Adding Quoted Words to an Index

Mike has a document that contains quite a few words surrounded by quote marks. He would like the quoted words to be marked for inclusion in an index and for the quote marks to be removed.

The best way to make such a change in your document is through the use of a macro. The macro needs to search for the quoted text, figure out where it starts and stops, delete the quote marks, and then add the index mark. (The mark is added through the use of an XE field.)

There are probably many ways that such a macro could be constructed. The following is one that could be used:

Sub QuotesToIndexEntries()
    Dim iOpenQuote As Integer
    Dim iCloseQuote As Integer
    Dim sP As String
    Dim sPhrase As String
    Dim iParas As Integer

    If Selection.ExtendMode Then Exit Sub

    iParas = Selection.Paragraphs.Count
    Selection.StartOf unit:=wdParagraph, Extend:=wdMove
    For J = 1 To iParas
        Selection.MoveEnd unit:=wdParagraph
        sP = Selection.Text
        iOpenQuote = InStr(sP, Chr(34))
        If iOpenQuote = 0 Then iOpenQuote = InStr(sP, Chr(147))

        While iOpenQuote > 0
            iCloseQuote = InStr(iOpenQuote + 1, sP, Chr(34))
            If iCloseQuote = 0 Then
                iCloseQuote = InStr(iOpenQuote + 1, sP, Chr(148))
            End If
            If iCloseQuote > 0 Then
                sPhrase = Mid(sP, iOpenQuote + 1, _
                  iCloseQuote - iOpenQuote - 1)
                Selection.Collapse Direction:=wdCollapseStart
                Selection.MoveRight unit:=wdCharacter, _
                  Count:=iOpenQuote - 1, Extend:=wdMove
                Selection.Delete unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
                Selection.MoveRight unit:=wdCharacter, _
                  Count:=Len(sPhrase), Extend:=wdMove
                Selection.Delete unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1

                Selection.Fields.Add Range:=Selection.Range, _
                  Type:=wdFieldEmpty, _
                  PreserveFormatting:=False
                Selection.MoveLeft unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
                Selection.Delete unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=2
                Selection.TypeText Text:="XE " + Chr(34) + _
                  sPhrase + Chr(34)
                Selection.MoveRight unit:=wdCharacter, _
                  Count:=1, Extend:=wdMove
            End If
            Selection.MoveEnd unit:=wdParagraph
            sP = Selection.Text
            iOpenQuote = InStr(sP, Chr(34))
            If iOpenQuote = 0 Then iOpenQuote = InStr(sP, Chr(147))
        Wend
        
        Selection.MoveStart unit:=wdParagraph, Count:=1
    Next J
End Sub

In order to use the macro, just select the text you want to affect prior to running it. (If you want to affect the entire document, press Ctrl+A before running the macro.)

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13240) 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: Adding Quoted Words to an Index.