Finding and locking a style

[Roderick]

I have a template with a number of fields and the following code updates these:

    For Each oStory In ActiveDocument.StoryRanges
        Do
            oStory.Fields.Update
            Set oStory = oStory.NextStoryRange
        Loop Until oStory Is Nothing
    Next

However, I've got a number of Fill-in fields populated with a style I created. The quantity of these fields can vary as the user applies them to the document.

When I run the above procedure, I want the code to avoid updating the Fill-in fields. At the moment I can do this manually going to each one and using Ctrl+F11. When the field update has completed I go back to each Fill-in field and unlock it by using Ctrl+Shift+F11.

What I want VBA to do is go through the document, going to each of these Fill-in fields and apply the code of:

Selection.Fields.Locked = False

...and then reversing the lock at the end of the above process using the "True" command.

At the moment, I don't know how to use the process of either finding each Fill-in field, using VBA, and lock it or use the field plus the style that goes with it and then lock it. That style is called "Appendix Title".

Can someone please give me some ideas?

Thanks

Roderick

[gmayor]

Why don't you replace the fields with content controls and use your code to write to the controls by title/tag and then you won't have to worry about locking them (though you can if you want) and you can apply formatting to the control range either in advance or to the vagaries of your process?
You may find http://www.gmayor.com/insert_content_control_addin.htm useful and it includes a process to change form fields to content controls to help you on your way.

[Roderick]

Thanks for your advice, Graham.

However, the client is pushing me and the template would take quite a while to convert to Content Controls. I'm leaving it to version 2 when I've had enough time to digest the likely changes needed.

I appreciate your directions, though

Roderick

[Roderick]

Further to my earlier start comments, I did some deeper research and found a set of procedures from Greg Maxey which seem to satisfy what I was looking for.

This is the code:

Public Sub UniversalFieldMacro()
    Dim rngStory As Word.Range
    Dim lngLink As Long
    Dim oShp As Shape
    lngLink = ActiveDocument.Sections(1).Headers(1).Range.StoryType
    For Each rngStory In ActiveDocument.StoryRanges
        'Iterate through all linked stories
        Do
            On Error Resume Next
            'Call actionable procedure
            '      FieldsDeleteAll rngStory
            DeleteAllSpecificFields rngStory
            Select Case rngStory.StoryType
                Case 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
                    If rngStory.ShapeRange.Count > 0 Then
                        For Each oShp In rngStory.ShapeRange
                            If oShp.TextFrame.HasText Then
                                'Call actionable procedure
                                DeleteAllSpecificFields oShp.TextFrame.TextRange
                            End If
                        Next
                    End If
                Case Else
                    'Do Nothing
            End Select
            On Error GoTo 0
            'Get next linked story (if any)
            Set rngStory = rngStory.NextStoryRange
        Loop Until rngStory Is Nothing
    Next rngStory
lbl_Exit:
    Exit Sub
End Sub


Sub DeleteAllSpecificFields(ByRef oTargetRng As Range)
    Dim oFld As Word.Field
    For Each oFld In oTargetRng.Fields
        Select Case oFld.Type
            Case wdFieldFillIn
                '        oFld.Delete
                oFld.Locked = True
            Case Else
                'Do nothing
        End Select
    Next oFld
lbl_Exit:
    Exit Sub
End Sub

I made a small amount of change and instead of deleting the fields as shown I locked these and it works as originally wanted.

So, thanks, Greg for your examples.

Roderick