Brackets around FN references

RRB · #1 08-10-2025, 01:23 AM

Hi, Dear Friends!

I asked ChatGPT to write a macro that inserts a footnote and then places square brackets around the FN reference in the main text area, formatting the whole string as superscript.

It gave me this:

Quote:

Sub InsertFootnoteWithBracketsAndSuperscript()
' This macro overrides the default Ctrl+Alt+F behavior for inserting footnotes.
' It inserts the footnote reference within square brackets and formats the
' entire string (brackets + reference) as superscript.

Dim newFootnote As Footnote
Dim footnoteAreaRefRange As Range
Dim footnoteAreaRange As Range
Dim footnoteRefRange As Range
Dim originalSelectionRange As Range

' Disable screen updating to prevent visual flickering during the macro execution.
Application.ScreenUpdating = False

' Error handling in case something goes wrong.
On Error GoTo ErrorHandler

' Store the current selection or insertion point in the main document.
Set originalSelectionRange = Selection.Range.Duplicate

' 1. Insert the footnote at the current cursor position.
' The Footnotes.Add method inserts the footnote reference number (e.g., "¹")
' and automatically moves the cursor to the footnote text area at the bottom
' of the page/document, ready for the user to type the footnote content.
Set newFootnote = ActiveDocument.Footnotes.Add(Range:=originalSelect ionRange)

' 2. Get the Range object that represents the newly inserted footnote reference
' number in the main document text (e.g., the "¹" itself).
Set footnoteRefRange = newFootnote.Reference

' 3. Insert the opening square bracket "[" immediately before the footnote reference.
' The 'footnoteRefRange' object will automatically adjust its starting point
' to include this newly inserted character.
footnoteRefRange.InsertBefore "["

' 4. Insert the closing square bracket "]" immediately after the footnote reference.
' The 'footnoteRefRange' object will automatically adjust its ending point
' to include this newly inserted character. At this point, 'footnoteRefRange'
' now encompasses the entire string, e.g., "[¹]".
footnoteRefRange.InsertAfter "]"

' 5. Apply superscript formatting to the entire range, which now includes
' both the brackets and the footnote reference number.
footnoteRefRange.font.Superscript = True
' Re-enable screen updating.
Application.ScreenUpdating = True

Exit Sub

This works fine. But then I asked it to also enclose the new FN reference in the FN area in square brackets and format the entire string as regular text, and then place the cursor after that so I can start writing the actual FN. It just cannot get it right!

Can we outdo him?

Thank you, and have a good day!
Susan Flamingo

macropod · #2 08-10-2025, 03:44 PM

You could use a macro like the following:

Code:

Sub InsertFootnote()
Dim Rng As Range: Set Rng = Selection.Range
Application.Dialogs(wdDialogInsertFootnote).Execute
Rng.End = Rng.End + 1: Rng.InsertBefore "[": Rng.InsertAfter "]": Rng.Style = wdStyleFootnoteReference
Selection.Start = Selection.Start - 1
Set Rng = Selection.Range: Rng.Collapse wdCollapseStart
Rng.Start = Rng.Start - 1: Rng.InsertBefore "[": Rng.InsertAfter "]": Rng.Style = wdStyleFootnoteReference
Selection.Collapse wdCollapseEnd
If ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.Type = wdPrintView Or ActiveWindow. _
  ActivePane.View.Type = wdWebView Or ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.Type = wdPrintPreview Then
  ActiveWindow.View.SeekView = wdSeekFootnotes
Else
  ActiveWindow.View.SplitSpecial = wdPaneFootnotes
End If
End Sub

RRB · #3 08-11-2025, 12:10 AM

I guess we still need some real intelligence from real people

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