Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Printing Custom Properties.

Printing Custom Properties

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 26, 2018)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


If you use custom document properties a lot in your documents, you may want a way to print their values. (Custom document properties are like variables for a document. They have many uses in VBA programming.) Unfortunately, there is no command or feature to print them directly. You can, however, copy the properties to a new document, and then print that document.

Basically, all you need to do is to create a new document and then step through all the custom properties in the old document, copying their names and values to the new document. You can do this by making use of the Count property of the CustomDocumentProperties collection, as shown in the following:

Sub PrintDocProps()
    Dim iPropCount As Integer
    Dim i As Integer
    Dim docSource As Document
    Dim docTarget As Document

    Set docSource = ActiveDocument
    Set docTarget = Documents.Add

    docTarget.Activate

    iPropCount = docSource.CustomDocumentProperties.Count

    Selection.TypeText Text:="There are "
    If iPropCount > 0 Then
        Selection.TypeText Text:=iPropCount
    Else
        Selection.TypeText Text:="no"
    End If
    Selection.TypeText Text:=" custom properties in the document."
    Selection.InsertParagraph
    Selection.InsertParagraph

    For i = 1 to iPropCount
        Selection.TypeText _
          Text:=docSource.CustomDocumentProperties(i).Name
        Selection.TypeText Text:="Value: "
        Selection.TypeText _
          Text:=docSource.CustomDocumentProperties(i).Value
        Selection.InsertParagraph
        Selection.InsertParagraph
        Selection.InsertParagraph
    Next i
End Sub

While this code will work just fine, it is not terribly robust. For instance, it does not check to see if there are actually any custom properties in the source document; it just assumes that there are. Such coding could be easily added, however.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (529) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Printing Custom Properties.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Working with Roman Numerals

Understanding and using a function to replace an Arabic number with Roman numerals. And, as a bonus, how to change them back.

Discover More

Printing a Bookmark List

Need to know what bookmarks are defined in a document? Here's a macro that creates a list of all your bookmarks so that ...

Discover More

Determining the Number of Fonts Available

When creating a macro, you may need to figure out how many fonts are available to Word. You can do this using the ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Changing Print Dialog Box Defaults

Some of the built-in defaults in Word can't be changed. Often times, however, you can work around these defaults by using ...

Discover More

Non-Printing Hyperlinks

Karen is having problems getting hyperlinks to print in a document on her home computer. There are only a limited number ...

Discover More

Printing XML Tags

Word 2003 allows you to use and save your information in XML format. If you want to, you can have Word print a document's ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is three less than 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.