To add the standard conditions sign to enthalpy changes or electrode potentials I used to use an ordinary o crossed-out and superscripted:
However, I now use the symbol ϴ as a superscript. It’s too big so I make it font size 8 then raise it by 3 points. I wouldn’t want to do that every time I need a standard sign so it’s quicker to use the macro here.
If you are producing resources for the electrochemistry topic you often need to draw this table:
It looks like a two-column table but if the left-hand column is actually three columns you can keep the equilibrium signs underneath each other in their own narrow column which has no left or right border.
Once you have made this table you can save it in Building Blocks using the method here. It can then be called up quickly and easily, as can any table.
The macro below draws this four-column table with column headings and equilibrium signs already populated. Column 1 is aligned right, column 2 is justified, column 3 is aligned left and column 4 is justified, as are the column headings. When you add the equations they are already formatted as above.
Selection.Delete unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
'make table
ActiveDocument.Tables.Add Range:=Selection.Range, NumRows:=5, NumColumns:= _
4, DefaultTableBehavior:=wdWord9TableBehavior, AutoFitBehavior:= _
wdAutoFitFixed
With Selection.Tables(1)
If .Style <> "Table Grid" Then
.Style = "Table Grid"
End If
.ApplyStyleHeadingRows = True
.ApplyStyleLastRow = False
.ApplyStyleFirstColumn = True
.ApplyStyleLastColumn = False
.ApplyStyleRowBands = True
.ApplyStyleColumnBands = False
End With
'set column widths
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=106.8, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=99.7, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=92.6, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=85.5, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=78.45, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=71.35, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=64.25, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=57.15, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=50.1, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=43, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=35.9, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=28.8, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=21.75, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=21.75, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(4).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=107, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(4).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=99.9, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(4).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=92.8, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(4).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=85.75, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(4).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=78.65, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(4).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=71.55, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(4).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=64.45, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(4).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=57.4, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(4).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=50.3, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(4).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=43.2, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(4).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=36.1, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(4).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=43.2, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(4).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=43.2, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=21.75, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=28.8, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=35.9, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=43, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=43, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(1).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=112.7, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(1).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=120.25, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(1).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=127.35, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(1).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=134.45, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(1).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=127.35, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(1).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=134.45, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(1).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=134.45, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=43, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=35.4, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=28.35, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=21.25, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(2).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=21.25, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(3).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=106.3, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(3).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=99.2, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(3).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=92.15, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.Tables(1).Columns(3).SetWidth ColumnWidth:=92.15, RulerStyle:= _
wdAdjustNone
Selection.MoveRight unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=3
'type E standard heading
With Selection.Font
.Bold = True
End With
Selection.TypeText Text:="E"
Selection.Font.Superscript = wdToggle
With Selection.Font
.Name = "Arial"
.Size = 11
.Position = 2
.Bold = True
End With
Selection.Font.Size = 8
Selection.InsertSymbol Font:="Arial", CharacterNumber:=1012, Unicode:=True
Selection.Font.Size = 11
Selection.Font.Superscript = wdToggle
With Selection.Font
.Name = "Arial"
.Size = 11
.Bold = True
.Position = 0
End With
Selection.TypeText Text:=" / V"
Selection.Font.Bold = wdToggle
Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphCenter
'type equilibrium signs
Selection.MoveDown unit:=wdLine, Count:=1
Selection.MoveLeft unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=2
Selection.TypeText Text:=ChrW(8652)
Selection.MoveDown unit:=wdLine, Count:=1
Selection.TypeText Text:=ChrW(8652)
Selection.MoveDown unit:=wdLine, Count:=1
Selection.TypeText Text:=ChrW(8652)
Selection.MoveDown unit:=wdLine, Count:=1
Selection.TypeText Text:=ChrW(8652)
Selection.MoveRight unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=2
Selection.MoveUp unit:=wdLine, Count:=3
'justifying columns first line
Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphCenter
Selection.MoveLeft unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphLeft
Selection.MoveLeft unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphCenter
Selection.MoveLeft unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=2
Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphRight
Selection.MoveRight unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=4
Selection.MoveDown unit:=wdLine, Count:=1
'justifying columns second line
Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphCenter
Selection.MoveLeft unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphLeft
Selection.MoveLeft unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphCenter
Selection.MoveLeft unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=2
Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphRight
Selection.MoveRight unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=4
Selection.MoveDown unit:=wdLine, Count:=1
'justifying columns third line
Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphCenter
Selection.MoveLeft unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphLeft
Selection.MoveLeft unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphCenter
Selection.MoveLeft unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=2
Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphRight
Selection.MoveRight unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=4
Selection.MoveDown unit:=wdLine, Count:=1
'justifying columns fourth line
Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphCenter
Selection.MoveLeft unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphLeft
Selection.MoveLeft unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphCenter
Selection.MoveLeft unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=2
Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphRight
Selection.MoveRight unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=4
Selection.MoveUp unit:=wdLine, Count:=4
'middle column no left and right borders
Selection.MoveDown unit:=wdLine, Count:=1
Selection.MoveLeft unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=2
'remove border at top
Selection.Borders(wdBorderTop).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
Selection.Borders(wdBorderLeft).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
Selection.Borders(wdBorderBottom).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
Selection.Borders(wdBorderRight).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
Selection.Borders(wdBorderDiagonalDown).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
Selection.Borders(wdBorderDiagonalUp).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
'remove border one down
Selection.MoveDown unit:=wdLine, Count:=1
Selection.Borders(wdBorderTop).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
Selection.Borders(wdBorderLeft).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
Selection.Borders(wdBorderBottom).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
Selection.Borders(wdBorderRight).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
Selection.Borders(wdBorderDiagonalDown).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
Selection.Borders(wdBorderDiagonalUp).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
'remove border one down
Selection.MoveDown unit:=wdLine, Count:=1
Selection.Borders(wdBorderTop).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
Selection.Borders(wdBorderLeft).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
Selection.Borders(wdBorderBottom).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
Selection.Borders(wdBorderRight).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
Selection.Borders(wdBorderDiagonalDown).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
Selection.Borders(wdBorderDiagonalUp).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
'remove border one down
Selection.MoveDown unit:=wdLine, Count:=1
Selection.Borders(wdBorderTop).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
Selection.Borders(wdBorderLeft).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
Selection.Borders(wdBorderBottom).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
Selection.Borders(wdBorderRight).LineStyle = wdLineStyleNone
'add border at bottom
With Selection.Borders(wdBorderBottom)
.LineStyle = Options.DefaultBorderLineStyle
.LineWidth = Options.DefaultBorderLineWidth
.Color = Options.DefaultBorderColor
End With
'add border at one up from bottom
Selection.MoveUp unit:=wdLine, Count:=1
With Selection.Borders(wdBorderBottom)
.LineStyle = Options.DefaultBorderLineStyle
.LineWidth = Options.DefaultBorderLineWidth
.Color = Options.DefaultBorderColor
End With
'add border one up
Selection.MoveUp unit:=wdLine, Count:=1
With Selection.Borders(wdBorderBottom)
.LineStyle = Options.DefaultBorderLineStyle
.LineWidth = Options.DefaultBorderLineWidth
.Color = Options.DefaultBorderColor
End With
'add border one up
Selection.MoveUp unit:=wdLine, Count:=1
With Selection.Borders(wdBorderBottom)
.LineStyle = Options.DefaultBorderLineStyle
.LineWidth = Options.DefaultBorderLineWidth
.Color = Options.DefaultBorderColor
End With
'add border one up
Selection.MoveUp unit:=wdLine, Count:=1
With Selection.Borders(wdBorderBottom)
.LineStyle = Options.DefaultBorderLineStyle
.LineWidth = Options.DefaultBorderLineWidth
.Color = Options.DefaultBorderColor
End With
'add border one up
With Selection.Borders(wdBorderTop)
.LineStyle = Options.DefaultBorderLineStyle
.LineWidth = Options.DefaultBorderLineWidth
.Color = Options.DefaultBorderColor
End With
'merge two cells
Dim mrgrng As Range
With Selection.Tables(1)
Set mrgrng = .Cell(1, 1).Range
mrgrng.End = .Cell(1, 3).Range.End
mrgrng.Cells.Merge
End With
'type E standard heading and align
Selection.Font.Bold = wdToggle
Selection.Font.Name = "Arial"
Selection.Font.Size = 11
Selection.TypeText Text:="Redox system"
Selection.Font.Bold = wdToggle
Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphCenter
End Sub
At Southampton we do AQA GCSE and OCR A level. I like to take exam papers from different exam boards, convert them to Word using the free method here then modify them for our exam board. I run House style over the finished paper then apply the macro below. This spaces the lines 1.5 lines apart and puts a border round the pages from page 2 onwards.
Sub ExamPaper()
'border
Selection.WholeStory
With Selection.Sections(1)
With .Borders(wdBorderLeft)
.LineStyle = wdLineStyleSingle
.LineWidth = wdLineWidth050pt
.Color = wdColorAutomatic
End With
With .Borders(wdBorderRight)
.LineStyle = wdLineStyleSingle
.LineWidth = wdLineWidth050pt
.Color = wdColorAutomatic
End With
With .Borders(wdBorderTop)
.LineStyle = wdLineStyleSingle
.LineWidth = wdLineWidth050pt
.Color = wdColorAutomatic
End With
With .Borders(wdBorderBottom)
.LineStyle = wdLineStyleSingle
.LineWidth = wdLineWidth050pt
.Color = wdColorAutomatic
End With
With .Borders
.DistanceFrom = wdBorderDistanceFromPageEdge
.AlwaysInFront = True
.SurroundHeader = True
.SurroundFooter = True
.JoinBorders = False
.DistanceFromTop = 24
.DistanceFromLeft = 24
.DistanceFromBottom = 24
.DistanceFromRight = 24
.Shadow = False
.EnableFirstPageInSection = False
.EnableOtherPagesInSection = True
End With
End With
With Options
.DefaultBorderLineStyle = wdLineStyleSingle
.DefaultBorderLineWidth = wdLineWidth050pt
.DefaultBorderColor = wdColorAutomatic
End With
'1.5 line spacing
Selection.WholeStory
With Selection.ParagraphFormat
.LeftIndent = CentimetersToPoints(0)
.RightIndent = CentimetersToPoints(0)
.SpaceBefore = 0
.SpaceBeforeAuto = False
.SpaceAfter = 0
.SpaceAfterAuto = False
.LineSpacingRule = wdLineSpace1pt5
.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphJustify
.WidowControl = True
.KeepWithNext = False
.KeepTogether = False
.PageBreakBefore = False
.NoLineNumber = False
.Hyphenation = True
.FirstLineIndent = CentimetersToPoints(0)
.OutlineLevel = wdOutlineLevelBodyText
.CharacterUnitLeftIndent = 0
.CharacterUnitRightIndent = 0
.CharacterUnitFirstLineIndent = 0
.LineUnitBefore = 0
.LineUnitAfter = 0
.MirrorIndents = False
.TextboxTightWrap = wdTightNone
.CollapsedByDefault = False
End With
End Sub
Automatic numbering is a good servant but a bad master. It’s possible to turn it off but what happens if you have somebody else’s document with lots of automatic numbering that you want to turn off but keep the numbers generated by it? My Australian colleague Ned Alaru gave me such a document. The code to keep the numbers is just one line long:
Sub RemoveAutomaticNumbering()
ActiveDocument.Range.ListFormat.ConvertNumbersToText
End Sub
If you write the formula for the nitrate ion in Arial you get this:
The minus sign is too small and the subscript and superscript look wrong. There is a better minus sign than the one on the keyboard, called the n-dash since it takes up the same space as a letter n. Use the table here to find its Unicode value. The subscripts look better if they are lowered by 2 points and the superscripts look better if they are raised by 2 points. This makes the nitrate ion look like this:
The macro below replaces all the minus signs in the document and alters the subscripts and superscripts accordingly:
Sub ReplaceMinus()
'replace minus
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = "-"
.Replacement.Text = "–"
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
'superscript and subscript
'lower and raise subscripts and superscripts
Selection.WholeStory
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Font
.Superscript = False
.Subscript = True
End With
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Replacement.Font
.Superscript = False
.Subscript = True
.Position = -2
End With
With Selection.Find
.Text = "([A-Za-z0-9+-])"
.Replacement.Text = "\1"
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Font
.Superscript = True
.Subscript = False
End With
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Replacement.Font
.Superscript = True
.Subscript = False
.Position = 2
End With
With Selection.Find
.Text = "([A-Za-z0-9+–])"
.Replacement.Text = "\1"
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.WholeStory
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Font
.Superscript = True
.Subscript = False
End With
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Replacement.Font
.Superscript = True
.Subscript = False
.Position = 2
End With
With Selection.Find
.Text = "(–)"
.Replacement.Text = "\1"
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End Sub
At Southampton Exam Factory we do AQA GCSE, which puts [3 marks] at the end of a question, and OCR A level, which puts [3] at the end of a diagram question. Both are aligned right, but the Chemistry House style macro here justifies the document. So when I convert a question paper pdf to Word and change it to House style I run the macro below over it to send all my marks in square brackets to the right:
Sub MoveTotals()
'Total
Selection.WholeStory
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Replacement.ParagraphFormat
.SpaceBeforeAuto = False
.SpaceAfterAuto = False
.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphRight
End With
With Selection.Find
.Text = "(\[Tot)"
.Replacement.Text = "\1"
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
'[3]
Selection.WholeStory
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Replacement.ParagraphFormat
.SpaceBeforeAuto = False
.SpaceAfterAuto = False
.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphRight
End With
With Selection.Find
.Text = "(\[[0-9]\])"
.Replacement.Text = "\1"
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
'4 marks
Selection.WholeStory
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Replacement.ParagraphFormat
.SpaceBeforeAuto = False
.SpaceAfterAuto = False
.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphRight
End With
With Selection.Find
.Text = "(\[[0-9] marks\])"
.Replacement.Text = "\1"
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End Sub
We had a colleague in the Chemistry Department, Laura End, who went off to teach in Malaysia. She generously left behind a large number of Chemistry resources but they were all in Clown font – Comic Sans. If you change the font of a document to Grown-Up font, Arial, it won’t change the contents of text boxes so you have to go through changing the contents of text boxes individually.
The following macro will change the contents of all the textboxes in a document to Grown-Up font:
Sub ChangeTextInTextbox()
Dim objShape As Shape
Dim objDoc As Document
Set objDoc = ActiveDocument
With objDoc
For Each objShape In .Shapes
If objShape.Type = msoTextBox Then
objShape.TextFrame.TextRange.Font.Name = “Arial”
objShape.TextFrame.TextRange.Font.Size = “11”
objShape.TextFrame.TextRange.Font.Color = wdColorBlack
objShape.TextFrame.TextRange.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphJustify
End If
Next
End With
End Sub
Dan L Urea, my American colleague in the Chemistry Department at Southampton Exam Factory, said, ‘Wouldn’t it be good if you could convert any document to our House style with just one click.’ House style in Chemistry is Arial size 11, justified, single line spacing and tab stops every 1cm:
If, in every Chemistry document we use, the First Line Indent, Left Indent and Right Indent are set up as above, along with the tabs in those positions, it means that we can cut and paste easily between documents. The icon is handily-available on the Quick Access Toolbar:
The following macro will convert anybody else’s document to Chemistry House style:
Sub FormatPortrait()
Selection.WholeStory
With ActiveDocument.Styles(wdStyleNormal).Font
If .NameFarEast = .NameAscii Then
.NameAscii = “”
End If
.NameFarEast = “”
End With
With ActiveDocument.PageSetup
.LineNumbering.Active = False
.Orientation = wdOrientPortrait
.TopMargin = CentimetersToPoints(1.6)
.BottomMargin = CentimetersToPoints(1.6)
.LeftMargin = CentimetersToPoints(2.54)
.RightMargin = CentimetersToPoints(2.54)
.Gutter = CentimetersToPoints(0)
.HeaderDistance = CentimetersToPoints(1.25)
.FooterDistance = CentimetersToPoints(1.25)
.PageWidth = CentimetersToPoints(21)
.PageHeight = CentimetersToPoints(29.7)
.FirstPageTray = wdPrinterDefaultBin
.OtherPagesTray = wdPrinterDefaultBin
.SectionStart = wdSectionNewPage
.OddAndEvenPagesHeaderFooter = False
.DifferentFirstPageHeaderFooter = False
.VerticalAlignment = wdAlignVerticalTop
.SuppressEndnotes = False
.MirrorMargins = False
.TwoPagesOnOne = False
.BookFoldPrinting = False
.BookFoldRevPrinting = False
.BookFoldPrintingSheets = 1
.GutterPos = wdGutterPosLeft
End With
With Selection.ParagraphFormat
.SpaceBeforeAuto = False
.SpaceAfterAuto = False
.FirstLineIndent = CentimetersToPoints(0.25)
End With
With Selection.ParagraphFormat
.SpaceBeforeAuto = False
.SpaceAfterAuto = False
.FirstLineIndent = CentimetersToPoints(0.5)
End With
With Selection.ParagraphFormat
.SpaceBeforeAuto = False
.SpaceAfterAuto = False
.FirstLineIndent = CentimetersToPoints(0.5)
End With
Selection.PageSetup.LeftMargin = CentimetersToPoints(2.5)
Selection.PageSetup.LeftMargin = CentimetersToPoints(2.25)
Selection.PageSetup.LeftMargin = CentimetersToPoints(2)
Selection.PageSetup.LeftMargin = CentimetersToPoints(2)
With Selection.ParagraphFormat
.SpaceBeforeAuto = False
.SpaceAfterAuto = False
.FirstLineIndent = CentimetersToPoints(0.25)
End With
With Selection.ParagraphFormat
.SpaceBeforeAuto = False
.SpaceAfterAuto = False
.FirstLineIndent = CentimetersToPoints(0)
End With
With Selection.ParagraphFormat
.SpaceBeforeAuto = False
.SpaceAfterAuto = False
.FirstLineIndent = CentimetersToPoints(0)
End With
Selection.PageSetup.RightMargin = CentimetersToPoints(2.5)
Selection.PageSetup.RightMargin = CentimetersToPoints(2.25)
Selection.PageSetup.RightMargin = CentimetersToPoints(2)
Selection.PageSetup.RightMargin = CentimetersToPoints(2)
Selection.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.ClearAll
ActiveDocument.DefaultTabStop = CentimetersToPoints(1.27)
Selection.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.Add Position:=CentimetersToPoints(1), _
Alignment:=wdAlignTabLeft, Leader:=wdTabLeaderSpaces
Selection.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.Add Position:=CentimetersToPoints(2), _
Alignment:=wdAlignTabLeft, Leader:=wdTabLeaderSpaces
Selection.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.Add Position:=CentimetersToPoints(3), _
Alignment:=wdAlignTabLeft, Leader:=wdTabLeaderSpaces
Selection.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.Add Position:=CentimetersToPoints(4), _
Alignment:=wdAlignTabLeft, Leader:=wdTabLeaderSpaces
Selection.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.Add Position:=CentimetersToPoints(5), _
Alignment:=wdAlignTabLeft, Leader:=wdTabLeaderSpaces
Selection.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.Add Position:=CentimetersToPoints(6), _
Alignment:=wdAlignTabLeft, Leader:=wdTabLeaderSpaces
Selection.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.Add Position:=CentimetersToPoints(7), _
Alignment:=wdAlignTabLeft, Leader:=wdTabLeaderSpaces
Selection.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.Add Position:=CentimetersToPoints(8), _
Alignment:=wdAlignTabLeft, Leader:=wdTabLeaderSpaces
Selection.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.Add Position:=CentimetersToPoints(9), _
Alignment:=wdAlignTabLeft, Leader:=wdTabLeaderSpaces
Selection.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.Add Position:=CentimetersToPoints(10), _
Alignment:=wdAlignTabLeft, Leader:=wdTabLeaderSpaces
Selection.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.Add Position:=CentimetersToPoints(11), _
Alignment:=wdAlignTabLeft, Leader:=wdTabLeaderSpaces
Selection.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.Add Position:=CentimetersToPoints(12), _
Alignment:=wdAlignTabLeft, Leader:=wdTabLeaderSpaces
Selection.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.Add Position:=CentimetersToPoints(13), _
Alignment:=wdAlignTabLeft, Leader:=wdTabLeaderSpaces
Selection.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.Add Position:=CentimetersToPoints(14), _
Alignment:=wdAlignTabLeft, Leader:=wdTabLeaderSpaces
Selection.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.Add Position:=CentimetersToPoints(15), _
Alignment:=wdAlignTabLeft, Leader:=wdTabLeaderSpaces
Selection.ParagraphFormat.TabStops.Add Position:=CentimetersToPoints(16), _
Alignment:=wdAlignTabLeft, Leader:=wdTabLeaderSpaces
Selection.Font.Name = “Arial”
Selection.Font.Size = 11
Selection.WholeStory
Selection.ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphJustify
With Selection.ParagraphFormat
.LeftIndent = CentimetersToPoints(0)
.RightIndent = CentimetersToPoints(0)
.SpaceBefore = 0
.SpaceBeforeAuto = False
.SpaceAfter = 0
.SpaceAfterAuto = False
.LineSpacingRule = wdLineSpaceSingle
.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphJustify
.WidowControl = True
.KeepWithNext = False
.KeepTogether = False
.PageBreakBefore = False
.NoLineNumber = False
.Hyphenation = True
.FirstLineIndent = CentimetersToPoints(0)
.OutlineLevel = wdOutlineLevelBodyText
.CharacterUnitLeftIndent = 0
.CharacterUnitRightIndent = 0
.CharacterUnitFirstLineIndent = 0
.LineUnitBefore = 0
.LineUnitAfter = 0
.MirrorIndents = False
.TextboxTightWrap = wdTightNone
.CollapsedByDefault = False
End With
End Sub
I produce a lot of practice papers for my A level students and I take multiple choice questions from AQA and Edexcel papers. This means that I need to add the ‘Your answer’ and the box. I used to just copy and paste it from a different paper but now I click on my macro to add them.
The macro tabs along one tab so you need to have your tab stops set up in the same position as mine – see my macro here. It also adds the [1] at the end of the line. The box is a symbol, found using the macro here.
Sub YourAnswer()
Selection.TypeText Text:=vbTab & “Your answer” & vbTab
Selection.InsertSymbol Font:=”Arial”, CharacterNumber:=-9408, Unicode:= _
True
Selection.InsertSymbol Font:=”Arial”, CharacterNumber:=-8950, Unicode:= _
True
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.Font.Size = 42
With Selection.Find
.Text = ChrW(56128) & ChrW(56586)
.Replacement.Text = ChrW(56128) & ChrW(56586)
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Font.Size = 11
Selection.TypeText Text:=vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab _
& vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & vbTab & ” ” & “[1]”
End Sub
Every year at Southampton Exam Factory we set our Year 12 students a project to write on an area of interest to them. The end results are wonderful in their scope and execution but why won’t they use the subscript and superscript buttons? It really grates on my nerves to see Pt(NH3)2Cl2 (sorry).
My colleague Ms. Lara Nude said one day, ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a single button you can press which will activate everybody’s superscripts and subscripts instantly?’ So I made a macro to do exactly that, and put it on my Quick Access toolbar.
The macro first goes through the document looking for all examples of a number immediately after a letter, then subscripts the number. This will turn CH3CH2CH3 into CH3CH2CH3 but will also turn Mg2+ into Mg2+. So then it goes through again looking for all examples of a number with a + or a – after it and superscripts the number and the + or -. Since the macro will turn chemical nonsense such as Al3An2+ Ru2De2- into Al3An2+ Ru2De2– it will handle any real formulae and is better than macros which use a database. It is not 100% reliable since it does not know whether you want VO2+ to be VO2+ or VO2+. If you had intended the Alan Rude example above to be Al3An2+ Ru2De2– you would have to go back and change it.
The macro also lowers all subscripts by 2 points and raises all superscripts by 2 points – see my macro here for more details. It also replaces the standard minus sign with a longer one – see my macro here for more details.
After formatting the chemical formulae there is a message box and a beep – if you don’t like this just take out the last line of code, or change the message to one of your choice.
Sub SuperSubscript()
‘subscript all numbers
Selection.WholeStory
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = “([ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPRSTUVWYZabcdefghijklmnoprstuvwyz])([0-9])”
.Replacement.Text = “\1++\2++”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Replacement.Font
.Superscript = False
.Subscript = True
End With
With Selection.Find
.Text = “++([0-9])++”
.Replacement.Text = “\1”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = _
“([ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPRSTUVWYZabcdefghijklmnoprstuvwyz])([0-9])([0-9])”
.Replacement.Text = “\1\2++\3++”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Replacement.Font
.Superscript = False
.Subscript = True
End With
With Selection.Find
.Text = “++([0-9])++”
.Replacement.Text = “\1”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
‘replace minus sign
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = “-“
.Replacement.Text = “–”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
‘superscript numbers with + or –
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = “([A-Za-z])([0-9])([+–])”
.Replacement.Text = “\1++\2\3++”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Replacement.Font
.Superscript = True
.Subscript = False
End With
With Selection.Find
.Text = “++([0-9])([+–])++”
.Replacement.Text = “\1\2”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = “([A-Za-z])([+–])( )”
.Replacement.Text = “\1++\2++\3”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Replacement.Font
.Superscript = True
.Subscript = False
End With
With Selection.Find
.Text = “++([+–])++”
.Replacement.Text = “\1”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
‘sort out hydrogencarbonate ion
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = “(O)([3-4])(–)”
.Replacement.Text = “\1++\2++\3”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Replacement.Font
.Superscript = False
.Subscript = True
End With
With Selection.Find
.Text = “++([3-4])++”
.Replacement.Text = “\1”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = “++([3-4])++”
.Replacement.Text = “\1”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
‘sort out dichromate ion
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = “(O)([1-9])([1-9])(–)”
.Replacement.Text = “\1\2++\3\4++”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Replacement.Font
.Superscript = True
.Subscript = False
End With
With Selection.Find
.Text = “++([1-9])(–)++”
.Replacement.Text = “\1\2”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
‘sort out thiosulfate ion
Selection.WholeStory
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = “(S)([0-9])(O)([0-9])(2)(–)”
.Replacement.Text = “\1\2\3\4++2–++”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Replacement.Font
.Superscript = True
.Subscript = False
End With
With Selection.Find
.Text = “++2–++”
.Replacement.Text = “2–”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
‘lower and raise subscripts and superscripts
Selection.WholeStory
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Font
.Superscript = False
.Subscript = True
End With
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Replacement.Font
.Superscript = False
.Subscript = True
.Position = -2
End With
With Selection.Find
.Text = “([A-Za-z0-9+-])”
.Replacement.Text = “\1”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Font
.Superscript = True
.Subscript = False
End With
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Replacement.Font
.Superscript = True
.Subscript = False
.Position = 2
End With
With Selection.Find
.Text = “([A-Za-z0-9+–])”
.Replacement.Text = “\1”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.WholeStory
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Font
.Superscript = True
.Subscript = False
End With
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find.Replacement.Font
.Superscript = True
.Subscript = False
.Position = 2
End With
With Selection.Find
.Text = “(–)”
.Replacement.Text = “\1”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
BeepMsg “formatted by Big Al”
End Sub
Chemistry Word VBA macros 