Hello,

I currently use a REGEX-based macro in MS Word to extract all uppercase words and generate a separate document listing these words in a table. This has been particularly helpful for creating acronym lists, such as those used in appendices. However, I would like to modify the existing macro to reduce "false positives"—specifically, words that are in uppercase but are not actual acronyms.

To illustrate, I have attached two sample documents along with their respective outputs:

1. "Sample Document with Acronyms v01"
Contents: This document contains 10 uppercase acronyms highlighted in green. There is also a mixed-case acronym ("IoT," standing for "Internet of Things") marked in yellow. The current macro does not recognize mixed-case acronyms.



Process:

• Open the document.
• Select "View" from the Office ribbon.
• Navigate to "Macros" > "View Macros" and run "ExtractAcronymsToNewDocument."
• The macro generates a new Word document listing all found uppercase words in a table, with columns for "Acronym," "Definition" (left blank), and "Page" (indicating the first occurrence).
• Outcome: This method works well but misses the mixed-case acronym ("IoT").

2. "Sample Document with Acronyms v02"
Contents: This is a copy of v01 with added words ("TABLE OF CONTENTS," "PARA #1," "PARA #2") marked in red. These uppercase headers are not acronyms but are extracted by the macro.
Process: Running the macro results in a new document listing the 10 green acronyms, but also includes the 4 additional uppercase header words (false positives).
Issues with the Current Macro:
Over-Inclusion: The macro extracts all uppercase words, including headers and other non-acronym text.
Under-Inclusion: It does not extract acronyms that use mixed-case formatting, such as "IoT."

Questions:
Q1: How can the REGEX macro be adjusted to only include uppercase words within parentheses, potentially reducing false positives?
Q2: Is there a way to modify the macro to extract mixed-case acronyms like "IoT," in addition to the standard uppercase acronyms?

Even a solution that addresses only Q1 would be highly valuable, as the current macro generates an overwhelming number of false positives in lengthy documents.

Thank you for considering my request, and I appreciate any guidance you can provide!

Attached Files

Sample Documents and Outputs.zip (44.1 KB, 5 views)

Since you haven't supplied your RegEx code, no-one is going to be able to help you with that. However, see: https://www.msofficeforums.com/word-...generator.html

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

Paul -- the existing REGEX code is included in the MS-Word document.

Again, please follow the provided instructions:
Open the document.
Select "View" from the Office ribbon.
Navigate to "Macros" > "View Macros" and run "ExtractAcronymsToNewDocument."

Also, see attached PNG.

Attached Images

Code.png (149.2 KB, 14 views)

All your zipped documents are in the docx format. Documents in the docx format cannot contain macros.

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

I downloaded the zip file from the forum and all code was there.

As I said:Undoubtedly, your documents are attached to a template that contains the macro, which makes the macro available to the documents - but only on your system.

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