Modify text in inline textbox in last section footer

AllekieF · #1 10-10-2023, 05:21 AM

Currently I am working on a template for a report which has a coloured bar in the footer with differently coloured ends as a mark-up feature, with the page number in the right side part. (________________#_)
End-users often change the page layout from portrait to landscape and page sizes. For aesthetics I would like the ends to always be the same width and the bit in-between to widen/shrink as required.

If the bar were to be placed in a table, this table would always be the same with regardless of the page layout. Unlinking the footer and setting the table to "AutoFit Window" will fill the correct width, but also widens the ends. To overcome this I have set a tab-stop at the correct width, followed by a right alignment tab, applied the correct shading to both parts and placed an inline textbox of the correct width with the page number on the right. Up to here, this works perfectly.

Now for the tricky bit...
When the user wants to use appendices in the document, they press a custom button which (through VBA) adds a Table of Appendices after the ToC, adds a section at the end of the document and applies the first appendix header. As most of the appendices are PDFs which are inserted into the PDF version of the report, page numbering of the appendices is useless as they don't make any sense anymore. So when the appendices are added in Word with the custom button, I want to remove the page numbering from the footer. And this is where I am stuck.

I have given the textbox a name for reference, but when I try to select the textbox it selects the one on a previous section, even though the footer of the last section is opened. Also I cannot find how to delete the page number from the textbox.

So my questions are:
1. How do I select the textbox in the appendix?
2. How to delete the page number from the textbox.

And if anyone has a better solution than this one I'm open to all suggestions.

Code:

Sub AddApp()
Dim rng As Range: Set rng = Selection.Range 'to return user to starting position

'Insert Next Section
Selection.EndKey Unit:=wdStory
Selection.InsertBreak Type:=wdSectionBreakNextPage
ActiveDocument.Bookmarks.Add Name:="AppStart", Range:=Selection.Range 'For reference in other procedures
'Selection.Style = "Appendix 1" 'Format Appendix header

ActiveDocument.Sections(ActiveDocument.Sections.Count).Footers(wdHeaderFooterPrimary).LinkToPrevious = False  'unlink footer from previous section
'ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.SeekView = wdSeekCurrentPageFooter 'open footer for editing

'--> This doesn't work: select textbox containing page number and delete number
ActiveDocument.Sections(ActiveDocument.Sections.Count).Footers(wdHeaderFooterPrimary).Shapes("tbxPageNum").Select

'--> This needs to be modified to remove the page number
Selection.MoveRight Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
Selection.Delete Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
Selection.EndKey Unit:=wdLine, Extend:=wdMove
Selection.MoveLeft Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=2, Extend:=wdExtend
Selection.Delete

'Close Footer
ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.SeekView = wdSeekMainDocument

'Insert TOA (only for docs with ToC)
If ActiveDocument.CustomDocumentProperties("Type") = "RPT" Then
    Call GetTOALocation
    Call InsertTOA
End If

rng.Select 'return to original position
End Sub

Guessed · #2 10-10-2023, 04:37 PM

Working with floating objects (graphics or text boxes) in headers and footers is problematic for VBA. There have been posts in the past which have discussed this that you might gain an insight from.
https://www.msofficeforums.com/word-...all-pages.html
https://www.msofficeforums.com/word-...en-though.html

Rather than trying to address that though, I would first challenge your initial design decision.

Quote:

If the bar were to be placed in a table, this table would always be the same with regardless of the page layout. Unlinking the footer and setting the table to "AutoFit Window" will fill the correct width, but also widens the ends. To overcome this I have set a tab-stop at the correct width, followed by a right alignment tab, applied the correct shading to both parts and placed an inline textbox of the correct width with the page number on the right. Up to here, this works perfectly.

You absolutely can control the table so it automatically adapts without widening ALL columns. Set up the TABLE so it has a preferred width of 100%. Then go to the columns tab and set:
Column 1 with a preferred width of x (cm or inches)
Column 2 with no preferred width
Column 3 with a preferred width of x (cm or inches)
Then you will find that you can change the page width and the table will adapt by only changing the width of the middle column.

AllekieF · #3 10-13-2023, 06:23 AM

That did the trick, thanks!
Would have liked a solution where I did not have to unlink the footer, but unfortunately apparently that is not possible with this mark-up feature.

Now to update the rest of the macro's to accommodate this change.

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