Using and automating barcodes with VBA in Word

You can use VisualBasic for Applications (VBA) to solve many things in Word. Here we will show you how to embed, use and delete the ActiveBarcode control with VBA:

Embedding the ActiveBarcode Control into a document:
In this example a barcode control will be placed at the cursors position. Then you can modify the object using the variable ab:

Dim ab As Object
Set ab = Selection.InlineShapes.AddOLEObject(ClassType:="ACTIVEBARCODE.BarcodeCtrl.1",
  FileName:="", LinkToFile:=False, DisplayAsIcon:=False)

Set the standard properties (height, width) of the object using the variable ab:

ab.Width = 200
ab.Height = 120

You can access the properties and methods of the barcode object by using the property OLEFormat.Object:

ab.OLEFormat.Object.Type = 6
ab.OLEFormat.Object.Text = "987698769812"

You also can use a more cleaner way to access the properties by creating and using a variable, e.g. named abObject:

Dim abObject As Object
With ab.OLEFormat
  .Activate
  Set abObject = .Object
End With

abObject.Type = 6
abObject.Text = "987698769812"

Using the following call you can cast the barcode object in an InlineShape. Note, that you can not change the barcode after the conversion.

ab.ConvertToShape

If you do not need the control anymore you can delete it from the document:

 ab.Delete

Hint: If it's necessary that Windows process upcoming events (often named as "KeepWindowsAlive") within a macro, you can force this by using the following VBA function:

DoEvents

This can be necessary, e.g. if the Control must draw itself new.