Random letter colors?

[Jay Freedman]

Excellent! Thanks.

Here's my latest version. I have some questions at the end.

You're really getting into this! Good stuff... I'll just throw in a
couple of suggestions about your code before I get to the questions.

'======================= sample code =================
Sub RandCharColors()

Dim oChar As Range
Dim myColor As Word.WdColorIndex
Dim vaColors As Variant
Dim iChar As Integer
Dim sOption As String

The sOption variable really should be declared as an Integer instead
of a String. If you look at the VBA help topic on the MsgBox function,
you'll see that it returns an Integer value to tell you which button
was pressed, and the vbYes/vbNo/vbCancel constants are all integers.
Your code functions because VBA does a silent conversion in the
assignment and logical comparison operators, but it shouldn't have to.

'Define the colors to be used
vaColors = Array(wdRed, wdGreen, wdBlack)

'Find out if the user wants random or repeating colors
Const sPrompt As String = "Click on:" & vbCrLf & _
"Yes = random colors" & vbCrLf & _
"No = repeating colors"
Const sTitle As String = "Random Character Colors Macro"
sOption = MsgBox(sPrompt, vbYesNoCancel, sTitle)
If sOption <> vbYes And sOption <> vbNo Then 'If neither yes or no,
exit

It would be simpler here to write
If sOption = vbCancel Then

Call MsgBox("No action taken", , sTitle)
Return

If you test this by clicking the Cancel button, you'll get an error
("Return without GoSub"). Instead of Return, what you want here is
Exit Sub.

End If

'Apply the colors
iChar = 0
Randomize
For Each oChar In Selection.Characters
If oChar.Text = " " Or oChar.Text = vbCr Or oChar.Text = vbLf Then
myColor = vbBlack
ElseIf sOption = vbYes Then
myColor = vaColors(Int((UBound(vaColors) + 1) * Rnd()))
Else
myColor = vaColors(iChar Mod (UBound(vaColors) + 1))
iChar = iChar + 1
End If
oChar.Font.ColorIndex = myColor
Next oChar

End Sub
'===========================================

1. Is there some way to modify the MsgBox function so that it will put
up buttins with different labels? I would like "Random", "Repeating",
and "Cancel". If not, is there another function to accomplish that?

There's no way in standard VBA to get a MsgBox to display any buttons
except the ones listed in the help topic. I suspect there might be a
way to use a Windows API call to modify the captions on the buttons,
but I'd have to spend some time studying it.

The alternative is to make a userform that looks like a message box,
and contains whatever text and buttons you want. This is a little more
complex, but if you think this kind of macro programming is fun,
userforms will be a real blast. Start at
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Userforms/CreateAUserForm.htm, and let
me know if you need help.

2. I am testing for certain characters, such as space, CR and LF, so I
can skip them. Otherwise, the repeating pattern gets off. I should
probably add others such as tab. Is there a good way to test the
current character against a list (without doing separate compares) or
is there a way to test if it is a printable character (a-z, 0-9, or
certain specials (!#$%...)?

You can test against a list by replacing

If oChar.Text = " " Or oChar.Text = vbCr Or oChar.Text = vbLf Then

with

If oChar.Text Like "[ ^13^10^9]" Then

where the numeric codes are ^13 = vbCr, ^10 = vbLf, and ^9 = vbTab.
The Like operator checks the oChar.Text to see if it's any of the
characters inside the brackets.

Alternatively, you can set up the loop this way:

For Each oChar In Selection.Characters
If oChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9!#$%*]" Then
If sOption = vbYes Then
myColor = vaColors(Int((UBound(vaColors) + 1) * Rnd()))
Else
myColor = vaColors(iChar Mod (UBound(vaColors) + 1))
iChar = iChar + 1
End If
Else
myColor = vbBlack
End If
oChar.Font.ColorIndex = myColor
Next oChar

Now the coloring is done only for letters, digits, and the listed
special characters, and anything else falls into the vbBlack case.

3. What's the best way to call the macro other than assigning it to a
keyboard shortcut?

You have these choices:

- Keyboard shortcut
- Toolbar button
- Menu item
- Entry or Exit macro of a protected form field
- Intercept a built-in command such as Save or Print
- Respond to an event such as opening, closing, switching to another
window, etc.

Which one is the "best" way depends on what the macro does and what
your preference is. Often it's nice to have two or more ways for the
same macro, for instance a shortcut and a menu item.

Here are some references:

http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/AsgnCmdOrMacroToHotkey.htm
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/AsgnCmdOrMacroToToolbar.htm
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/MacrosVBA/InterceptSavePrint.htm
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/MacrosVBA/DocumentEvents.htm
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/MacrosVBA/ApplicationEvents.htm

Thanks. This has been kinda fun.

Yeah, I know. It's been fun for me since Word 2.0. That's why I'm
here.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

 

[LurfysMa]

You're really getting into this! Good stuff... I'll just throw in a
couple of suggestions about your code before I get to the questions.
....snip...

'Define the colors to be used

It would be simpler here to write
If sOption = vbCancel Then

I wasn't sure if Yes, No, and Cancel were the only possibilities. I
just tried the Esc key and the little "X" icon and they both return a
"2" just like Cancel. I just felt safer testing for the values I knew
could be returned and allowing anything else (that I may not have
known about) to cause an exit.

So, unless there's so reason to change it, I think I'll leave it as
is.

2. I am testing for certain characters, such as space, CR and LF, so I
can skip them. Otherwise, the repeating pattern gets off. I should
probably add others such as tab. Is there a good way to test the
current character against a list (without doing separate compares) or
is there a way to test if it is a printable character (a-z, 0-9, or
certain specials (!#$%...)?

You can test against a list by replacing

If oChar.Text = " " Or oChar.Text = vbCr Or oChar.Text = vbLf Then

with

For Each oChar In Selection.Characters
If oChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9!#$%*]" Then

Perfect. That was just what I was looking for.

I was able to get the letters and numbers to work, but ran into
trouble with a few of the special characters:

For single quote, I tried "[A-Za-z0-9']" and "[A-Za-z0-9]'". Neither
worked. With the quote ouside the brackets, no characters were
selected. The help mentions special provisions for []?#*, but not for
the quotes.

For double quote, similar results. I tried "[A-Za-z0-9""]" and
"[A-Za-z0-9]""".

The help warns about "*?#" and the brackets, but this string worked
just fine: "[A-Za-z0-9[*?#]". I could not find a way to make "]" work,
however. I tried "[A-Za-z0-9]]".



Thanks for all the help. Now I am off to read up on user forms to get
that MsgBox impersonator working.

 

[Jay Freedman]

....snip...

You can test against a list by replacing

If oChar.Text = " " Or oChar.Text = vbCr Or oChar.Text = vbLf Then

with

For Each oChar In Selection.Characters
If oChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9!#$%*]" Then

Perfect. That was just what I was looking for.

I was able to get the letters and numbers to work, but ran into
trouble with a few of the special characters:

For single quote, I tried "[A-Za-z0-9']" and "[A-Za-z0-9]'". Neither
worked. With the quote ouside the brackets, no characters were
selected. The help mentions special provisions for []?#*, but not for
the quotes.

For double quote, similar results. I tried "[A-Za-z0-9""]" and
"[A-Za-z0-9]""".

The help warns about "*?#" and the brackets, but this string worked
just fine: "[A-Za-z0-9[*?#]". I could not find a way to make "]" work,
however. I tried "[A-Za-z0-9]]".

Does your document have curly quotes (a.k.a. "smart quotes")
substituted for straight quotes by the AutoFormat As You Type feature?
The Like operator treats them separately.

The single quote that you can type directly into VBA code matches only
straight single quotes in the text. The curly opening and closing
single quotes are Chr$(145) and Chr$(146), respectively. The curly
double quotes are 147 and 148. All four of them would have to be
included in the pattern string for the Like operator to match them.

Let's start by including just the straight single and double quotes in
a pattern:

If oChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9'""]" Then

The single quote should work fine by itself. The double quote would
prematurely end the string if you tried to stick one inside the square
brackets, but two of them together are understood to mean an actual
double quote character instead of the string-ending quote.

Now, to get the curly quotes into the expression, you have to somehow
get them inside the square bracket. You could just jam all the Chr$()
calls in, using the concatenation (&) operator, but I'd make it more
readable by creating a separate string to hold them:

Dim curlies As String
curlies = Chr$(145) & Chr$(146) & Chr$(147) & Chr$(148)
For Each oChar In Selection.Characters
If oChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9'""" & curlies & "]" Then

After the 0-9 the characters there are a single quote, two double
quotes to make a double-quote character, and another double quote to
end that part of the string; then the & curlies & ; and finally the
closing square bracket. As far as the Like operator knows, it's all
one string within square brackets.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

 

[LurfysMa]

...snip...

You can test against a list by replacing

If oChar.Text = " " Or oChar.Text = vbCr Or oChar.Text = vbLf Then

with

For Each oChar In Selection.Characters
If oChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9!#$%*]" Then

Perfect. That was just what I was looking for.

I was able to get the letters and numbers to work, but ran into
trouble with a few of the special characters:

For single quote, I tried "[A-Za-z0-9']" and "[A-Za-z0-9]'". Neither
worked. With the quote ouside the brackets, no characters were
selected. The help mentions special provisions for []?#*, but not for
the quotes.

For double quote, similar results. I tried "[A-Za-z0-9""]" and
"[A-Za-z0-9]""".

The help warns about "*?#" and the brackets, but this string worked
just fine: "[A-Za-z0-9[*?#]". I could not find a way to make "]" work,
however. I tried "[A-Za-z0-9]]".

Does your document have curly quotes (a.k.a. "smart quotes")
substituted for straight quotes by the AutoFormat As You Type feature?
The Like operator treats them separately.

Yes, I should have thought of that.

The single quote that you can type directly into VBA code matches only
straight single quotes in the text. The curly opening and closing
single quotes are Chr$(145) and Chr$(146), respectively. The curly
double quotes are 147 and 148. All four of them would have to be
included in the pattern string for the Like operator to match them.

Let's start by including just the straight single and double quotes in
a pattern:

If oChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9'""]" Then

The single quote should work fine by itself. The double quote would
prematurely end the string if you tried to stick one inside the square
brackets, but two of them together are understood to mean an actual
double quote character instead of the string-ending quote.

Now, to get the curly quotes into the expression, you have to somehow
get them inside the square bracket. You could just jam all the Chr$()
calls in, using the concatenation (&) operator, but I'd make it more
readable by creating a separate string to hold them:

Dim curlies As String
curlies = Chr$(145) & Chr$(146) & Chr$(147) & Chr$(148)
For Each oChar In Selection.Characters
If oChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9'""" & curlies & "]" Then

After the 0-9 the characters there are a single quote, two double
quotes to make a double-quote character, and another double quote to
end that part of the string; then the & curlies & ; and finally the
closing square bracket. As far as the Like operator knows, it's all
one string within square brackets.

All that now works properly.

The only character I cannot get to work in "]".

I tried doubling it "[A-Z]]]", but that didn't work.

The help says it cannot be used within a group, but it can be used
outside of a group. There is no example and I can't figure that one
out.



I also got the user form to work. I'll post the complete macro when I
get "]" working.

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

Use \]

See the article "Finding and replacing characters using wildcards" at:

http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/UsingWildcards.htm


--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

On Wed, 28 Dec 2005 16:01:02 -0500, Jay Freedman

...snip...

You can test against a list by replacing

If oChar.Text = " " Or oChar.Text = vbCr Or oChar.Text = vbLf Then

with

For Each oChar In Selection.Characters
If oChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9!#$%*]" Then

Perfect. That was just what I was looking for.

I was able to get the letters and numbers to work, but ran into
trouble with a few of the special characters:

For single quote, I tried "[A-Za-z0-9']" and "[A-Za-z0-9]'". Neither
worked. With the quote ouside the brackets, no characters were
selected. The help mentions special provisions for []?#*, but not for
the quotes.

For double quote, similar results. I tried "[A-Za-z0-9""]" and
"[A-Za-z0-9]""".

The help warns about "*?#" and the brackets, but this string worked
just fine: "[A-Za-z0-9[*?#]". I could not find a way to make "]" work,
however. I tried "[A-Za-z0-9]]".

Does your document have curly quotes (a.k.a. "smart quotes")
substituted for straight quotes by the AutoFormat As You Type feature?
The Like operator treats them separately.

Yes, I should have thought of that.

The single quote that you can type directly into VBA code matches only
straight single quotes in the text. The curly opening and closing
single quotes are Chr$(145) and Chr$(146), respectively. The curly
double quotes are 147 and 148. All four of them would have to be
included in the pattern string for the Like operator to match them.

Let's start by including just the straight single and double quotes in
a pattern:

If oChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9'""]" Then

The single quote should work fine by itself. The double quote would
prematurely end the string if you tried to stick one inside the square
brackets, but two of them together are understood to mean an actual
double quote character instead of the string-ending quote.

Now, to get the curly quotes into the expression, you have to somehow
get them inside the square bracket. You could just jam all the Chr$()
calls in, using the concatenation (&) operator, but I'd make it more
readable by creating a separate string to hold them:

Dim curlies As String
curlies = Chr$(145) & Chr$(146) & Chr$(147) & Chr$(148)
For Each oChar In Selection.Characters
If oChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9'""" & curlies & "]" Then

After the 0-9 the characters there are a single quote, two double
quotes to make a double-quote character, and another double quote to
end that part of the string; then the & curlies & ; and finally the
closing square bracket. As far as the Like operator knows, it's all
one string within square brackets.

All that now works properly.

The only character I cannot get to work in "]".

I tried doubling it "[A-Z]]]", but that didn't work.

The help says it cannot be used within a group, but it can be used
outside of a group. There is no example and I can't figure that one
out.



I also got the user form to work. I'll post the complete macro when I
get "]" working.

 

[LurfysMa]

Use \]

See the article "Finding and replacing characters using wildcards" at:

http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/UsingWildcards.htm

Do you mean like this: "[A-Za-z0-9\]]" ?

The following code:

If obChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9\]]" then...

is always false with even for A-Z, a-z, and 0-9.

Change it to:

If obChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9]" then ...

and it works perfectly.

 

[Graham Mayor]

Or the revised version of it at
http://www.gmayor.com/replace_using_wildcards.htm

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

Use \]

See the article "Finding and replacing characters using wildcards" at:

http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/UsingWildcards.htm

01:02 -0500, Jay Freedman

On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 20:23:26 -0800, LurfysMa

...snip...

You can test against a list by replacing

If oChar.Text = " " Or oChar.Text = vbCr Or oChar.Text = vbLf Then

with

For Each oChar In Selection.Characters
If oChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9!#$%*]" Then

Perfect. That was just what I was looking for.

I was able to get the letters and numbers to work, but ran into
trouble with a few of the special characters:

For single quote, I tried "[A-Za-z0-9']" and "[A-Za-z0-9]'".
Neither worked. With the quote ouside the brackets, no characters
were selected. The help mentions special provisions for []?#*, but
not for the quotes.

For double quote, similar results. I tried "[A-Za-z0-9""]" and
"[A-Za-z0-9]""".

The help warns about "*?#" and the brackets, but this string worked
just fine: "[A-Za-z0-9[*?#]". I could not find a way to make "]"
work, however. I tried "[A-Za-z0-9]]".

Does your document have curly quotes (a.k.a. "smart quotes")
substituted for straight quotes by the AutoFormat As You Type
feature? The Like operator treats them separately.

Yes, I should have thought of that.

The single quote that you can type directly into VBA code matches
only straight single quotes in the text. The curly opening and
closing single quotes are Chr$(145) and Chr$(146), respectively.
The curly double quotes are 147 and 148. All four of them would
have to be included in the pattern string for the Like operator to
match them. Let's start by including just the straight single and double
quotes
in a pattern:

If oChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9'""]" Then

The single quote should work fine by itself. The double quote would
prematurely end the string if you tried to stick one inside the
square brackets, but two of them together are understood to mean an
actual double quote character instead of the string-ending quote.

Now, to get the curly quotes into the expression, you have to
somehow get them inside the square bracket. You could just jam all
the Chr$() calls in, using the concatenation (&) operator, but I'd
make it more readable by creating a separate string to hold them:

Dim curlies As String
curlies = Chr$(145) & Chr$(146) & Chr$(147) & Chr$(148)
For Each oChar In Selection.Characters
If oChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9'""" & curlies & "]" Then

After the 0-9 the characters there are a single quote, two double
quotes to make a double-quote character, and another double quote to
end that part of the string; then the & curlies & ; and finally
the closing square bracket. As far as the Like operator knows, it's
all one string within square brackets.

All that now works properly.

The only character I cannot get to work in "]".

I tried doubling it "[A-Z]]]", but that didn't work.

The help says it cannot be used within a group, but it can be used
outside of a group. There is no example and I can't figure that one
out.



I also got the user form to work. I'll post the complete macro when I
get "]" working.

 

[LurfysMa]

Or the revised version of it at
http://www.gmayor.com/replace_using_wildcards.htm

OK. I have read both articles. Based on that, it seems to me that the
expression "[A-Za-z0-9[\]]" ought to find all of the letters and
numbers plus the square brackets ([]) in a Like comparison.

But it doesn't match any characters at all.

However, if I delete the "\]", leaving "[A-Za-z0-9[]", then it will
match all of the letters and numbers plus "[".

What am I doing wrong?

 

[Graham Mayor]

It certainly works when used from a Wildcard search within Word - As for
your code, that has long since lapsed from my newsreader.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

Or the revised version of it at
http://www.gmayor.com/replace_using_wildcards.htm

OK. I have read both articles. Based on that, it seems to me that the
expression "[A-Za-z0-9[\]]" ought to find all of the letters and
numbers plus the square brackets ([]) in a Like comparison.

But it doesn't match any characters at all.

However, if I delete the "\]", leaving "[A-Za-z0-9[]", then it will
match all of the letters and numbers plus "[".

What am I doing wrong?

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

It turns out that you are doing nothing wrong (apart from not making use of
the Help file <g>). It is a difference between the use of a Wildcard Find
and the use of the Like function.

The following is from the Visual Basic Help file:

Quote
Note To match the special characters left bracket ([), question mark (?),
number sign (#), and asterisk (*), enclose them in brackets. The right
bracket (]) can't be used within a group to match itself, but it can be used
outside a group as an individual character.

Unquote

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

Or the revised version of it at
http://www.gmayor.com/replace_using_wildcards.htm

OK. I have read both articles. Based on that, it seems to me that the
expression "[A-Za-z0-9[\]]" ought to find all of the letters and
numbers plus the square brackets ([]) in a Like comparison.

But it doesn't match any characters at all.

However, if I delete the "\]", leaving "[A-Za-z0-9[]", then it will
match all of the letters and numbers plus "[".

What am I doing wrong?

 

[LurfysMa]

It turns out that you are doing nothing wrong (apart from not making use of
the Help file <g>). It is a difference between the use of a Wildcard Find
and the use of the Like function.

The following is from the Visual Basic Help file:

Quote
Note To match the special characters left bracket ([), question mark (?),
number sign (#), and asterisk (*), enclose them in brackets. The right
bracket (]) can't be used within a group to match itself, but it can be used
outside a group as an individual character.

Unquote

I saw that in the help file. I've read it 50 times. I still can't make
it work. If it's so obvious to you, why don't you just provide the
solution -- the exact compare string?

Here's my code.

For Each obChar In Selection.Characters
If obChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9]" Then
ilColorNext = vbRed
Else
ilColorNext = vbBlack
End If
Next obChar

That code turns all of the letters and numbers red and everything else
black.

Here are some of the other strings I have tried in place of the one
above:

1. This string turns all of the numbers and letters plus a few special
characters red. This works for all special characters I tried except
"]". It even works for dash ("-") provided that it is the last
character (or the first).

"[A-Za-z0-9?[*#]"

2. But it does not work for "]". This string doesn't turn anything
red:

"[A-Z]]"

3. It was not clear to me whether the extra "]" in the string above
was inside or outside the group, so I tried putting in first, but it
turns everything black:

"][A-Z]"

4. Just to make sure I got it outside the group, I making it the only
thing in the string. This string turns all ]'s red and everuything
else black. But how can I code it in a string with anything else?

"]"

5. Someone said to use a back slash, so I tried it. All of these
strings turn everything black:

"[A-z\]]"
"\][A-z]"
"[A-z]\]"

I give up. If you know a string that will work, how about putting me
out of my misery and just posting it.

I did come up with a workaround. Just make two comparisons: one for
just the "]" and one for everything else.

 

[Jay Freedman]

It looks like I went to bed too early last night.

The implication of the too-terse help topic is that you can't combine
the right bracket with anything else in a pattern that includes a
group. You do have to do two separate comparisons, although they can
be in the same statement:

If (obChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9?[*#]") Or _
(obChar.Text Like "]") Then

or the equivalent

If (obChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9?[*#]") Or _
(obChar.Text = "]") Then

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

It turns out that you are doing nothing wrong (apart from not making use of
the Help file <g>). It is a difference between the use of a Wildcard Find
and the use of the Like function.

The following is from the Visual Basic Help file:

Quote
Note To match the special characters left bracket ([), question mark (?),
number sign (#), and asterisk (*), enclose them in brackets. The right
bracket (]) can't be used within a group to match itself, but it can be used
outside a group as an individual character.

Unquote

I saw that in the help file. I've read it 50 times. I still can't make
it work. If it's so obvious to you, why don't you just provide the
solution -- the exact compare string?

Here's my code.

For Each obChar In Selection.Characters
If obChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9]" Then
ilColorNext = vbRed
Else
ilColorNext = vbBlack
End If
Next obChar

That code turns all of the letters and numbers red and everything else
black.

Here are some of the other strings I have tried in place of the one
above:

1. This string turns all of the numbers and letters plus a few special
characters red. This works for all special characters I tried except
"]". It even works for dash ("-") provided that it is the last
character (or the first).

"[A-Za-z0-9?[*#]"

2. But it does not work for "]". This string doesn't turn anything
red:

"[A-Z]]"

3. It was not clear to me whether the extra "]" in the string above
was inside or outside the group, so I tried putting in first, but it
turns everything black:

"][A-Z]"

4. Just to make sure I got it outside the group, I making it the only
thing in the string. This string turns all ]'s red and everuything
else black. But how can I code it in a string with anything else?

"]"

5. Someone said to use a back slash, so I tried it. All of these
strings turn everything black:

"[A-z\]]"
"\][A-z]"
"[A-z]\]"

I give up. If you know a string that will work, how about putting me
out of my misery and just posting it.

I did come up with a workaround. Just make two comparisons: one for
just the "]" and one for everything else.

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

You must have mis-read this part

'The right bracket (]) can't be used within a group to match itself...'

That is the left bracket ([) CAN be used, but the right bracket (]) CANNOT
be used within a group.

The following code acts on the ] plus any characters Like "[A-Za-z0-9]",
formatting them as Red, formatting everything else in the selection as Black
(I started with everything yellow)

Dim obChar As Range
For Each obChar In Selection.Characters
If obChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9]" Then
obChar.Font.Color = wdColorRed
ElseIf obChar.Text Like "]" Then
obChar.Font.Color = wdColorRed
Else
obChar.Font.Color = wdColorBlack
End If
Next obChar

That was not "so obvious" to me, I first tried to use

Dim obChar As Range
For Each obChar In Selection.Characters
If obChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9](])" Then
obChar.Font.Color = wdColorRed
Else
obChar.Font.Color = wdColorBlack
End If
Next obChar

but that just turned everything black, so I then just included the ElseIf to
pick up the ].

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

It turns out that you are doing nothing wrong (apart from not making use
of
the Help file <g>). It is a difference between the use of a Wildcard
Find
and the use of the Like function.

The following is from the Visual Basic Help file:

Quote
Note To match the special characters left bracket ([), question mark
(?),
number sign (#), and asterisk (*), enclose them in brackets. The right
bracket (]) can't be used within a group to match itself, but it can be
used
outside a group as an individual character.

Unquote

I saw that in the help file. I've read it 50 times. I still can't make
it work. If it's so obvious to you, why don't you just provide the
solution -- the exact compare string?

Here's my code.

For Each obChar In Selection.Characters
If obChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9]" Then
ilColorNext = vbRed
Else
ilColorNext = vbBlack
End If
Next obChar

That code turns all of the letters and numbers red and everything else
black.

Here are some of the other strings I have tried in place of the one
above:

1. This string turns all of the numbers and letters plus a few special
characters red. This works for all special characters I tried except
"]". It even works for dash ("-") provided that it is the last
character (or the first).

"[A-Za-z0-9?[*#]"

2. But it does not work for "]". This string doesn't turn anything
red:

"[A-Z]]"

3. It was not clear to me whether the extra "]" in the string above
was inside or outside the group, so I tried putting in first, but it
turns everything black:

"][A-Z]"

4. Just to make sure I got it outside the group, I making it the only
thing in the string. This string turns all ]'s red and everuything
else black. But how can I code it in a string with anything else?

"]"

5. Someone said to use a back slash, so I tried it. All of these
strings turn everything black:

"[A-z\]]"
"\][A-z]"
"[A-z]\]"

I give up. If you know a string that will work, how about putting me
out of my misery and just posting it.

I did come up with a workaround. Just make two comparisons: one for
just the "]" and one for everything else.

 

[LurfysMa]

It looks like I went to bed too early last night.

The implication of the too-terse help topic is that you can't combine
the right bracket with anything else in a pattern that includes a
group. You do have to do two separate comparisons, although they can
be in the same statement:

If (obChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9?[*#]") Or _
(obChar.Text Like "]") Then

or the equivalent

If (obChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9?[*#]") Or _
(obChar.Text = "]") Then

I discovered a way to get all of the letters, numbers, and special
characters, including the curly quotes, with a fairly simply pattern
for use in the Like operator and without needing two compares.

The trick lies in realizing that all of these characters are in order
starting with the space character (decimal 32, hex 20) and ending with
the ~ (decimal 126, hex 7E). I got this information from

http://www.lookuptables.com/

This enables a single range to get everything including all of the
wild card characters, the straight quotes, and the brackets.

"[ -~]"

The code would look something like this:

For Each obChar In Selection.Characters
If obChar.Text Like "[ -~]" Then
obChar.Font.ColorIndex =GetNextColor
End If
Next obChar

To also get the curly quotes (145-149), simply add another range iont
the same group:

"[ -~" & Chr$(145) & "-" & Chr$(148) & "]"

Slick, if I do say so myself.

OK, now someone tell me why this won't work! ;-)

 

[LurfysMa]

It looks like I went to bed too early last night.

The implication of the too-terse help topic is that you can't combine
the right bracket with anything else in a pattern that includes a
group. You do have to do two separate comparisons, although they can
be in the same statement:

If (obChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9?[*#]") Or _
(obChar.Text Like "]") Then

or the equivalent

If (obChar.Text Like "[A-Za-z0-9?[*#]") Or _
(obChar.Text = "]") Then

I discovered a way to get all of the letters, numbers, and special
characters, including the curly quotes, with a fairly simply pattern
for use in the Like operator and without needing two compares.

The trick lies in realizing that all of these characters are in order
starting with the space character (decimal 32, hex 20) and ending with
the ~ (decimal 126, hex 7E). I got this information from

http://www.lookuptables.com/

This enables a single range to get everything including all of the
wild card characters, the straight quotes, and the brackets.

"[ -~]"

The code would look something like this:

For Each obChar In Selection.Characters
If obChar.Text Like "[ -~]" Then
obChar.Font.ColorIndex =GetNextColor
End If
Next obChar

To also get the curly quotes (145-149), simply add another range iont
the same group:

"[ -~" & Chr$(145) & "-" & Chr$(148) & "]"

Slick, if I do say so myself.

OK, now someone tell me why this won't work! ;-)

Damn!!! That only appeared to work. Here's the fix.

I didn't want the space included. The next character is the "!", so I
modified the pattern to be:

"[!-~" & Chr$(145) & "-" & Chr$(148) & "]"

Unfortunately, the "!" is the character which causes the inverse set
to be used.

To get all characters between "!" and "~", use:

"[""-~" & Chr$(145) & "-" & Chr$(148) & "!]"

This works. (I think.)

 

[LurfysMa]

Every year I send out a Christmas newsletter to quite a lot of children
(grownup now, and grand children. I have established this as a family
tradition over several years, and they all seem to enjoy their Christmas
letter from Grandad. I use Word to compose it, with text and pictures, and
it's always been a heap of fun. Each sub heading has always been prepared
with alternative red and green letters, and looks real great in that
context. It's just for the kids, and only once a year, but something to do
it automatically would be a great labour saver to say the least.

Peter,

Way back in 2005, I asked how write a macro to automatically change
the colors of individual letters in some text. You asked for a copy of
the macro. It took me awhile to write it, and then I forgot that you
had asked. I just came across your post, so here's the macro.

I was going to have it allow the user to select the colors, but I
never got around to that. It's set for half red and half green. If you
want some other mix, you will need to edit the vaColors variable.

Maybe someone can suggest a way to allow the user to enter the colors
(eg, red, red, green).

Enjoy...





Option Explicit


'=========================================================================================
' Macro: MyRandomCharColors
'
' Keyboard Shortcut: None
'
' Set each character in the selection to a different color
' 12/23/05 Basic macro posted to microsoft.public.word.newusers by Jay
Freedman, MVP
' He then continued to help me refine it.
'
' To Do:
' * Limit maximum consecutive in random order
'=========================================================================================
Sub MyRandCharColors()

Const svTitle As String = "Random Character Colors Macro" 'Title for
MsgBox's etc.
Dim obChar As Range 'Object variable
Dim ilColorNext As Word.WdColorIndex 'Color Index property (long)
Dim ilColorLast As Long 'The last color that was applied
Dim vaColors As Variant 'Variant array to hold colors
Dim ilChar As Long 'Color index, if repeating;
counter if random
Dim svCharList As String 'The list of characters that
will be colored
Dim ilMaxChar As Long 'Max consecutive characters of
the same color (random or repeating)

Dim obForm As frmCharColors 'Object variable?
Set obForm = New frmCharColors 'Set up an instance?

ilMaxChar = 2 'Set the upper limit for consecutive characters of
the same color (2 is good)

'Define the list of colors to be used. Colors can be included more
than once.
vaColors = Array(wdRed, wdGreen, wdBlack) '3 colors
vaColors = Array(wdRed, wdGreen, wdBlue)
vaColors = Array(wdRed, wdRed, wdGreen) 'Red:green = 2:1
vaColors = Array(wdRed, wdGreen) 'Christmas colors

'Define which characters will be colored. All others will be skipped
(colored black).
'This range includes all of the letters, numbers, and specials below
Ascii 127.
'They all lie between the space (hex 20) and the ~ (hex 7E):
svCharList = "[ -~]"
'If we want to exclude the space, we need to start at the next
character, but that
'is the "!" which is the exclusion character, so we need to start with
the next
'character, the ", and add the "!" at the end:
svCharList = "[""-~!]"
'The curly (smart) quotes are at Ascii 145-149. We can either build a
range using the
'chr$() function:
svCharList = "[""-~!" & Chr$(145) & "-" & Chr$(148) & "]"
'or paste the characters from Word or the Immediate window.
svCharList = "[""-~!‘-”]"

'Put up a userform to find out if the user wants random or repeating
colors
obForm.Tag = "Cancel" 'Set it to cancel by default
obForm.Show 'Put up the form and get the selection into
me.tag
If obForm.Tag <> "Random" And obForm.Tag <> "Repeat" Then GoTo ExitSub
'If not a choice, quit
If obForm.txtRandMax <> "" Then
ilMaxChar = obForm.txtRandMax
End If


'Apply the colors
ilChar = 0 'Start with the 1st color or zero the counter
ilColorLast = -1 'Initialize to a color that can't match the next one
Randomize 'Just in case they select the Random option
For Each obChar In Selection.Characters
'First, check if it's a character to be colored. Then figure out how
(random or repeating).
If obChar.Text Like svCharList Then 'If it's a character to be
colored,
Select Case obForm.Tag 'Use whichever method
the user choose
Case "Repeat" 'If they chose
'repeat',
ilColorNext = MyRandCharColorsRepeat(ilChar, vaColors)
Case "Random" 'If they chose
'random',
ilColorNext = MyRandCharColorsRandom(ilChar, vaColors,
ilMaxChar, ilColorLast)
End Select
ilColorLast = ilColorNext 'Save the color to check
against next character
Else 'If it is, color it as
requested
ilColorNext = vbBlack 'Make it black
End If
obChar.Font.ColorIndex = ilColorNext
Next obChar

ExitSub: 'We're done. Unload the form and exit
Unload obForm
Set obForm = Nothing

End Sub

'Called by MyRandCharColorsRepeat
'Select a random color from the list up to the consecutive limit
Function MyRandCharColorsRandom(ByRef ilChar As Long, ByVal vaColors
As Variant, _
ByVal ilMaxChar As Long, ByVal
ilColorLast As Long) As Long
Dim nsRnd As Single 'Random color index

Do 'Select a random color up to
the consecutive limit
nsRnd = Rnd()
MyRandCharColorsRandom = vaColors(Int((UBound(vaColors) + 1) *
nsRnd)) 'Select a random color
If MyRandCharColorsRandom <> ilColorLast Then 'If it's a new
color, use it
ilChar = 1 'Reset the
counter & go
Exit Do
Else 'If it's the same
color,
ilChar = ilChar + 1 'Count it
If ilChar <= ilMaxChar Then Exit Do 'If not too
many, go use it
End If 'Else, go get
another color
Loop


End Function

'Called by MyRandCharColorsRepeat
'Select the next color in the list, wrapping around to the start
Function MyRandCharColorsRepeat(ByRef ilChar As Long, ByVal vaColors
As Variant) As Long
MyRandCharColorsRepeat = vaColors(ilChar Mod (UBound(vaColors) + 1))
ilChar = ilChar + 1
End Function

 

[Peter in New Zealand]

Peter,

Way back in 2005, I asked how write a macro to automatically change
the colors of individual letters in some text. You asked for a copy of
the macro.

Well, hello there! Voice from the past and all that. I got a copy back
then, and I have used it every Christmas since. I honestly cannot
remember where it came from, but it works great, so if you were the kind
helper back then you have my grateful thanks, along with all my kids and
grandkids. Just before last Christmas I sent out my family and friends
Christmas newsletter to a much wider audience than previously , and over
70 copies were printed and sent, all with Christmas coloured text
courtesy of the macro. Thank you again.

 

[LurfysMa]

Well, hello there! Voice from the past and all that. I got a copy back
then, and I have used it every Christmas since. I honestly cannot
remember where it came from, but it works great, so if you were the kind
helper back then you have my grateful thanks, along with all my kids and
grandkids. Just before last Christmas I sent out my family and friends
Christmas newsletter to a much wider audience than previously , and over
70 copies were printed and sent, all with Christmas coloured text
courtesy of the macro. Thank you again.

Hello, yourself.

I guess I must have sent you a copy and forgot. Maybe I "improved" it
since and meant to send you a copy of the improved version.

Does your copy allow you to weight the colors? In the version I just
posted, if you set vaColors to 2 reds and 1 green (red, red, green),
two letters will be set to red for every one set to green.

There might be a few other tweaks.

Anyway, good to hear back from you and very glad you like the macro.

Cheers

 

[Peter in New Zealand]

Does your copy allow you to weight the colors? In the version I just

posted, if you set vaColors to 2 reds and 1 green (red, red, green),
two letters will be set to red for every one set to green.

There might be a few other tweaks.

Anyway, good to hear back from you and very glad you like the macro.

Cheers

Ummmm, actually it does the job I was looking for so well that I never
thought to try tweaking it. Might be fun though. Also I forgot to tell
you that I have upgraded my computer twice since having the macro, and
it has slotted in to Word 2000 with nary a twitch every time. Have also
passed on a copy to a friend running Office XP, and it works great for him.

Thinks - - - you could be onto a good thing here if this keeps up.