How to count the number of lines in a Word table cell

BillH45 · #1 10-21-2025, 04:29 AM

The title says it all, really.

I hope some helpful expert can come up with some code to determine the number of lines of text there are in a given table cell, referenced by tbl.Cell(r, c) where tbl is the table.

gmaxey · #2 10-21-2025, 06:04 AM

A bit cumbersome but may work for you:

Code:

Sub ScratchMacro()
'A basic Word Macro coded by Gregory K. Maxey
Dim strText As String
Dim lngIndex As Long
Dim oRng As Range
Dim oCol As New Collection
Dim strPosit As String
  strText = ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Cell(1, 1).Range.Text
  For lngIndex = 1 To Len(strText)
    Set oRng = ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Cell(1, 1).Range.Characters(lngIndex)
    On Error Resume Next
    strPosit = CStr(oRng.Information(wdVerticalPositionRelativeToPage))
    oCol.Add strPosit, strPosit
   Next
  MsgBox oCol.Count
lbl_Exit:
  Exit Sub
End Sub

... of course all of the text will have to be on the same page.

Guessed · #3 10-21-2025, 03:08 PM

Another non-optimal method is to use the selection object. It has the benefit of working across page breaks.

Code:

Sub HowManyLines()
  Dim aRng As Range, i As Integer, aTbl As Table
  Set aTbl = ActiveDocument.Tables(1)
  Set aRng = aTbl.Cell(1, 2).Range
  aRng.Select
  Selection.Collapse Direction:=wdCollapseStart
  Do While Selection.Range.End < aRng.End
    i = i + 1
    Selection.MoveDown Unit:=wdLine, Count:=1
  Loop
  MsgBox "Cell line count: " & i
End Sub

The problem with this method is that it relies on moving the selection. I wasn't able to find a Range.MoveDown option but if one existed then it would be better than using Selection.

macropod · #4 10-21-2025, 10:21 PM

Similarly:

Code:

Dim p As Single, l As Long, Rng As Range
Set Rng = Tbl.Cell(r, c).Range
With Rng
  .End = .End - 1
  p = .Characters.First.Information(wdVerticalPositionRelativeToPage): l = 1
  Do While .Words.First.Start < .Words.Last.Start
    .MoveStart wdWord, 1
    If .Characters.First.Information(wdVerticalPositionRelativeToPage) > p Then
      p = .Characters.First.Information(wdVerticalPositionRelativeToPage): l = l + 1
    End If
  Loop
End With
MsgBox l

This, too, works when the cell spans a page break.

BillH45 · #5 10-22-2025, 03:57 AM

Thanks for the ideas. Maybe I should have mentioned that no cells involved will ever span a page so that's not an issue.

However, I have to report that only the code supplied by Guessed gives the right answer (at least in my environment) . The other two always come up with 1 line no matter how many there are (there will be from 1 to 5 in practice).

macropod · #6 10-22-2025, 04:00 AM

In my testing, the code I posted easily counts to more than 50 lines, including when page breaks are spanned.

vivka · #7 10-22-2025, 05:12 AM

Hi, BillH45 ! If you replace the typo "<p" with ">p" in Paul's code, everything will work like a charm. All of the proposed methods are real gems: simple and nice to learn from (my opinion)!

gmaxey · #8 10-22-2025, 08:40 AM

Paul, I tested with your code as well and was not getting proper results. Changing your

If .Characters.First.Information(wdVerticalPositionRe lativeToPage) < p Then To
If .Characters.First.Information(wdVerticalPositionRe lativeToPage) <> p Then

Resolved

macropod · #9 10-22-2025, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmaxey

Paul, I tested with your code as well and was not getting proper results. Changing your

If .Characters.First.Information(wdVerticalPositionRe lativeToPage) < p Then To
If .Characters.First.Information(wdVerticalPositionRe lativeToPage) <> p Then

Resolved

Actually,

Code:

If .Characters.First.Information(wdVerticalPositionRelativeToPage) <> p Then

is what I originally posted. But I realised I didn't need that and that

Code:

If .Characters.First.Information(wdVerticalPositionRelativeToPage) > p

would be sufficient. I then edited out the wrong character.

Corrected.

BillH45 · #10 10-22-2025, 08:57 AM

Thanks to all contributors. All versions are now working for me.

My expertise is in Excel VBA and Word macros are another country. With apologies to vivka, I have little idea of how these macros actually work, so can anyone advise on which is the most efficient?

gmaxey · #11 10-22-2025, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillH45

Thanks to all contributors. All versions are now working for me.

My expertise is in Excel VBA and Word macros are another country. With apologies to vivka, I have little idea of how these macros actually work, so can anyone advise on which is the most efficient?

I would suggests using any working versions of Paul's (Macropod)

gmaxey · #12 Yesterday, 05:48 AM

Paul, I have tested and rested with a simple document with one 2 x 2 table where the text in the target cell splits across a page. In every instance without using "<> p" I do not get the expected count.

In one test there were two lines of text on the first page and 3 lines on the second page using either "< p" or "> P" the return is 2. Only with using "<> p" do I get the expected return of 5.

macropod · #13 Yesterday, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmaxey

Paul, I have tested and rested with a simple document with one 2 x 2 table where the text in the target cell splits across a page. In every instance without using "<> p" I do not get the expected count.

In one test there were two lines of text on the first page and 3 lines on the second page using either "< p" or "> P" the return is 2. Only with using "<> p" do I get the expected return of 5.

Curious. For me the code works just fine with:

Code:

If .Characters.First.Information(wdVerticalPositionRelativeToPage) > p

returning 51 on a 2*2 table spanning two pages.

vivka · #14 Yesterday, 09:02 AM

BillH45, I think you can use any code you like because all of them work. They differ only in approaches to the task. I'll keep all of them in my collection (with proper references to the authors).

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