vbams-wordactivex-documents

VBA, Active X and Legacy Tools alternatives in word


I currently have a 4 page document that has a lot of active x control boxes with VBA controlling it. This document is housed in a third party application to allow us to record information that stays within a record in that application.

After a recent upgrade to the application I have been informed that it will no longer support documents using Active X or Legacy controls. I have recreated one of the shorter documents using content control and VBA. Are there any tools to convert the document I currently have? or what are the best alternatives to active X and the background controls?

I hope that makes sense


Solution

  • You've found the best alternative in Content Controls. Most Content Controls are compatible with Office back to the 2007 version. They also work in Word for Mac 2016 and 2019. I haven't heard of any utilities that can automatically convert ActiveX controls to Content Controls. The VBA is quite different between the 2 control types, so you'll definitely have some re-writing to do.

    Here is Microsoft's page about using Content Controls with VBA: Working with Content Controls

    In addition, there are resources like Greg Maxey's pages about Content Controls and VBA: Content Controls