SPELL CHECK and WORD

We just started using WORD to SPELL CHECK a textbox from VB.

I have noticed, as well as some users testing it out, that if they have WORD open already (like sending an OUTLOOK e-mail or actually editing a WORD doc), the spell check window doesn't appear on top of our application. Things kind of get stuck...

They have to use TASK MANAGER to kill our app - which then causes the WORD app to appear on screen - along with the spell check box, with our TEXTBOX info sitting in WORD.

This was our first attempt at automation, so I'm sure we missed some key point somewhere...

Thanks for the help.

Find any post by Martin Liss, his signature has a link that shows how to spellcheck with word. The procedure might even be in the Code Bank.

For now, instead of killing the app use Alt-Tab to get to the spell check window.

I used the code in the MARTIN LISS posting - from his signature/code bank. That's what has me so puzzled...

ALT-TAB didn't seem to work - I'll try to duplicate problem here and see if ALT-TAB does work...

As far as automation goes - when you "start an instance" of WORD and WORD is already running, are you becoming part of that instance (since WORD is a MDI-parent/child kind of app??). Should I be killing the WORD app at the exit of my app, if I didn't really start it?

I havent seen Martins code but what I do is check to see if
Word is running and if it is I attach my Word application object to
it. If its not running I create a new one.

Nothing new there, but when I start manipulating Word I set its
visible property to false. Then I make the window minimized and
set up the spell checking dialog box. Set its visible property to
true and then display the spellchecking dialog box. I havent run
into any issues yet so I think its stable. Maybe try something like
this will work for you.

HTH

RobDog888

This has been our first venture into automation - so I'm unclear on how to actually perform the changes you suggest.

This is the actual function that I ripped from the MartinLiss posting. We changed the objWord to a PUBLIC object so that it would persist - allowing subsequent calls to CHECKSPELLING to be faster. And we put the CLOSE WORD logic in QUERY UNLOAd

VB Code:

Public objWord As Object
 
Public Function CheckSpelling(t As TextBox)
On Error GoTo Err_Handler
 
    Dim s1 As String
    s1 = lblState.Caption
    
'    Dim objWord As Object
    Dim objDoc  As Object
    Dim strResult As String
    
    'Create a new instance of word Application
    If (Len(t.Text) = 0) Then
        'nahhhhhhhhhhh
    Else
        lblState.Caption = "Checking Spelling now!"
        App.OleRequestPendingTimeout = 999999
        If objWord Is Nothing Then Set objWord = CreateObject("word.Application")
        objWord.Visible = False
        
        Select Case objWord.Version
            'Office 2000, xp, 2k3
                Case "9.0", "10.0", "11.0"
                Set objDoc = objWord.Documents.Add(, , 1, True)
            'Office 97
                Case Else
                Set objDoc = objWord.Documents.Add
        End Select
 
        objDoc.Content = t.Text
        objDoc.CheckSpelling
        objWord.Visible = False
        
        strResult = Left(objDoc.Content, Len(objDoc.Content) - 1)
        'correct the carriage returns
        strResult = Replace(strResult, Chr(13), Chr(13) & Chr(10))
 
        If t.Text = strResult Then
            ' There were no spelling errors, so give the user a
            ' visual signal that something happened
            'MsgBox "The spelling check is complete." _
            '        , vbInformation + vbOKOnly, "Spelling Complete"
        End If
    
        'Clean up
        objDoc.Close False
        Set objDoc = Nothing
        'objWord.Application.Quit True
        'Set objWord = Nothing
 
        ' Replace the selected text with the corrected text. It's important that
        ' this be done after the "Clean Up" because otherwise there are problems
        ' with the screen not repainting
        t.Text = strResult
    End If
 
Done:
 
lblState.Caption = s1
 
Exit Function
 
'in case user does not have word...
Err_Handler:
MsgBox Err.Description & Chr(13) & Chr(13) & "Please note you must have Microsoft Word" _
     & " installed to utilize the spell check feature.", vbCritical, "Error #: " & Err.Number
Resume Done
 
End Function

VB Code:

Private Sub Form_QueryUnload(Cancel As Integer, UnloadMode As Integer)
 
Debug.Print "Form_QueryUnload with State="; gbytState
 
If Not (objWord Is Nothing) Then
    Debug.Print "Form_QueryUnload>Word QUIT"
    objWord.Application.Quit True
End If
Set objWord = Nothing
 
If gbytState >= 5 Then
    If setState(7) <> 7 Then Cancel = True
End If
 
End Sub