ms word - VBA - How to start a selection halfway through the text in a table

Question

As an alternative to my previous question regarding range.find, I am trying Selection.find.

I have found the occurrence of an abbreviation inside a table. I want to continue my search from the location of that result.

However, when I get the range and select it, the Selection starts from the beginning of the row.

How can I restrict it to be from the previous occurrence?

current code:

    Private Sub cmdFindNextAbbr_Click()

    Dim myRange As range
    Dim Word, findText As String
    Dim chkAbbrLast, chkAbbrFullLast, fsCountExt, NextAbbrStart, NextAbbrStartTemp, NextAbbrEndTemp As Integer
    Dim firstOccEnd As Long
    Dim abr, abrText, srText As String
    Dim abrtype, ig, absCounter As Integer

    'CREATING DICTONARY for Selected Items
    abr = lstAbbreviations.List(selAbbrIndex, 0)
    abrText = lstAbbreviations.List(selAbbrIndex, 1)
    abrtype = lstAbbreviations.List(selAbbrIndex, 4)

    chkAbbrLast = 0
    chkAbbrFullLast = 0

    If NextAbbrEnd = 0 Then
        NextAbbrEnd = abbrFirstOccEnd
        NextAbbrStart = 0
    End If

    fnCountAbr = fnCountAbr + 1

    ' checking for full text and abbreviations
    vFindText = abrText & "," & abrText & "s," & abr & "," & abr & "s"
    vFindText = Split(vFindText, ",")
    aCount = 0
    For ig = LBound(vFindText) To UBound(vFindText)
        Set myRange = ActiveDocument.range(Start:=NextAbbrEnd + 1, End:=ActiveDocument.range.End)
        absCounter = 0

        srText = vFindText(ig)
        If InStr(srText, abrText) > 0 Then
            bMatchCase = False
        ElseIf InStr(srText, abr) > 0 Then
            bMatchCase = True
        End If

        Dim cached As Long
        cached = ActiveDocument.range.End



        myRange.Find.ClearFormatting
        myRange.Select

        Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
        Do While Selection.Find.Execute( _
                        findText:=srText, _
                        MatchCase:=bMatchCase, _
                        Wrap:=wdFindStop, _
                        MatchWholeWord:=True _
                        )
            ' if the found text starts earlier, set its location as first location
            If Selection.End <> abbrFirstOccEnd Then
                If NextAbbrStartTemp = 0 Or Selection.Start < NextAbbrStartTemp Then
                    NextAbbrStartTemp = Selection.Start
                End If
            End If
            'check for full term and abbreviation
            fsCountExt = Len(abrText & "s (" & abr & "s)")

            If UCase(Selection.Text) = UCase(abrText & "s (" & abr & "s)") Then
                txtNew = abr & "s"
                If Selection.End = NextAbbrStartTemp + fsCountExt Then
                    NextAbbrEndTemp = Selection.End
                    NextAbbrStartTemp = Selection.Start
                End If
                GoTo ContLoop
            Else
                fsCountExt = Len(abrText & " (" & abr & ")")
                Selection.End = Selection.Start + fsCountExt
            End If

            If UCase(Selection.Text) = UCase(abrText & " (" & abr & ")") Then
                txtNew = abr
                If Selection.End = NextAbbrStartTemp + fsCountExt Then
                    NextAbbrEndTemp = Selection.End
                    NextAbbrStartTemp = Selection.Start
                End If
                GoTo ContLoop
            End If

            'check for full term only
            fsCountExt = Len(abrText & "s")
                Selection.End = Selection.Start + fsCountExt

            If UCase(Selection.Text) = UCase(abrText & "s") Then
                txtNew = abr & "s"
                If Selection.End = NextAbbrStartTemp + fsCountExt Then
                    NextAbbrEndTemp = Selection.End
                    NextAbbrStartTemp = Selection.Start
                End If
                GoTo ContLoop
            Else
                fsCountExt = Len(abrText)
                Selection.End = Selection.Start + fsCountExt
            End If

            If UCase(Selection.Text) = UCase(abrText) Then
                txtNew = abr
                If Selection.End = NextAbbrStartTemp + fsCountExt Then
                    NextAbbrEndTemp = Selection.End
                    NextAbbrStartTemp = Selection.Start
                End If
                GoTo ContLoop
            End If

            'check for only abbreviation
            fsCountExt = Len(abr & "s")
                Selection.End = Selection.Start + fsCountExt

            If UCase(Selection.Text) = UCase(abr & "s") Then
                txtNew = abr & "s"
                If Selection.End = NextAbbrStartTemp + fsCountExt Then
                    NextAbbrEndTemp = Selection.End
                    NextAbbrStartTemp = Selection.Start
                End If
                GoTo ContLoop
            Else
                fsCountExt = Len(abr)
                Selection.End = Selection.Start + fsCountExt
            End If

            If UCase(Selection.Text) = UCase(abr) Then
                txtNew = abr
                If Selection.End = NextAbbrStartTemp + fsCountExt Then
                    NextAbbrEndTemp = Selection.End
                    NextAbbrStartTemp = Selection.Start
                End If
                GoTo ContLoop
            End If

            If absCounter > 2 Then GoTo ContSearch
            absCounter = absCounter + 1
ContLoop:

        Loop

ContSearch:
            Selection.Start = Selection.Start + Len(Selection.Find.Text) + 1
            Selection.End = cached
    Next ig


    'MsgBox "No further occurrences found"

ExitNextSub:

    NextAbbrStart = NextAbbrStartTemp
    NextAbbrEnd = NextAbbrEndTemp
    myRange.Start = NextAbbrStart
    myRange.End = NextAbbrEnd
    myRange.Select
    Application.ScreenRefresh
End Sub

While debugging, I see the below values after myRange.Select. While checking the document. I see that the text from the beginning of the row is selected

myRange.Start : 18838
Selection.Start : 18216

Answer 1

Use a (temporary) bookmark to note where you want to restart. Do not try to rely on the Start and End properties. Those are not reliable.

When Find could end up in a table and the found term will continue to exist in that position, searching from that point onwards to the end (or beginning) of the document will automatically include the entire row. You can see this as a user if you click in a cell then hold Shift and press right-arrow until the selection moves beyond the table.

In such a situation you need to test whether the found Range is in a table. If it is, you need to continue the Find loop cell-by-cell until the found Range is no longer in a table.

The following code demonstrates the principle. It uses a Range object, not Selection, as that's easier and more predictable to control. It's also very simplified in order to concentrate on the principle of looping a table cell-by-cell which can be a bit mind-boggling. (The Debug.Print is just in there for keeping track while testing.)

Whether the Find is successful is stored in the boolean variable bFound. In the case of success the found Range is tested for being in a table. (Note that you could also use rngFind.Information(wdWithinTable).) If it is, the Range is collapsed so that the found term is "outside" it, then the Range extended to the end of the cell.

Find is repeated in the loop until no more "hits" are found in that cell. The Range is then moved to the next cell and Find repeated until the found Range is no longer in a table. Then Find reverts to the "normal" process, in a loop, until no more instances of the search term are found.

Sub FindLoopThroughTables()
    Dim sFindTerm As String
    Dim doc As Word.Document
    Dim rngFind As Word.Range
    Dim cel As Word.Cell
    Dim bFound As Boolean

    Set doc = ActiveDocument
    Set rngFind = doc.content
    rngFind.Find.wrap = wdFindStop
    sFindTerm = "the"

    bFound = rngFind.Find.Execute(sFindTerm)
    Do While bFound
            Debug.Print rngFind.Start
            If rngFind.Tables.Count > 0 Then
                Do While bFound And rngFind.Tables.Count > 0
                    Set cel = rngFind.Cells(1)
                    rngFind.Collapse wdCollapseEnd
                    rngFind.End = cel.Range.End - 1
                    bFound = rngFind.Find.Execute(sFindTerm)
                    If bFound Then
                        Debug.Print rngFind.Start & "in table"
                    Else
                        rngFind.MoveStart wdCell, 1
                        Set cel = rngFind.Cells(1)
                        rngFind.End = cel.Range.End
                        bFound = rngFind.Find.Execute(sFindTerm)
                   End If
                Loop
            Else
                rngFind.Collapse wdCollapseEnd
                rngFind.End = doc.content.End
                bFound = rngFind.Find.Execute(sFindTerm)
            End If
    Loop
End Sub