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: Getting Input from a Text File.
True to its BASIC roots, VBA allows you fetch input (information) from sequential files. This means you can open and read a sequential text file, loading the information from the file into string variables. The steps are simple. You only have to open the file, get the input, and then close the file. The following code is a common example of reading from a sequential file:
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: 
Dim Raw As String
Dim NumValues As Integer, J As Integer
Dim UserVals() As String
Open "MyFile.Dat" For Input As #1
Line Input #1, Raw
NumValues = Val(Raw)
ReDim UserVals(NumValues)
For J = 1 to NumValues
Line Input #1, UserVals(J)
Next J
Close #1
You should note that the first line read from the text file (MyFile.Dat) is assumed to contain a value that indicates how many items are to be read in from the file. The Open statement is used to open the text file (MyFile.Dat) and assign it a file number, in this case the number 1. This file number is then subsequently used by various statements (such as Line Input and Close) to reference the file.
Note:
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1794) 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: Getting Input from a Text File.
The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!
Word uses the DOC file extension for regular documents. If you want to use a different file extension, you can easily do ...
Discover MoreWhen you last upgraded Word, did you notice a change in the size of your document files?
Discover MoreDouble-click on a Word document while using Windows Explorer, and the Word program should start with the document ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)
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.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2018 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments