Implement "Click and Type" in Word 97 ?

[NoNameNeeded]

Hi!
I was wondering if it is possible to implement that "click and type" function in Word 97 by using a macro.

"Click and type" is that feature introduced in Word 2000 where you just need to double click anywhere and the cursor will be put there automatically and you're ready to type something.
But this feature isn't available in Word 97 so I thought it would be interesting to know if it's possible to implement that function via VBA and a macro.

Unfortunately I'm not very VBA-savvy. All I could come up with was a macro to automatically insert a tabstop on the ruler by recording a macro but that of course is far away from what I wanted to achieve.

[macropod]

Doing something like that would entail hooking into the Windows API to get the cursor position then translating that into a document coordinate - which would have to take account of the window position, page size, zoom factor, etc. Hardly a trivial undertaking - all for a 20+ year-old word processor that belongs in a museum. You'd do better (IMHO) to at least upgrade to Office 2000.

[NoNameNeeded]

Oh ok, I never would have guessed it's that difficult.

But I've found this explanation which seems to be related to VBA, wouldn't that be useful?

https//support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/152969/visual-basic-procedure-to-get-set-cursor-position

[macropod]

The code in that link is certainly part of what is required (hooking into the Windows API to get the cursor position), but one would still have to relate that to a document position when clicked. The code to do that would have to include ensuring the document is empty (you don't want it activating every time you click somewhere in the document) and that what's clicked on isn't a header or footer, for example.

[NoNameNeeded]

Oh ok, but I wouldn't need that anyway. I mean, I don't need to invoke the function by double clicking because I could imagine that a double click could cause a lot of confusion depending on where you click.
I could assign a keyboard shortcut to this function.
Wouldn't that make it easier? A function that only puts the cursor to the mouse position whenever I press a shortcut key?
In this case, it wouldn't matter at all whether there is text on the page or a picture or whatever and it wouldn't matter if I double click on something...

But of course, I could be wrong because I don't know much about this stuff, I'll admit that..

[macropod]

You can't enable Click & Type as a keyboard function - it activates by clicking somewhere in the document. Frankly, the value of the time anyone would have to spend implementing this is far more than the cost to you of upgrading to the far-more-capable Office 2000 or, better still, Office 2003.

[NoNameNeeded]

I see.
Of course I know that Word 97 is a bit outdated and I even have licenses for newer versions so updating wouldn't be a problem.
I just don't like Word 2016 and I also use a 20 year-old laptop (amongst other computers, of course) and Word 97 is a pretty good match for this machine so I thought it's at least worth a shot to ask.
But of course I fully understand that no one wants to write that code if it's such a complicated thing to do.

[macropod]

You could check e-bay for a copy of Office 2000 or Office 2003. Legit disks with Product Keys are pretty cheap and either would probably run just fine on a PC that runs Office 97.

[NoNameNeeded]

Ok, thx for your reply.

[NoNameNeeded]

I know, the best solution is still an upgrade to a newer version but just for the fun of it: Is there a way to fill empty space up with these paragraph signs but without hitting the enter key and without moving the text below further down?

I mean this sign:
20011

[macropod]

You could just format that paragraph with the desired amount of 'space before'...

It's not clear how you'd expect to achieve 'without moving the text below further down'.

[NoNameNeeded]

Well, let's just say I want to write something at the bottom end of this line.
When I hit enter several times, the line will be moved further down with every time a hit the enter key.
I know I could just fix the line by formatting it so it stays in place but is there also a way to populate this area with these paragraph marks so I could easily get down there?
20016

[macropod]

You could use a textbox, floating table or even the page footer. This really is an entirely separate issue from the one you started the thread with. Kindly start new threads for new topics instead of appending the new discussions to existing threads.

[NoNameNeeded]

Ok thx, but it's not that important after all.