Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Converting Numbers to Strings.

Converting Numbers to Strings

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 19, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365

You already know that you can use variables in your macros and that there are two very basic types of variables: string variables (containing characters) and numeric variables (containing numeric values). You can quickly and easily convert a number into a string. This is done with the Str() function. The syntax for using this function is:

A = Str(B)

In this syntax, if B is a numeric value equal to 5, then when completed, the string in A will be " 5"; if B is -4, then A would be "-4". Notice the leading space when converting positive numbers. This may not provide satisfactory results for some subroutines. Instead, you should create a function that returns a stripped-down version of the string. The following function does just that:

Function ToStr(X as Variant) as String
    ToStr = Trim(Str(X))
End Function

The reason that the value passed to the function (X) is defined as a Variant is that you can then pass any type of numeric value.

Note:

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WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (7066) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Converting Numbers to Strings.

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...

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