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: Appending to a Non-Document Text File.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 2, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
When working with text files, you may want to add information to an existing file, rather than creating a new text file from scratch. To do this, all you need to do is open the file for Append rather than Output. The following code shows this process:
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:
Open "MyFile.Dat" For Append As #1
For J = 1 to NewValues
Print #1, UserVals(OrigVals + J)
Next J
Close #1
When the file is opened for Append mode, any new information is added to the end of the file, without disturbing the existing contents.
Make sure you use this only on non-document text files, however. If you attempt this on a document file (meaning you change "MyFile.Dat" to something like "MyFile.Doc", and that is an existing document file), then there is a very real chance that the document will be corrupted and you will not be able to read it in Word any more.
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 (1865) 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: Appending to a Non-Document Text File.
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