Cannot find tab character in word document using word automation in vb.net

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I am processing 270 books of poetry in word documents in vb.net using word automation.

One of the problems is locating anomalous lines that have between 5 and 12 tabs at the beginning. These have to be processed separately.

However, when I open one of the documents in vb.net using word automation, I cannot find a way to locate these lines. I have looked for tabs using "^t", ChrW(9) and ControlChars.Tab. I even tried typing a tab on the keyboard between quotes. None of them find the line with all the tabs. Using the same code with "A" or anything similar as a search term works fine.

Here's a snippet of the code:

VB

Dim rng As Word.Range = docWord.Range()

rng.Select()

Dim fnd As Word.Find = rng.Find

' Clear existing formatting.
fnd.ClearFormatting()

' Execute the search
fnd.Text = "^t"

Can anyone help me with why this doesn't work?

Thanks very much

Posted 19-Oct-11 10:37am

Dhruva Hein

Updated 19-Oct-11 10:40am

André Kraak

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André Kraak · Answer 1 · 2011-10-19T10:54:00

Solution 1

Try using vbTabs[^].

Posted 19-Oct-11 10:54am

André Kraak

Comments

Dhruva Hein 20-Oct-11 7:29am

Thanks, Andre. Unfortunately, vbTab doesn't work any better than ControlChars.Tab.

Maciej Los · Answer 2 · 2011-10-20T08:56:00

Take a look at this code (from MS Word):

VB

Option Explicit

Sub FindTabs()

Dim doc As Document
Dim rng As Range, fnd As Range

On Error GoTo Err_FindTabs

Set doc = ActiveDocument 'or Documents(docname) or Documents.Open(FullFilename)
Set rng = doc.Range

With rng.Find 
    .ClearFormatting
    .Text = "^t"
    .MatchWildcards = True
    .Forward = True
    Do While .Execute()
        Set fnd = rng.Find.Parent
        fnd.Underline = wdUnderlineDouble 'underline tab range
    Loop
End With

Exit_FindTabs:
    On Error Resume Next
    Set fnd = Nothing
    Set rng = Nothing
    Set doc = Nothing
    Exit Sub

Err_FindTabs:
    MsgBox Err.Description, vbExclamation, Err.Number
    Resume Exit_FindTabs
End Sub

To use it in Vb.Net, you need to create instance of MS Word Application - like this:

VB

wrdApp = CreateObject("Word.Application")

To change wdUnderline constant to its value, see here