Function to insert text adding a carriage return for some reason

[Seth Schrock]

I found a function online that finds the cursor in a textbox, and then allows me to insert a string where the cursor is. When I call it as the website suggested, it works fine. However, it selects the whole field. I added a part that makes it so that it finds where the cursor was + the length of the added string and sets the .SelStart to this value. However, when I try to use this added ability, it adds a carriage return at my .SelStart point. I can't figure out what is happening.

Here is the original way that I called the function:

LegalWording = ReplaceViaPosition(Me.LegalWording.Text, gCursorPosition, gCursorLen, "%year%", True)

Here is the way that adds the carriage return:

With Me.LegalWording
                .SetFocus
                LegalWording = ReplaceViaPosition(.Text, gCursorPosition, gCursorLen, "%month%", False)
                .SelStart = intNextStart
            End With

Interesting note: If i comment out the line .SelStart = intNextStart, then it wipes out the entire string that was in the textbox (Me.LegalWording), inserts the carriage return and does not add the string that I wanted to add.

Here is the entire ReplaceViaPosition() function:

Public intNextStart As Integer
' ARGUMENTS:
' *strText: The original text to modify
' *intStart: The start position to enter or replace text (0 based)
' *intLen: The length of the selection to replace (0 based) (default 0)
' *strAdd: The text to add to the string (default ZLS)
' *bPadAddition: True to pad the added text with a space (default False)
' * * * * * * * *If the addition is at the start of the string no leading
' * * * * * * * *space will be added.
' * * * * * * * *If the padding results in two consecutive spaces the
' * * * * * * * *consecutive space will be removed
' * * * * * * * *Padding operations will be bypassed if strAdd is a ZLS
 
Public Function ReplaceViaPosition( _
   ByVal strText As String, _
   intStart As Integer, _
   Optional intLen As Integer = 0, _
   Optional strAdd As String = "", _
   Optional bPadAddition As Boolean = False _
   ) As String
On Error GoTo Error_Proc
Dim Ret As String
'=========================
 Dim strOriginal As String
'=========================
 
 'retain the original in case of error
 strOriginal = strText
 
 'set the value of where the cursor should be after the inserted text
 intNextStart = intStart + Len(strAdd)
 
 'validate the position and length to make sure
 'they're within an appropriate range
 If ((intStart) > Len(strText)) Or _
    (intStart + intLen) > Len(strText) Then
   'bad entry, let's raise error 9: Subscript out of range
   Err.Raise 9, "ReplaceViaPosition", "Subscript out of range"
 End If
 
 'remove any text that is selected due to intLen
 If intLen > 0 Then
   strText = Left(strText, intStart) & Mid(strText, intStart + intLen + 1)
 End If
 
 If Len(strAdd) <> 0 Then
   'add strAdd to the string in the specified position
   strText = Left(strText, intStart) & strAdd & Mid(strText, intStart + 1)
 
   'perform the padding if required
   If bPadAddition Then
 
     'work on the leading space first
 
     'if we're adding to the start of the string we don't need
     'any leading spaces
     If intStart > 0 Then
       'find out if the char before the addition is a space
       If Mid(strText, intStart, 1) <> " " Then
         'it's not a space, we'll need to enter one
         strText = Left(strText, intStart) & " " & Mid(strText, intStart + 1)
         'we added a space, so let's increase our intStart by one
         'to compensate for the next check
         intStart = intStart + 1
         'increase intNextStart by 1 to account for the added space
         intNextStart = intNextStart + 1
       End If
     End If
 
     'work on the trailing space next
 
     'find out if the char after the addition is a space
     If Mid(strText, intStart + 1 + Len(strAdd), 1) <> " " Then
       'it's not a space, we'll need to enter one
       'but first check if it's the end of the text...
       If (intStart + Len(strAdd)) < Len(strText) Then
         'ok, we're safe to add a space after the addition
         strText = Left(strText, intStart + Len(strAdd)) & " " & Mid(strText, intStart + Len(strAdd) + 1)
         'increase intNextStart by 1 to account for the added space
         intNextStart = intNextStart + 1
       End If
     End If
 
   End If
 
 End If
 
 Ret = strText
 
'=========================
Exit_Proc:
 ReplaceViaPosition = Ret
 Exit Function
Error_Proc:
 Ret = strOriginal
 MsgBox "Error: " & Trim(Str(Err.Number)) & vbCrLf & _
   "Desc: " & Err.Description & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & _
   "Module: modReplaceViaPosition, Procedure: ReplaceViaPosition" _
   , vbCritical, "Error!"
 Resume Exit_Proc
 Resume
End Function

I added lines #19 & 20, 54 & 55, and 68 & 69 so that I could then set the cursor at the end of the inserted text.
Here is the link to the website where I found this function: ReplaceViaPosition

The function obviously works as it works when just performing its original purpose, so I don't think that the function is the problem (I could be wrong). I think that there is something about the way that I call the function my way that throws it for a loop.

gCursorPosition and gCursorLen are declared as integers.

[TheSmileyCoder]

I don't see anything that would add a carriage return, in what you have posted. The function code, is that the original or your modified version?

[Seth Schrock]

The function code is my slightly edit version. The lines that I added are lines 19-20, 54-55, and 68-69. I looked through as well and couldn't find anything either. However, I'm very unfamiliar with the Left() and Mid() functions and all the properties that were used in them, so I couldn't be sure.

I've actually just finished creating my own function to do this and it works fine. The main difference that I see is that I did my .SelStart inside the insertBlank procedure instead of in the calling procedure. Not sure why that would make a difference. Here is what I created:

Public Sub insertBlank1(strText As String, intStart As Integer, intLen As Integer, _
                        strAddition As String, Optional blnSpaceCheck As Boolean = False)
 
Dim strLeft As String
Dim strRight As String
Dim strFinal As String
 
 
'**************************************
'Grab text to the left of the selection
'**************************************
 
'Check if the selection starts at the beginning of the textbox
If intStart = 0 Then
    strLeft = ""
Else
    strLeft = Left(strText, intStart)
End If
 
 
'***************************************
'Grab text to the right of the selection
'***************************************
 
'Check if the selection ends at the end of the string
If (intStart + intLen) = Len(strText) Then
    strRight = ""
Else
    strRight = Mid(strText, intStart + intLen + 1)
End If
 
 
'****************************************************
'Checking for spaces around where strAddition will go
'****************************************************
 
If blnSpaceCheck = True Then
 
    'If strLeft = "" then strAddition will go at the beginning
    'of the textbox and doesn't need a preceding space
    If strLeft <> "" Then
 
        'Check if there is a space at the end of the string
        If Right(strLeft, 1) <> " " Then
            strLeft = strLeft & " "
        End If
 
 
    End If
 
 
    'If strRight = "" then strAddition will go at the end
    'of the textbox and doesn't need a proceding space
    If strRight <> "" Then
 
        'Check if there is a space at the beginning of the string
        If Left(strRight, 1) <> " " Then
            strRight = " " & strRight
        End If
 
    End If
 
End If
 
strFinal = strLeft & strAddition & strRight
 
With Forms!frmPenalCodes!LegalWording
    .SetFocus
    .Value = strFinal
    .SelStart = Len(strLeft) + Len(strAddition)
End With
 
End Sub

Personally, I think mine is clearer than theirs, but I might be a little biased :)

[zmbd]

Seth,
I'm with Rabbit, there isn't anything obvious that should be doing this...

So, to my next tool in the bag-o-tricks:

Are you familiar with the watch window?
This is like the coolest... often better than the locals window.

Here's what I do when strange things happen and I just can't seem to track them down with the usual methods.
Open the VBA editor.
Find the variable that I'm trying to track...
Select
<shift><F9>
This should open the watch window and add the variable to that window.
I do this for each variable of interest (this is a great tool for trouble shooting code when all seems lost... there are other options too - in the VBE ribbon goto debug, add watch, [Help])
Now add a stop before the weirdness begins.
[F8]
And you can watch how things are progressing.

[Seth Schrock]

I think that I have reached the ultimate in weirdness. If I place a stop at the very beginning of the function (line 26 of the OP to be exact) and watch strText, the function works beautifully. If I then remove the Stop, it goes back to adding the carriage return. Do you have anything in your bag of tricks for this?

I think that I'm going to stick with the function that I created (post #3). I think it is much more clear of what is going on and easier to read than the one I found online.

[NeoPa]

That happens sometimes Seth. A bitch really, but there you go.

The trick there is to go old-school and get the code to log the values as they are changed. This allows the code to run in real-time. It also shows exactly what does what and where in your code. The The Immediate Pane (Ctrl-G) is where your results should be printed to. It may be slow and laborious, but it is a way to debug that isn't exposed to that real-time problem found when tracing through some code.

[zmbd]

NeoPa beat me to the punch... been very busy with family events.
Yes, that stupid CR shows up. I've even had an occasion where there were spaces between letters ("wantedthistext" and "w a n t e d t h i s t e x t" is what I got!) didn't show up in the watch-window, only at run-time, turned out to be an interference from one of the IT "watch-dog" programs because this didn't happen at home.