Forum Discussion
Automatically update text depending on contents of a content control in Word
Hi, is it possible to automatically update part of a Word document using content controls and perhaps field codes or something similar? I'll outline an example here:
I have a content control that will have "Phase 1", "Phase 2" or "Phase 3" written in it. Depending what is written I want a piece of text elsewhere in the document to automatically update with some corresponding text. For example if the content control reads "Phase 1" then the text will update to say "One", similarly "Phase 2" will update the text with "Two" etc. Is this possible? I have found various bit of code online but they return a blank outcome or incorrect text. Many thanks for any response.
ChrisUoN Firstly, to control what appears in the Content Control, I would recommend that you use a Combo Box Content Control that contains the Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 as the only items that can be selected. Then set the Title of the Content Control to "Phase", then paste the following code into the ThisDocument Object in the Visual Basic Editor:
Private Sub Document_ContentControlOnExit(ByVal ContentControl As ContentControl, Cancel As Boolean) If ContentControl.Title = "Phase" Then Select Case ContentControl.Range.Text Case "Phase 1" ThisDocument.Variables("varPhase").Value = "One" Case "Phase 2" ThisDocument.Variables("varPhase").Value = "Two" Case "Phase 3" ThisDocument.Variables("varPhase").Value = "Three" Case Else ThisDocument.Variables("varPhase").Value = "Nothing Selected" End Select End If ThisDocument.Range.Fields.Update End Sub- How does one show the results of this in the Word document? I can't tell from here how to show the output. Thanks.
The results of a choice in a ComboBox or Drop-Down Content Control in Word are shown in the control in the document.
To have the results show up elsewhere you need a mapped control or another method.
Doug_Robbins_Word_MVP
Thanks a lot, Doug! That works great.Is there any way something like this can work in Word online? I assume Visual Basic can't be used online.
Differences between using a document in the browser and in Word
See Compare Word features on different platforms - Office Support.
- These programs are all named Word and they are all created and published by Microsoft.
- They all can edit the same document files that have the same file structure. Some of the programs have no control over some of the document structures.
- But, they are different programs with different features and controls.
As of March, 2023, the most powerful one of these, with the most features, is the Windows desktop application. I do not expect that to change.
The Macintosh desktop application is second with number of features. The things available in the Windows version not yet on the Mac version include Content Controls, Building Blocks, UserForms, and ActiveX. It can use, but cannot create, or modify most Content Controls. AutoText is a Building Block that the Mac can and does use.
The browser version of Word – Word Online – has a Transcribe feature that is not available in any of the other Word programs. Otherwise, the browser version has far fewer features and editing in it has been reported to mess up automatic numbering. Chromebooks use a version of this or of the Android mobile app.
The mobile applications vary somewhat but have far fewer features. I would use them for note taking and for quick viewing/printing, but not for editing. Especially not for editing long or complex documents.
