asked on

Replace filenames with hyperlinks to the filenames in Word

I have a word docs that contain a number of full filenames,

I need to replace each filename in a MS Word document with a hyperlink to that file.
Fortunately each filename is preceeded by a '_' and is followed by a '|'

e.g. _C:\Documents and Settings\My Documents\filename.txt |

The text associated with the hyperlink should be the filename

bcoyxp

hi there,
f
or fast editing with the "_" and "|" chars,

you may use the MSword's "Find and Replace" wizard.

Press "cntrl+h" to open the wizard.

find "_c:" and Replace with "c:" -> select "replace all"
you may do the same sequence with the other character.

for hyper linking, use the quotation marks.

e.g.

C:\Documents and Settings\My Documents\filename.txt

change to

"C:\Documents and Settings\My Documents\filename.txt" then press enter,

MSword will automatically change it into a hyperlink.

Regards,

Richard Detsch

ASKER

Didn't find your answer useful.
I was looking for a MS Word Macro to do this; perhaps I should have been more clear on this.

irudyk

Try the following macro and see if it works out for you:

Sub CreateHyperlinks()
 
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
 
With ActiveWindow.Selection
 
    .HomeKey wdStory
 
    With .Find
        .ClearFormatting
        .Text = "_*|"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindStop
        .MatchWildcards = True
        .Execute
    End With
 
    While .Find.Found
        ActiveDocument.Range(.Start + 1, .End - 1).Hyperlinks.Add ActiveDocument.Range(.Start + 1, .End - 1), ActiveDocument.Range(.Start + 1, .End - 1).Text
        .Collapse wdCollapseEnd
        .Find.Execute
    Wend
 
End With
 
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
 
End Sub

Open in new window

Richard Detsch

ASKER

irudyk:
Wow, very clean script.
I still have one problem though. My filenames start with _\\ERD not just _
And there are other occurances of _*| so your code picks up non-filenames too.

I tried to change your search to "_\\ERD*|", but discovered that '\' is itself part of a wildcard search.
[FROM MS HELP: To search for a character that's defined as a wildcard, type a backslash (\) before the character. For example, type \? to find a question mark. ]

How do I update my find criteria to pick up only _\\ERD...rest of filename... |

PS. What does ".HomeKey wdStory" do?

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

irudyk

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

Richard Detsch

ASKER

irudyk:
Well done. All set.