Word VBA, Get the Unicode Value of Each Character in the Equation
In this article I have provided a function that returns the unicode values associated with the characters in an equation.
The function below takes as input the index of an equation and returns an array. The array contains the unicode values associated with the characters in the equations:
'returns an array of long values. Each index is the
'unicode value of one of the characters in the equation
Private Function GetUnicodeValue(ByVal intIndex As Integer) _
As Long()
'the output array
Dim arrLongs() As Long
'loops through the characters in the equation
Dim i As Integer
'the number of characters in the equation
Dim intCount As Integer
'the new document
Dim objDoc As Document
Dim flag As Boolean
'initates the array
ReDim arrLongs(1 To 1)
'selects the equations
OMaths.Item(intIndex).Range.Select
Selection.MoveRight unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1, Extend:=wdExtend
'copies the equations
Selection.Copy
'initiates the document
Set objDoc = Documents.Add
objDoc.Activate
'pastes the equation in the new document
Selection.Paste
'remove the equation object
flag = True
While flag = True
objDoc.OMaths.Item(1).Remove
If objDoc.OMaths.Count = 0 Then
flag = False
End If
Wend
'moves to the start of the equation
Selection.HomeKey unit:=wdStory
'select the entire equation
Selection.EndKey unit:=wdLine, Extend:=wdExtend
'gets the number of characters in the equation
intCount = Len(Selection.Text) - 1
'moves to the start of the equation
Selection.HomeKey unit:=wdStory
'loops through the equations characters
For i = 1 To intCount
'selects on character
Selection.MoveRight unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1, _
Extend:=wdExtend
'gets its unicode value
arrLongs(i) = AscW(Selection.Text)
'resizes the array
ReDim Preserve arrLongs(1 To i + 1)
'moves one step to the right
Selection.MoveRight unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
Next i
objDoc.Close (False)
'returns the array
GetUnicodeValue = arrLongs
End Function
Example: Assume we have the following equation with the index “1”:
After calling the function we get an array with the following data:
| Index | Unicode Value | Character | Index | Unicode Value | Character |
| 1 | 102 | f | 30 | 12310 | 〖 |
| 2 | 40 | ( | 31 | 110 | n |
| 3 | 120 | x | 32 | 960 | π |
| 4 | 41 | ) | 33 | 120 | x |
| 5 | 61 | = | 34 | 47 | / |
| 6 | 97 | a | 35 | 76 | L |
| 7 | 95 | _ | 36 | 12311 | 〗 |
| 8 | 48 | 0 | 37 | 43 | + |
| 9 | 43 | + | 38 | 98 | b |
| 10 | 8721 | ∑ | 39 | 95 | _ |
| 11 | 95 | _ | 40 | 110 | n |
| 12 | 40 | ( | 41 | 32 | |
| 13 | 110 | n | 42 | 32 | |
| 14 | 61 | = | 43 | 115 | s |
| 15 | 49 | 1 | 44 | 105 | i |
| 16 | 41 | ) | 45 | 110 | n |
| 17 | 94 | ^ | 46 | 8289 | |
| 18 | 8734 | ∞ | 47 | 12310 | 〖 |
| 19 | 9618 | ▒ | 48 | 110 | n |
| 20 | 40 | ( | 49 | 960 | π |
| 21 | 97 | a | 50 | 120 | x |
| 22 | 95 | _ | 51 | 47 | / |
| 23 | 110 | n | 52 | 76 | L |
| 24 | 32 | 53 | 12311 | 〗 | |
| 25 | 32 | 54 | 32 | ||
| 26 | 99 | c | 55 | 41 | ) |
| 27 | 111 | o | 56 | 32 | |
| 28 | 115 | s |
Code Explanation:
The code below copies the equation:
'selects the equations
OMaths.Item(intIndex).Range.Select
Selection.MoveRight unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1, Extend:=wdExtend
'copies the equations
Selection.Copy
The code below creates a new word document and pastes the equation on to it:
'initiates the document
Set objDoc = Documents.Add
objDoc.Activate
'pastes the equation in the new document
Selection.Paste
The code below removes the equation object from the new document. What we are left is the plane text associated with the equation:
'remove the equation object
flag = True
While flag = True
objDoc.OMaths.Item(1).Remove
If objDoc.OMaths.Count = 0 Then
flag = False
End If
Wend
The code below selects the text:
'moves to the start of the equation
Selection.HomeKey unit:=wdStory
'select the entire equation
Selection.EndKey unit:=wdLine, Extend:=wdExtend
The code below gets the number of characters in the equation:
'gets the number of characters in the equation
intCount = Len(Selection.Text) - 1
The code below moves the cursor to the start of the line:
'moves to the start of the equation
Selection.HomeKey unit:=wdStory
The For I loop, iterates through all the characters in the line:
For i = 1 To intCount
...
Next i
The line below selects the next character:
'selects on character
Selection.MoveRight unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1, _
Extend:=wdExtend
The code below stores the unicode value associated with the character in the output array:
'gets its unicode value
arrLongs(i) = AscW(Selection.Text)
You can download the file and code related to this article from the link below:
See also:
- Word VBA Creating Equations
- VBA Get Characters Unicode Value
- Word VBA, Changing the Font Format of Characters in an Equations
- The ReDim function in VBA
If you need assistance with your code, or you are looking for a VBA programmer to hire feel free to contact me. Also please visit my website www.software-solutions-online.com