VB6 Spell Check using Word

I cannot take credit for this routine, as the bulk of it comes courtesy of Microsoft. It utilizes the Spell Checker in Microsoft Word, and contains a couple of interesting techniques that I have not used before. One is the CoAllowSetForegroundWindow call, which enables the COM server process called to take focus away from the client
application. The other is moving the Word window off screen by setting the top of the window to a large negative number. This prevents it from interfering with the client program. I have tested it with Word 9.0 and word 12.0, and I have implemented it as a module for portability.

J.A. Coutts

Code:

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Attribute VB_Name = "modSpell"
Option Explicit

Declare Function CoAllowSetForegroundWindow Lib "ole32.dll" (ByVal pUnk As Object, ByVal lpvReserved As Long) As Long

Public Function SpellChk() As String
    Dim WordApp As Object
    Dim objDoc As Object 'Word.Document
    Dim lOrigTop As Long
    Dim lErr As Long
    On Error GoTo SpellChkErr
    ' Create a Word document object
    Set WordApp = CreateObject("Word.Application")
    CoAllowSetForegroundWindow WordApp, 0
    Set objDoc = WordApp.Documents.Add
    ' Position Word off screen to avoid having document visible
    lOrigTop = WordApp.Top
    WordApp.WindowState = 0
    WordApp.Top = -3000
    WordApp.Visible = True
    WordApp.Activate
    ' Assign the text to the document and check spelling
    With objDoc
        .Content.Paste
        .Activate
        .CheckSpelling
        ' After the user has made changes, use the clipboard to
        ' transfer the contents back to the text box
        .Content.Copy
        SpellChk = Clipboard.GetText(vbCFText)
        ' Close the document and exit Word
        .Saved = True
        .Close
    End With
    Set objDoc = Nothing
    WordApp.Visible = False
    WordApp.Top = lOrigTop
    WordApp.Quit
    Set WordApp = Nothing
    Exit Function
SpellChkErr:
    lErr = err
    SpellChk = Clipboard.GetText(vbCFText)
    Screen.MousePointer = vbNormal
    Select Case lErr
        Case 91, 429
            MsgBox "MS Word cannot be found!", vbExclamation
        Case Else
            MsgBox "Error: " & err & " - " & Error$(err), vbExclamation, App.ProductName
    End Select
End Function

'Calling routine
Private Sub cmdSpell_Click()
    Clipboard.Clear
    Clipboard.SetText txtMessage.Text
    txtMessage.Text = SpellChk()
End Sub

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