Displaying built-in Word dialog boxes

This topic contains information and examples in the following sections.

Showing a built-in dialog box

You can display a built-in dialog box to get user input or to control Word by using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). The Show method of the Dialog object displays and executes any action taken in a built-in Word dialog box. To access a particular built-in Word dialog box, you specify a WdWordDialog constant with the Dialogs property. For example, the following macro instruction displays the Open dialog box (wdDialogFileOpen).

Sub ShowOpenDialog() 
 Dialogs(wdDialogFileOpen).Show 
End Sub

If a file is selected and OK is clicked, the file is opened (the action is executed). The following example displays the Print dialog box (wdDialogFilePrint).

Sub ShowPrintDialog() 
 Dialogs(wdDialogFilePrint).Show 
End Sub

Set the DefaultTab property to access a particular tab in a Word dialog box. The following example displays the Page Border tab in the Borders and Shading dialog box.

Sub ShowBorderDialog() 
 With Dialogs(wdDialogFormatBordersAndShading) 
 .DefaultTab = wdDialogFormatBordersAndShadingTabPageBorder 
 .Show 
 End With 
End Sub

Sub DisplayUserInfo() 
 MsgBox Application.UserName 
End Sub

If the user name is changed in the previous example, the change is not set in the dialog box. Use the Execute method to execute the settings in a dialog box without displaying the dialog box. The following example displays the User Information dialog box, and if the name is not an empty string, the settings are set in the dialog box by using the Execute method.

Sub ShowAndSetUserInfoDialogBox() 
 With Dialogs(wdDialogToolsOptionsUserInfo) 
 .Display 
 If .Name <> "" Then .Execute 
 End With 
End Sub

Sub SetUserName() 
 Application.UserName = "Jeff Smith" 
 Dialogs(wdDialogToolsOptionsUserInfo).Display 
End Sub

Returning and changing dialog box settings

It's not very efficient to use a Dialog object to return or change a value for a dialog box when you can return or change it using a property or method. Also, in most, if not all, cases, when VBA code is used in place of accessing the Dialog object, code is simpler and shorter. Therefore, the following examples also include examples that use corresponding VBA properties to perform the same tasks.

Prior to returning or changing a dialog box setting using the Dialog object, you need to identify the individual dialog box. This is done by using the Dialogs property with a WdWordDialog constant. After you have instantiated a Dialog object, you can return or set options in the dialog box. The following example displays the right indent from the Paragraphs dialog box.

Sub ShowRightIndent() 
 Dim dlgParagraph As Dialog 
 Set dlgParagraph = Dialogs(wdDialogFormatParagraph) 
 MsgBox "Right indent = " & dlgParagraph.RightIndent 
End Sub

Sub ShowRightIndexForSelectedParagraph() 
 MsgBox Selection.ParagraphFormat.RightIndent 
End Sub

Just as you can return dialog box settings, you can also set dialog box settings. The following example marks the Keep with next check box in the Paragraph dialog box.

Sub SetKeepWithNext() 
 With Dialogs(wdDialogFormatParagraph) 
 .KeepWithNext = 1 
 .Execute 
 End With 
End Sub

Sub SetKeepWithNextForSelectedParagraph() 
 Selection.ParagraphFormat.KeepWithNext = True 
End Sub

Checking how a dialog box was closed

The value returned by the Show and Display methods indicates which button was clicked to close the dialog box. The following example displays the Break dialog box, and if OK is clicked, a message is displayed on the status bar.

Sub DialogBoxButtons() 
 If Dialogs(wdDialogInsertBreak).Show = -1 Then 
 StatusBar = "Break inserted" 
 End If 
End Sub

The following table describes the return values associated with buttons in dialogs boxes.

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