converting tabular structures in a Word document into an actual table or reading data from the tabular structures using VBA code

[s]

I have a macro which can read the last cell/column of all tables in a
Word 2003/2007 document and store the data in an MS-Access table. But,
some Word documents have the data in structures like a table format
but are not actually tables. The structure looks like a table, but the
table borders are actually line connectors. These documents were
created by a software(VeryPDF PDF to Word converter) which converted
the PDF documents(the original format these documents were) into Word
documents.

1. Is there a way I can convert/replace the tabular structures with
actual tables in Word so that I can use the macro?

2. Or, is there a way I can read the value of the last column from the
tabular structures using some VBA code?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Jay Freedman]

Select the tabular structure and click Table > Convert > Text to Table (or
in Word 2007, Insert > Table > Convert Text to Table).

Before you can get this to work properly, you may have to do some cleanup to
remove some of the line-drawing characters, especially those that make the
corners and the horizontal lines. Instead of removing the vertical lines
between the columns, use those as the "separator characters" in the
conversion dialog.
--
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.

Post by s
I have a macro which can read the last cell/column of all tables in a
Word 2003/2007 document and store the data in an MS-Access table. But,
some Word documents have the data in structures like a table format
but are not actually tables. The structure looks like a table, but the
table borders are actually line connectors. These documents were
created by a software(VeryPDF PDF to Word converter) which converted
the PDF documents(the original format these documents were) into Word
documents.
1. Is there a way I can convert/replace the tabular structures with
actual tables in Word so that I can use the macro?
2. Or, is there a way I can read the value of the last column from the
tabular structures using some VBA code?
Any advice would be appreciated.

[s]

Post by Jay Freedman
Select the tabular structure and click Table > Convert > Text to Table (or
in Word 2007, Insert > Table > Convert Text to Table).
Before you can get this to work properly, you may have to do some cleanup to
remove some of the line-drawing characters, especially those that make the
corners and the horizontal lines. Instead of removing the vertical lines
between the columns, use those as the "separator characters" in the
conversion dialog.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP        FAQ:http://word.mvps.org

Thanks for the suggestion.

How do I use the vertical lines between the columns as "separator
characters"? In Word 2007, I choose Insert -> Table -> Convert Text to
Table, in that at Separate Text as option, I can enter some
information for Other, but what do I enter for the vertical lines
which are actually line connectors? Do I enter their ASCII code
value(i don't know how to find their ASCII code value) or something
else?

Can you please clarify?

Thanks

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

You could try copying and pasting one of the "line connectors" into the
Other space
--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com

Post by s

Post by Jay Freedman
Select the tabular structure and click Table > Convert > Text to Table (or
in Word 2007, Insert > Table > Convert Text to Table).
Before you can get this to work properly, you may have to do some cleanup to
remove some of the line-drawing characters, especially those that make the
corners and the horizontal lines. Instead of removing the vertical lines
between the columns, use those as the "separator characters" in the
conversion dialog.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ:http://word.mvps.org

Thanks for the suggestion.
How do I use the vertical lines between the columns as "separator
characters"? In Word 2007, I choose Insert -> Table -> Convert Text to
Table, in that at Separate Text as option, I can enter some
information for Other, but what do I enter for the vertical lines
which are actually line connectors? Do I enter their ASCII code
value(i don't know how to find their ASCII code value) or something
else?
Can you please clarify?
Thanks

[Jay Freedman]

Hint: With the cursor in the Other box, press Ctrl+V to paste the
clipboard content. (Lots of people think they have to use a toolbar
button or a menu entry to paste, and those aren't available in a
dialog. The keyboard shortcut works almost everywhere.)

On Thu, 3 Jun 2010 08:57:47 +1000, "Doug Robbins - Word MVP"

Post by Doug Robbins - Word MVP
You could try copying and pasting one of the "line connectors" into the
Other space
--
Hope this helps.
Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.
Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com

Post by s

Post by Jay Freedman
Select the tabular structure and click Table > Convert > Text to Table (or
in Word 2007, Insert > Table > Convert Text to Table).
Before you can get this to work properly, you may have to do some cleanup to
remove some of the line-drawing characters, especially those that make the
corners and the horizontal lines. Instead of removing the vertical lines
between the columns, use those as the "separator characters" in the
conversion dialog.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ:http://word.mvps.org

Thanks for the suggestion.
How do I use the vertical lines between the columns as "separator
characters"? In Word 2007, I choose Insert -> Table -> Convert Text to
Table, in that at Separate Text as option, I can enter some
information for Other, but what do I enter for the vertical lines
which are actually line connectors? Do I enter their ASCII code
value(i don't know how to find their ASCII code value) or something
else?
Can you please clarify?
Thanks

[s]

Post by Jay Freedman
Hint: With the cursor in the Other box, press Ctrl+V to paste the
clipboard content. (Lots of people think they have to use a toolbar
button or a menu entry to paste, and those aren't available in a
dialog. The keyboard shortcut works almost everywhere.)

Did that, did not work. Nothing appeared in the Other box.
I clicked OK, hoping it might work, but it did not.

The Ctl+V shortcut works almost everywhere in Windows, but at the
place where you are pasting, it should be taking that kind of input
which
in this case(the area in the Other box), i guess, is not. Either
that,
or I am doing something wrong.

Did it work for you? I am using Word 2007.

Post by Jay Freedman
On Thu, 3 Jun 2010 08:57:47 +1000, "Doug Robbins - Word MVP"

Post by Doug Robbins - Word MVP
You could try copying and pasting one of the "line connectors" into the
Other space
--
Hope this helps.
Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.
Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com

Post by s

Post by Jay Freedman
Select the tabular structure and click Table > Convert > Text to Table (or
in Word 2007, Insert > Table > Convert Text to Table).
Before you can get this to work properly, you may have to do some cleanup to
remove some of the line-drawing characters, especially those that make the
corners and the horizontal lines. Instead of removing the vertical lines
between the columns, use those as the "separator characters" in the
conversion dialog.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP        FAQ:http://word.mvps.org

Thanks for the suggestion.
How do I use the vertical lines between the columns as "separator
characters"? In Word 2007, I choose Insert -> Table -> Convert Text to
Table, in that at Separate Text as option, I can enter some
information for Other, but what do I enter for the vertical lines
which are actually line connectors? Do I enter their ASCII code
value(i don't know how to find their ASCII code value) or something
else?
Can you please clarify?
Thanks

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

Send a copy of your document to dkr[atsymbol]mvps[dot]org and I will take a
look at it.
--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com

Post by s

Post by Jay Freedman
Hint: With the cursor in the Other box, press Ctrl+V to paste the
clipboard content. (Lots of people think they have to use a toolbar
button or a menu entry to paste, and those aren't available in a
dialog. The keyboard shortcut works almost everywhere.)

Did that, did not work. Nothing appeared in the Other box.
I clicked OK, hoping it might work, but it did not.
The Ctl+V shortcut works almost everywhere in Windows, but at the
place where you are pasting, it should be taking that kind of input
which
in this case(the area in the Other box), i guess, is not. Either
that,
or I am doing something wrong.
Did it work for you? I am using Word 2007.

Post by Jay Freedman
On Thu, 3 Jun 2010 08:57:47 +1000, "Doug Robbins - Word MVP"

Post by Doug Robbins - Word MVP
You could try copying and pasting one of the "line connectors" into the
Other space
--
Hope this helps.
Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.
Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com

Post by s

Post by Jay Freedman
Select the tabular structure and click Table > Convert > Text to
Table
(or
in Word 2007, Insert > Table > Convert Text to Table).
Before you can get this to work properly, you may have to do some
cleanup
to
remove some of the line-drawing characters, especially those that
make
the
corners and the horizontal lines. Instead of removing the vertical lines
between the columns, use those as the "separator characters" in the
conversion dialog.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ:http://word.mvps.org

Thanks for the suggestion.
How do I use the vertical lines between the columns as "separator
characters"? In Word 2007, I choose Insert -> Table -> Convert Text to
Table, in that at Separate Text as option, I can enter some
information for Other, but what do I enter for the vertical lines
which are actually line connectors? Do I enter their ASCII code
value(i don't know how to find their ASCII code value) or something
else?
Can you please clarify?
Thanks

[s]

Post by Doug Robbins - Word MVP
Send a copy of your document to dkr[atsymbol]mvps[dot]org and I will take a
look at it.
--
Hope this helps.

Sent that document to you.

1. Is there a software which is recommended for converting PDF
documents having tables into a
Word(2003/2007) format which preserves the table format and converts
to actual Word tables instead of tabular structures?

I attempted Very2PDF PDF to Word converter, but that converted the
tables to tabular structures with vertical/horizontal
connectors.

I tried using NitroPDF, but that too did not work. It created the RTF
document, but the tables were laid
out with textboxes or as vertically merged cells .

I used Acrobat 9 Professional, but that also could not convert the
table structure when I exported it
as a Word document. Some part came out as a picture in Word, some came
in tabular structures.

2. Is there a way to read from textboxes/tabular structures with
vertical/horizontal
connectors using VBA or some other method? If so, the files converted
through NitroPDF
would work.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[s]

Post by Doug Robbins - Word MVP
You could try copying and pasting one of the "line connectors" into the
Other space
--
Hope this helps.
Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com

Tried that, before I posted a response to Jay's message. It did not
work. Do you know how they
are actually represented in MS-Word. For example, I know paragraph
breaks are represented by "^p"

Or, is it possible to use some VBA code to convert the line connectors
into a table or atleast extract data
inside them?

Thanks

Post by Doug Robbins - Word MVP

Post by s

Post by Jay Freedman
Select the tabular structure and click Table > Convert > Text to Table (or
in Word 2007, Insert > Table > Convert Text to Table).
Before you can get this to work properly, you may have to do some cleanup to
remove some of the line-drawing characters, especially those that make the
corners and the horizontal lines. Instead of removing the vertical lines
between the columns, use those as the "separator characters" in the
conversion dialog.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP        FAQ:http://word.mvps.org

Thanks for the suggestion.
How do I use the vertical lines between the columns as "separator
characters"? In Word 2007, I choose Insert -> Table -> Convert Text to
Table, in that at Separate Text as option, I can enter some
information for Other, but what do I enter for the vertical lines
which are actually line connectors? Do I enter their ASCII code
value(i don't know how to find their ASCII code value) or something
else?
Can you please clarify?
Thanks

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

Send a copy of the document to dkr[atsymbo]mvps[dot]org and I will take a
look as see exactly what it is and how to handle it.
--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com

Post by s

Post by Doug Robbins - Word MVP
You could try copying and pasting one of the "line connectors" into the
Other space
--
Hope this helps.
Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com

Tried that, before I posted a response to Jay's message. It did not
work. Do you know how they
are actually represented in MS-Word. For example, I know paragraph
breaks are represented by "^p"
Or, is it possible to use some VBA code to convert the line connectors
into a table or atleast extract data
inside them?
Thanks

Post by Doug Robbins - Word MVP

Post by s

Post by Jay Freedman
Select the tabular structure and click Table > Convert > Text to Table (or
in Word 2007, Insert > Table > Convert Text to Table).
Before you can get this to work properly, you may have to do some
cleanup
to
remove some of the line-drawing characters, especially those that make the
corners and the horizontal lines. Instead of removing the vertical lines
between the columns, use those as the "separator characters" in the
conversion dialog.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ:http://word.mvps.org

Thanks for the suggestion.
How do I use the vertical lines between the columns as "separator
characters"? In Word 2007, I choose Insert -> Table -> Convert Text to
Table, in that at Separate Text as option, I can enter some
information for Other, but what do I enter for the vertical lines
which are actually line connectors? Do I enter their ASCII code
value(i don't know how to find their ASCII code value) or something
else?
Can you please clarify?
Thanks