Characters.First.Previous Like "[" & Chr(32) + Chr(160) & "]"
      oFN.Reference.Characters.First.Previous.Delete
    Loop
  Next
Set oRng = ActiveDocument.Range
With oRng.Find
.ClearFormatting
.Replacement.ClearFormatting
.text = "([.,:;\?\!])(^2)"       'Move footnote refs before punctuation
.Replacement.text = "\2\1"
.text = "([\]])(^2)(^13)"        'Move footnote refs before square brackets end of paras
.Replacement.text = "\2\1\3"
.text = "([.;:])([\]])(^2)(^13)" 'Move footnote refs before square brackets and punctuation
.Replacement.text = "\3\2\1\4"
.MatchWildcards = True
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End With
End With
End Sub

macropod · #2 08-17-2022, 08:02 AM

To ensure punctuation etc. is placed before footnotes, endnotes and cross-references to them, use:

Code:

Sub FootnoteEndnotePunctBef()
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Dim FtNt As Footnote, EndNt As Endnote, Rng As Range, Fld As Field
With ActiveDocument
  For Each FtNt In .Footnotes
    Set Rng = FtNt.Reference
    With Rng
      'Eliminate any spaces before the footnote
      Do While .Characters.First.Previous Like "[ " & Chr(160) & "]"
        .Characters.First.Previous.Text = vbNullString
      Loop
      'Swap the footnote/punctuation, as applicable
      Do While .Characters.Last.Next Like "[!0-9A-Za-z]"
        .InsertBefore .Characters.Last.Next
        .Characters.Last.Next.Delete
      Loop
    End With
  Next
  For Each EndNt In .Endnotes
    Set Rng = EndNt.Reference
    With Rng
      'Eliminate any spaces before the footnote
      Do While .Characters.First.Previous Like "[ " & Chr(160) & "]"
        .Characters.First.Previous.Text = vbNullString
      Loop
      'Swap the footnote/punctuation, as applicable
      Do While .Characters.Last.Next Like "[!0-9A-Za-z]"
        .InsertBefore .Characters.Last.Next
        .Characters.Last.Next.Delete
      Loop
    End With
  Next
  For Each Fld In .Range.Fields
    With Fld
      If .Type = wdFieldNoteRef Then
        'Swap the footnote/punctuation, as applicable
        With .Result
          Do While .Characters.First.Previous Like "[ " & Chr(160) & "]"
            .Characters.First.Previous.Text = vbNullString
          Loop
          'Swap the footnote/punctuation, as applicable
          Do While Not .Characters.Last.Next Like "[0-9A-Za-z]"
            .InsertBefore .Characters.Last.Next
            .Characters.Last.Next.Delete
          Loop
        End With
      End If
    End With
  Next
End With
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub

To ensure punctuation etc. is placed after footnotes, endnotes and cross-references to them, use:

Code:

Sub FootnoteEndnotePunctAft()
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Dim FtNt As Footnote, EndNt As Endnote, Rng As Range, Fld As Field
With ActiveDocument
  For Each FtNt In .Footnotes
    Set Rng = FtNt.Reference
    With Rng
      'Eliminate any spaces before the footnote
      Do While .Characters.First.Previous Like "[ " & Chr(160) & "]"
        .Characters.First.Previous.Text = vbNullString
      Loop
      'Swap the footnote/punctuation, as applicable
      Do While Not .Characters.First.Previous Like "[0-9A-Za-z]"
        .InsertAfter .Characters.First.Previous
        .Characters.First.Previous.Delete
      Loop
    End With
  Next
  For Each EndNt In .Endnotes
    Set Rng = EndNt.Reference
    With Rng
      'Eliminate any spaces before the footnote
      Do While .Characters.First.Previous Like "[ " & Chr(160) & "]"
        .Characters.First.Previous.Text = vbNullString
      Loop
      'Swap the footnote/punctuation, as applicable
      Do While Not .Characters.First.Previous Like "[0-9A-Za-z]"
        .InsertAfter .Characters.First.Previous
        .Characters.First.Previous.Delete
      Loop
    End With
  Next
  For Each Fld In .Range.Fields
    With Fld
      If .Type = wdFieldNoteRef Then
        'Swap the footnote/punctuation, as applicable
        With .Result
          Do While .Characters.First.Previous Like "[ " & Chr(160) & "]"
            .Characters.First.Previous.Text = vbNullString
          Loop
          'Swap the footnote/punctuation, as applicable
          Do While Not .Characters.First.Previous Like "[0-9A-Za-z]"
            .InsertAfter .Characters.First.Previous
            .Characters.First.Previous.Delete
          Loop
        End With
      End If
    End With
  Next
End With
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub

Shelley Lou · #3 08-17-2022, 10:15 AM

Hi Macropod, thank you for providing the code. I am getting error 5904 on the first .Characters.Last.Next.Delete - should I be changing [!0-9A-Za-z] to [.,;:]? I have attached a stripped down version of a few pages of the contracts I am working on for ease. I only need to move the footnote before a square bracket field if they appear at the end of paragraphs and not within the paragraph itself.

footnote test doc.docx

Code:

Sub FootnotePunctBefore()
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Dim FtNt As Footnote, Rng As Range, Fld As Field
With ActiveDocument
  For Each FtNt In .Footnotes
    Set Rng = FtNt.Reference
    With Rng
      'Eliminate any spaces before the footnote
      Do While .Characters.First.Previous Like "[ " & Chr(160) & "]"
        .Characters.First.Previous.text = vbNullString
      Loop
      'Swap the footnote/punctuation, as applicable
      Do While .Characters.Last.Next Like "[!0-9A-Za-z]"
        .InsertBefore .Characters.Last.Next
        .Characters.Last.Next.Delete
      Loop
    End With
  Next
  For Each Fld In .Range.Fields
    With Fld
      If .Type = wdFieldNoteRef Then
        'Swap the footnote/punctuation, as applicable
        With .Result
          Do While .Characters.First.Previous Like "[ " & Chr(160) & "]"
            .Characters.First.Previous.text = vbNullString
          Loop
          'Swap the footnote/punctuation, as applicable
          Do While Not .Characters.Last.Next Like "[0-9A-Za-z]"
            .InsertBefore .Characters.Last.Next
            .Characters.Last.Next.Delete
          Loop
        End With
      End If
    End With
  Next
End With
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub

macropod · #4 08-17-2022, 04:00 PM

In your sample document, you have a formfield immediately after the first footnote reference. The code was not written with such documents in mind. As written, the code moves each character after the footnote reference individually, which is obviously not possible the formfields. For your document, the code needed to be completely re-written to process all the references in reverse order and move the actual references instead of the associated text:

Code:

Sub FootnotePunctBefore()
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Dim bHid As Boolean, i As Long, Rng As Range, StrBkMkNm As String
With ActiveDocument
  bHid = .Bookmarks.ShowHidden
  .Bookmarks.ShowHidden = True
  For i = .Footnotes.Count To 1 Step -1
    With .Footnotes(i)
      With .Reference
        Set Rng = .Duplicate
        If .Bookmarks.Count = 0 Then
          StrBkMkNm = ""
        Else
          StrBkMkNm = .Bookmarks(1).Name
        End If
      End With
      With Rng
        .Collapse wdCollapseStart
        'Eliminate any spaces before the footnote reference
        Do While .Characters.First.Previous Like "[ " & Chr(160) & "]"
          .Characters.First.Previous.Text = vbNullString
        Loop
        'Find the preceding puctuation, bracket, etc.
        Do While .Characters.First.Previous Like "[!0-9A-Za-z" & vbCr & Chr(11) & vbTab & "]"
          If .Characters.First.Previous.Fields.Count = 1 Then Exit Do
          If .Characters.First.Previous.ContentControls.Count = 1 Then Exit Do
          .End = .End - 1
        Loop
      End With
      'Swap the footnote/punctuation, as applicable
      If .Reference.Start <> Rng.Start Then
        Rng.FormattedText = .Reference.FormattedText
        If StrBkMkNm <> "" Then .Range.Bookmarks.Add StrBkMkNm, Rng
        .Delete
      End If
    End With
  Next
  For i = .Range.Fields.Count To 1 Step -1
    With .Range.Fields(i)
      If .Type = wdFieldNoteRef Then
        Set Rng = .Result
        With Rng
          .Collapse wdCollapseStart
          'Eliminate any spaces before the footnote reference
          Do While .Characters.First.Previous Like "[ " & Chr(160) & "]"
            .Characters.First.Previous.Text = vbNullString
          Loop
          'Find the preceding puctuation, bracket, etc.
          Do While .Characters.First.Previous Like "[!0-9A-Za-z" & vbCr & Chr(11) & vbTab & "]"
            If .Characters.First.Previous.Fields.Count = 1 Then Exit Do
            If .Characters.First.Previous.ContentControls.Count = 1 Then Exit Do
            .End = .End - 1
          Loop
        End With
        'Swap the footnote/punctuation, as applicable
        If .Result.Start <> Rng.Start Then
          Rng.FormattedText = .Result.FormattedText
          .Delete
        End If
      End If
    End With
  Next
  .Bookmarks.ShowHidden = bHid
End With
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub

Shelley Lou · #5 08-18-2022, 01:39 AM

Hi Macropod, thank you so much for taking the time to look at this issue and update the code - I've run the code on my document - the code hangs for a while but I'm guessing its because it is a 200 page document so takes time to read through but it doesn't seem
to move the footnote ref before the square bracket at the end of paragraphs so ]FN becomes FN] or .]FN becomes FN].

When I show the form field codes the square brackets are all FORMTEXT - I did try changing wdFieldNoteRef to wdFieldFormTextInput but that didn't work.

I'm curious to know what this line of code means and how the code picks up punctuation just from a learning point of view?

Code:

"[!0-9A-Za-z" & vbCr & Chr(11) & vbTab & "]"

Attachment 18328

macropod · #6 08-18-2022, 06:24 AM

The Like expression:

Code:

"[!0-9A-Za-z" & vbCr & Chr(11) & vbTab & "]"

begins with the !, which tells it to match any characters NOT specified.

PS: Code updated to make cross-reference handling more robust.

macropod · #7 08-18-2022, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shelley Lou

it doesn't seem
to move the footnote ref before the square bracket at the end of paragraphs so ]FN becomes FN] or .]FN becomes FN].

What you're seeing there is due to the ] being part of the formfield text. One can hardly put a footnote reference inside a formfield!

Shelley Lou · #8 08-18-2022, 09:12 AM

Hi Macropod, I think we may have cross wires - nothing should happen to cross references - I was enquiring how to move the footnote references that appear at the end of paragraphs to be moved to the left of the form field not actually inside it - and where they appear at the end of the paragraph with punctuation the footnote ref to be moved before the punctuation.

Capture.PNG

macropod · #9 08-18-2022, 03:17 PM

The ] before the 42, for example, is a formfield. It seems to me there are more fundamental problems with your document than just the footnote references. It is not at all clear to me why you would have such formfields or how the code should determine whether to relocate a reference to before a formfield.

In the meantime, here's a more refined version of the code:

Code:

Sub EndNoteFootNotePunctCheck()
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Dim i As Long
With ActiveDocument
  'Process EndNotes
  For i = .Endnotes.Count To 1 Step -1
    Call SetPunctAfter(.Endnotes(i).Reference)
  Next
  'Process FootNotes
  For i = .Footnotes.Count To 1 Step -1
    Call SetPunctAfter(.Footnotes(i).Reference)
  Next
  'Process EndNote/FootNote References
  For i = .Range.Fields.Count To 1 Step -1
    With .Range.Fields(i)
      If .Type = wdFieldNoteRef Then
        Call SetPunctAfter(.Result)
      End If
    End With
  Next
End With
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub

Sub SetPunctAfter(Rng As Range)
With Rng.Duplicate
  .Collapse wdCollapseStart
  'Eliminate any spaces before the footnote reference
  Do While .Characters.First.Previous Like "[ " & Chr(160) & "]"
    .Characters.First.Previous.Text = vbNullString
  Loop
  'Find the preceding puctuation, bracket, etc.
  Do While .Characters.First.Previous Like "[!0-9A-Za-z" & vbCr & Chr(11) & vbTab & "]"
    If .Characters.First.Previous.Fields.Count = 1 Then Exit Do
    If .Characters.First.Previous.ContentControls.Count = 1 Then Exit Do
    .Start = .Start - 1
  Loop
  'Swap the footnote/punctuation, as applicable
  If .Start <> Rng.Start Then
    Rng.Collapse wdCollapseEnd
    Rng.FormattedText = .FormattedText
    .Text = vbNullString
  End If
End With
End Sub

Shelley Lou · #10 08-19-2022, 03:57 AM

Hi Macropod thank you so much for your time and effort on this, it is very much appreciated. The contract documents I am working on are template precedent documents and our house style requires that all square brackets in template documents are form text fields so the user can F11 through them and remove as required. Your revised code unfortunately doesn't fix the issue - I did think a solution could be unlink the fields, move the footnotes then relink the form text fields - I will look into this further at a later date, for now I will just move the footnotes refs before punctuation when they appear without square brackets.

macropod · #11 08-20-2022, 05:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shelley Lou

Your revised code unfortunately doesn't fix the issue - I did think a solution could be unlink the fields, move the footnotes then relink the form text fields

No, all I needed was an explanation of what the rules are so they could be coded for.

Replace:

Code:

    If .Characters.First.Previous.Fields.Count = 1 Then Exit Do
    If .Characters.First.Previous.ContentControls.Count = 1 Then Exit Do

with:

Code:

    If (.Characters.First.Previous.Fields.Count = 1) And (.Characters.First.Previous.Fields(1).Result <> "]") Then Exit Do
    If (.Characters.First.Previous.ContentControls.Count = 1) And (.Characters.First.Previous.ContentControls(1).Range.Text <> "]") Then Exit Do

Shelley Lou · #12 08-22-2022, 06:16 AM

Hi Macropod, I have updated the code but am getting an error 5941 on this line:

Code:

If (.Characters.First.Previous.Fields.Count = 1) And (.Characters.First.Previous.Fields(1).Result <> "]") Then Exit Do

macropod · #13 08-22-2022, 03:28 PM

Try:

Code:

If  .Characters.First.Previous.Fields.Count = 1 Then
  If .Characters.First.Previous.Fields(1).Result <> "]" Then Exit Do
End If
If  .Characters.First.Previous.ContentControls.Count = 1 Then  
  If .Characters.First.Previous.ContentControls(1).Range.Text <> "]" Then Exit Do
End If

Shelley Lou · #14 08-23-2022, 12:22 AM

Hi Macropod, thank you for the updated code - I added this in but got an error 6028 range cannot be detected

Code:

.text = vbNullString

So I tried removing

Code:

.Start = .Start - 1

This ran the code but I just got the blue wheel of doom and had to go into Task Manager and End Task to close Word down as it just kept saying Not Responding - I tried to remove the Loop but then I get End With without With - not sure what else to try

macropod · #15 08-23-2022, 03:36 PM

You might try replacing:
.Text = vbNullString
with:
.Delete

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