Selection Anomoly

gmaxey · #1 06-16-2024, 06:33 AM

I was working on a larger project and have stumbled on an anomaly that I can't work out/understand the underlying cause:

The following procedures illustrate:

Code:

Option Explicit
Sub Demo_LostSelection_AnomolyI()
Dim oRng As Range
Dim oDocTmp As Document
  ActiveDocument.Range.Text = "One two three"
  ActiveDocument.Words(1).Select
  Set oDocTmp = Documents.Add
  oDocTmp.Close wdDoNotSaveChanges
  'Notice after the procedure runs that the selection is reset to the start of the page.
lbl_Exit:
  Exit Sub
End Sub
Sub Demo_LostSelection_AnomolyII()
Dim oRng As Range
Dim oDocTmp As Document
  ActiveDocument.Range.Text = "One two three"
  ActiveDocument.Words(1).Select
  Set oDocTmp = Documents.Add
  'The problem seems to manifest from closing the temporary document.
  'Set that out, and the selection in the original document is preserved.
  'oDocTmp.Close wdDoNotSaveChanges
lbl_Exit:
  Exit Sub
End Sub
Sub Demo_LostSelection_AnomolyIII()
Dim oRng As Range
Dim oDocTmp As Document
Dim i
  ActiveDocument.Range.Text = "One two three"
  ActiveDocument.Words(1).Select
  Set oDocTmp = Documents.Add
  'The problem seems to manifest from closing the temporary document.
  oDocTmp.Close wdDoNotSaveChanges
  'The problem does not persist if there is a breakpoint in the code.  Let the code
  'run to the stop then run to end.
  Stop
lbl_Exit:
  Exit Sub
End Sub
Sub Demo_LostSelection_AnomolyIV()
Dim oRng As Range
Dim oDocTmp As Document
  ActiveDocument.Range.Text = "One two three"
  ActiveDocument.Words(1).Select
  Set oDocTmp = Documents.Add
  'The problem seems to manifest from closing the temporary document.
  oDocTmp.Close wdDoNotSaveChanges
  'The problem persists even if you attempt to reselect the original selection after closing the temporay file.
  ActiveDocument.Words(1).Select
lbl_Exit:
  Exit Sub
End Sub
Sub Demo_LostSelection_AnomolyV()
Dim oRng As Range
Dim oDocTmp As Document
  ActiveDocument.Range.Text = "One two three"
  ActiveDocument.Words(1).Select
  Set oDocTmp = Documents.Add
  'The problem seems to manifest from closing the temporary document.
  oDocTmp.Close wdDoNotSaveChanges
  '... even though that text was still selected
  MsgBox Selection.Text
  '... or if you attempt to make another selection
  ActiveDocument.Words(3).Select
  MsgBox Selection.Text
  'For whatever reason, closing the temporary document and letting the procedure run to completion
  'without a breakpoint destroys the selection (resets it to the top of the page).
lbl_Exit:
  Exit Sub
End Sub

Why does closing the temporary document and letting the code run to completion cause the selection to reset to top of page?
Why does adding the breakpoint (Stop) prevent this behavior?
Anyone know of a solution to prevent this behavior without resorting to breakpoint?

Crossposted at: Selection Anomoly and Selection Anomoly - Eileen's Lounge

gmaxey · #2 06-16-2024, 09:56 AM

Well, I wallowed around in this one long enough. It seems that simply adding a DoEvents after the Documents.Add method eliminates the anomaly.

Sub Demo_LostSelection_AnomolyI()
Dim oRng As Range
Dim oDocTmp As Document
ActiveDocument.Range.Text = "One two three"
ActiveDocument.Words(1).Select
Set oDocTmp = Documents.Add
DoEvents
oDocTmp.Close wdDoNotSaveChanges
'Notice after the procedure runs that the selection is reset to the start of the page.
lbl_Exit:
Exit Sub
End Sub

Guessed · #3 06-16-2024, 06:18 PM

Greg
Without the DoEvents, on my machine the selection doesn't change so I think we can say there is variable behaviour with the selection.

Another alternative you might also add to the experiment list is to add the temp doc invisibly. Is it closing the temp doc that is the issue on your machine or changing the activedocument?

Code:

Set oDocTmp = Documents.Add(Visible:=False)

gmaxey · #4 06-17-2024, 03:33 AM

Andrews,

I had already tried that. But I do have an update. Coming back to this issue a little later yesterday, I discovered that DoEvents was not the solution. The solution was realizing the whole issue was my own fault.

I tried the process with my installation of Word 2010 and 2003 and like others have reported, there was no issue. Something about my installation of Word 2019 was the culprit. Then I remembered that years ago, I had created a small procedure to ensure the correct (or my preferred) view and zoom when I open Word (Word 2019) or create a new document.

It was an element in that procedure that was resetting the selection. It was perplexing simply because I was focusing on Document.Close as the culprit (which it seems to be) but actually it was the Document.Add which triggered the external procedure. I'm still not clear why the issue doesn't appear if the new document is left open or if the Stop is inserted but can't spend more time trying to fix something no longer broken. Thanks for posting.

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