Article ID: 306348 - Last Review: January 31, 2007 - Revision: 4.2

How to programmatically save each page or section of a document as a separate file

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SUMMARY

The following macros show how to break up a multipage document into separate files. The two macros use the page or section property of a Microsoft Word document to select and move through the document content. This code can be used in an automation scenario with Word not visible.

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MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements.

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Separate file by page

The following macro copies text one page at a time and saves that text in a new document. The macro uses the pre-defined bookmark "\page" and the document's built-in property of "number of pages."

Sub BreakOnPage()
   ' Used to set criteria for moving through the document by page.
   Application.Browser.Target = wdBrowsePage

   For i = 1 To ActiveDocument.BuiltInDocumentProperties("Number of Pages")
      
      'Select and copy the text to the clipboard.
      ActiveDocument.Bookmarks("\page").Range.Copy

      ' Open new document to paste the content of the clipboard into.
      Documents.Add
      Selection.Paste
' Removes the break that is copied at the end of the page, if any.
      Selection.TypeBackspace
      ChangeFileOpenDirectory "C:\"
      DocNum = DocNum + 1
      ActiveDocument.SaveAs FileName:="test_" & DocNum & ".doc"
      ActiveDocument.Close

      ' Move the selection to the next page in the document.
      Application.Browser.Next
   Next i
   ActiveDocument.Close savechanges:=wdDoNotSaveChanges
End Sub

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Separate file by section

The following macro copies text one section at a time and saves that text in a new document. The macro uses the pre-defined bookmark "\section" to create the new document. This macro is useful for breaking up a mail-merge "Merge to New Document" file.

Sub BreakOnSection()
   ' Used to set criteria for moving through the document by section.
   Application.Browser.Target = wdBrowseSection

   'A mail merge document ends with a section break next page.
   'Subtracting one from the section count stop error message.
   For i = 1 To ((ActiveDocument.Sections.Count) - 1)
   
'Note: If a document does not end with a section break, 
'substitute the following line of code for the one above:
'For I = 1 To ActiveDocument.Sections.Count

      'Select and copy the section text to the clipboard.
      ActiveDocument.Bookmarks("\Section").Range.Copy

      'Create a new document to paste text from clipboard.
      Documents.Add
      Selection.Paste

   ' Removes the break that is copied at the end of the section, if any.
      Selection.MoveUp Unit:=wdLine, Count:=1, Extend:=wdExtend
      Selection.Delete Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1
ChangeFileOpenDirectory "C:\"
      DocNum = DocNum + 1
     ActiveDocument.SaveAs FileName:="test_" & DocNum & ".doc"
     ActiveDocument.Close
      ' Move the selection to the next section in the document.
     Application.Browser.Next
   Next i
   ActiveDocument.Close savechanges:=wdDoNotSaveChanges
End Sub

Note When you use this code to select and copy the text content of the document, the header and footer are not retained. Styles, fonts, and layout may change if the main file and the new document are from different templates, but direct formatting is maintained.
For more information about how to use the sample code in this article, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

290140 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290140/ ) How to run sample code for the Office XP programs from Knowledge Base articles

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