Checking for a Security Certificate

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 9, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 2000, 2002, and 2003

Starting with Word 2000, you could "digitally sign" your documents and templates with a security certificate. Technically, it is the VBA projects attached to documents and templates that can be signed. In your macros you may want to verify that the certificate is in place. Checking for the signature programmatically can make it easier to manage the overall security efforts of a company.

The property you can use for this purpose is VBASigned. You can use it as follows:

Documents.Open FileName:="D:\dotfiles\temp.dot"
If Not ActiveDocument.VBASigned Then
    MsgBox "Warning! This document has not been digitally signed.", _
      vbCritical, "Digital Signature Warning"
End If

The VBASigned property will be either True or False, depending on whether the document (in this case a template) has been signed.

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 (1461) applies to Microsoft Word 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Non-breaking Em Dashes

Need an em dash to be "sticky" on both ends of the dash? Word doesn't provide such formatting, but there are a few ...

Discover More

Dissecting a String

VBA is a versatile programming language. It is especially good at working with string data. Here are the different VBA ...

Discover More

Occurrences of a Text String within a Document

You may have a need to find out how many times a certain text string occurs within a document. You can find out manually ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Preventing the Loss of Personal Information

For security purposes, you can configure a document so that no personal information is stored with the document. But what ...

Discover More

Recovering Password-Protected Documents

Got a locked document you just need to get into? It may be quite easy (or next to impossible) using the ideas in this tip.

Discover More

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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 6 + 5?

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.