Auto list of abbreviations used in a PPT file

[AMAguy]

I need some automation help and should have posted here long ago:

What I'm looking for is a macro that will find all the abbreviations (abbreviation, acronym, initialism) used in a PPT file, and create a list of those abbreviations and the slide numbers where they occur.

For smaller PPT files, it's simple enough to do that with my own eyeballs. But with larger files (largest contain 300 slides or more), hunting down abbreviations is a nightmare.

In Word, of course, finding abbreviations is painless using the 'wildcards' feature of Find/Replace. But, of course, that feature isn't available in PowerPoint.

So I've Googled... and I can't seem to find anything. I've been all over the PPTFAQ site: nothing. Does anyone have any advice or insight?

[John Wilson]

Abbreviation could cover several things. What would a wildcard search for abbreviations look like in Word?

Maybe the page here "Regular Expressions in PowerPoint" will do most of it though.

[Paul_Hossler]

Also, where might the abbreviations be located and what version of PP?

PP can have some very complex structures and "FBI" could be in a placeholder or in a shape or a textbox or wordart, etc.

How do you define the text you're looking for: I'd guess things like "NC" and "FBI" and "FUBAR" but not things like "John Smith". What about something like "PP2010" or "2014FEB"?

Paul

[John Wilson]

Hi Paul

The RegEx code on the link I posted will find strings of UPPER CASE with or without periods. So it would find all of the above in Tables, Placeholders, Text Boxes and Shapes. Easy to modify for a coder like you!

[Paul_Hossler]

@John -- pretty nifty and useful.

It does loop through the various types of text containers already (my question) so some one was thinking ahead

Paul


PS - I'm still struggling with the complexities of the various flavors of RegEx. One thing I've learned (the hard way) is to save a backup copy often. More than once, a F&R got away from me and wiped out the entire document

[John Wilson]

Always better to stick to Find & List IMHO! At least until you are sure it works OK.