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: Understanding the While...Wend Structure.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 1, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365
Macros in Word are written in a language called VBA. Like other programming languages, VBA includes certain programming structures that are used to control how the program executes. One of these structures is the While...Wend structure. This structure has the following syntax:
While condition program statements Wend
When a macro is executing and this structure is encountered, the language tests whatever condition you have defined. You can see examples of conditions in many of the macros used in WordTips. If the condition is true, then the program statements between the While and Wend statements are executed. If the condition is not true, execution of the macro continues with the program line following the Wend statement. If the condition is true when Wend is encountered, the macro will loop back up to the While statement and keep executing the loop until the condition becomes false.
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 (11518) 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: Understanding the While...Wend Structure.
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2021-11-04 22:20:37
Tomek
Correction:
You can also exit loop in the middle, e.g., using "If condition Then Exit Do"
2021-11-04 22:13:58
Tomek
The While...Wend loop is not very flexible. it is better to use Do ... Loop in case you need additional logic within the loop. In one form:
Do While condition
... program statements ...
Loop
it is essentially the same.
However the condition test can come at the beginning (Do While condition or Do Until condition)
or at the end (Loop {While | Until} condition.
You can also exit loop in the middle, e.g., using "If condition Then Exit Loop"
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