[Gregory K. Maxey]

Ok Heather. Good luck.

hjneedshelp wrote:
Hi Gregory (my name is Heather

Wow, I will work with your suggestion. I think you are right,
though, based on what I just read about XML... it seems like it would
be the right way to go. I'll have to investigate that further, too.

Thank you so much for your time and assistance. I've learned a lot,
and I'm sure the suggestions provided will help me solve this dilemma!

Thanks to you and all, again!
--Heather

"Gregory K. Maxey" wrote:

Hi hjneedshelp,

At this point it would be nice to have a name ;-)

I am not confused. I think that I know what you are trying to do.
To be honest, I don't really know if any of my suggestions worth a
hoot or suited for your needs. I know what I said before, but if I
was really going to do what you are trying to do, then I would
probably want to create some sort of XML file containing the data
and then pull the informatin from there. Unfortunately when it comes
to working with XML I am in the same boat as you you are. I know
what I would like to do but I don't know how to do it. ;-).

That said, and unless I could find someone to step me though and
spoon feed me an XML solution I would suppose I would make do with
something like this. Bear in mind that this is just on the fly and
may and probably does needs some refinements.

Let's say your current template is named "State Facts"

I would create a source file containing a single table 51 rows and
say 5 columns. I would

State Name Point 1 Point 2 Point 3
Point 4 Point 5
Californai
Texas
North Carolina
etc.

of course they would be in order.

For this example the file is saved as "C:\Source.doc)

I would then use the following code to

1. Open the source.doc and extract the information into an array
anytime I open or create a new file based on State Facts template.
2. Use the data in the array to populate the table cell data.

Option Explicit
Private myArray(50, 4) As String
Sub AutoOpen()
GetData
End Sub

Sub AutoNew()
GetData
End Sub

Sub DDOnExit()
If ActiveDocument.ProtectionType wdNoProtection Then
ActiveDocument.Unprotect
End If
Dim oTbls As Word.Tables
Set oTbls = ActiveDocument.Tables
Select Case ActiveDocument.FormFields("Dropdown1").Result
Case Is = "California"
oTbls(1).Cell(1, 2).Range.Text = StripCellMarker(myArray(1, 1))
oTbls(1).Cell(2, 2).Range.Text = StripCellMarker(myArray(1, 2))
oTbls(1).Cell(3, 2).Range.Text = StripCellMarker(myArray(1, 3))
Case Is = "Texas"
oTbls(1).Cell(1, 2).Range.Text = StripCellMarker(myArray(2, 1))
oTbls(1).Cell(2, 2).Range.Text = StripCellMarker(myArray(2, 2))
oTbls(1).Cell(3, 2).Range.Text = StripCellMarker(myArray(2, 3))
Case Is = "North Carolina"
End Select
ActiveDocument.Protect wdAllowOnlyFormFields, True
End Sub

Function StripCellMarker(ByRef pStr As String) As String
StripCellMarker = Left(pStr, Len(pStr) - 2)
End Function

Sub GetData()
Dim oDoc As Word.Document
Dim i As Long
Dim j As Long
Set oDoc = Documents.Open(FileName:="C:\Source.doc", Visible:=False)
Dim oTbl As Word.Table
Set oTbl = oDoc.Tables(1)
For i = 0 To 50
For j = 0 To 4
myArray(i, j) = oTbl.Cell(i + 1, j + 1).Range.Text
Next j
Next i
oDoc.Close wdDoNotSaveChanges
End Sub



"hjneedshelp" wrote in
message ...
Hi Gregory. I understand they are suggestions, and I am not asking
anyone to
do my work for me. I'm just at a loss to accomplish what I want.

You write at the end of your message, "I would
probably pull the information from an existing source such as
another table
in the existing document, a table in a separate document, a
database, etc. rather than develop the individual AutoText entries."

That is what I want to do! But, I can't figure out the formula to
help me do
that.
Unless I'm not understanding the AutoText feature correctly, I am
thinking that that option won't work, because I need that
state-specific information
to be easily maintained and edited by other users. If the info
were to remain static, AutoText could be a viable option, although
it seems, time-consuming. I just want to reference specific cells
in another table or
document dependent upon what state the user selects in the
drop-down list (actually, more than reference - it has to show the
actual text).

I apologize for any frustration I'm causing everyone.
"Gregory K. Maxey" wrote:

Once again, the offerings that Jay, Suzanne, and I have offered
here are simply suggestion on "how" to do something and not a
complete solution to your specific problem.

I think you may have dismissed the AutoText idea too quickly.
Again, I don't know the full scope of your problem, but if you
need information for
topics 1, 2 and 3 then I suppose that you could have an AutoText
CA1, CA2 and CA3 and then adapt to:

Sub DDOnExit()
ActiveDocument.Unprotect
Select Case ActiveDocument.FormFields("Dropdown1").Result
Case Is = "California"
ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Cell(1, 2).Range.Text =
ActiveDocument.AttachedTemplate.AutoTextEntries("C A1").Value
ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Cell(2, 2).Range.Text =
ActiveDocument.AttachedTemplate.AutoTextEntries("C A2").Value
ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Cell(3, 2).Range.Text =
ActiveDocument.AttachedTemplate.AutoTextEntries("C A3").Value
Case Is = "Texas"
etc.
End Select
End Sub

Again, that is just a suggestion showing how it could be done. I
would probably pull the information from an existing source such
as another table
in the existing document, a table in a separate document, a
database, etc.
rather than develop the individual AutoText entries.






hjneedshelp wrote:
Thank you. I appreciate your help. I'm all for learning how to
fish. My situation is just a bit more complicated. Thank you,
anyway. I'm sure I will use the information you and Jay shared in
the future, if not now.



"Gregory K. Maxey" wrote:

I think that Jay was simpy trying to show you how to catch fish
rather than handing you the fish ;-)

The answer to your question is yes.

The user defines "x" by selecting a something from a dropdown
field. You then use vba to determine what was selected and then
put some text in your table column based on that selection.

For example you could store a few facts about Texas in and
AutoText entry named "TX" and some facts about other states in
other aptly named AT entries and then populate your table cell
like so:

End Select
ActiveDocument.Protect wdAllowOnlyFormFields, True
End Sub


hjneedshelp wrote:
Hello,
Thank you for the link. It is helpful but doesn't exactly
solve my problem. If I just want to reference simple word
items, the instructions would be fine - instead, I want to
reference more complex data - short paragraphs of information
that are either housed within the same document or a separate
document.

Perhaps I shouldn't have used "conditional" in the subject line
- it's more of a lookup table. So if a user inputs "Texas," the
column will populate information related to that state. May I
do that in Word?

Thank you, again.

"Jay Freedman" wrote:

On Tue, 3 Jun 2008 16:06:00 -0700, hjneedshelp
wrote:

Does Word have the capability (like Excel) of returning a
specific value "y" based on a what the user defines as value
"x"?

I have a worksheet where specific topics are listed in Column
1 for each row, for example:

(Col 1)
Kitchen
Bedroom
Living Room
Basement

In Col 2, I only want text to appear (paragraphs or bullets)
that corresponds to the row topic (e.g., Kitchen) AND to a
requirement set by the end-user from a drop-down list.

For example, if the user selects "Jones" from a drop-down
list, only Kitchen/Bedroom/Living Room-related info, etc.,
will appear based on the "Jones" requirement. If the user
selects "Mitchell," then a whole new set of text will appear
in each row.

Thank you for any assistance you can provide.

See http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Linked_DropDown_Fields.htm.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.