# Using Marked Text Fields in Visual Basic > Insert marked text fields in Visual Basic 6 with FieldInsert, show a pop-up on FieldClicked and build numbered and named bookmarks with FieldData and FieldNext. - **Product:** TX Text Control ActiveX - **Section:** Documentation - **Kind:** Topic - **Path:** TX Text Control ActiveX > Document Editor > Marked Text Fields > Using Marked Text Fields in Visual Basic - **2963 words** - **Web URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/document-editor/fields/tutorial/ - **LLMs URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/document-editor/fields/tutorial/llms.txt - **LLMs-Full URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/document-editor/fields/tutorial/llms-full.txt --- A marked text field is a marker in the text of a `TXTextControl`: any group of characters that your program can find, select, click and attach data to. Three Visual Basic 6 sample programs build on each other, from a field that opens a pop-up window when it is clicked to bookmarks that users insert, name and jump to. Each section names the folder below *Samples* that holds the complete project. The code is Visual Basic 6 and goes into the forms of the sample. ### What Marked Text Fields Are for Marked text fields are the building block for many special functions of a word processor, for example: - Mail merge functions - Spreadsheet-like calculation fields - Bookmarks - Automatic generation of a table of contents and an index - Hypertext viewers that include any kind of buttons, images, pop-up windows or even OLE objects in the text A document can hold up to 65,535 fields. TX Text Control keeps track of the positions and numbers of the fields, and it takes care of them when the text is loaded, saved, copied or pasted. ### Insert a Field and Respond to a Click The first program shows how a field is created and what happens when the user clicks it. The code is in the *Samples\\vb6\\Field1* sample source directory. The form has one menu item, *Insert Field!*. The exclamation mark says that clicking the item carries out an action at once instead of opening a menu. The form holds two `TXTextControl` controls: `TXTextControl1` is the normal text window, and `TXTextControl2` serves as a pop-up window. Clicking the menu item runs the following code: ```vbscript Private Sub mnuInsertField_Click () TXTextControl1.FieldInsert "--------" End Sub ``` [FieldInsert](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/fieldinsert-method/llms-full.txt) inserts a field with the text `--------` at the current caret position. When you move the mouse over the field, TX Text Control changes the mouse pointer to an upward-pointing arrow to show that there is something to click. ![The Field1 sample program with six lines of text, each ending in a marked text field of dashes, and the Insert Field! menu item above them.](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/tx-text-control-activex/text-fields-sample.3d9e0bdc.webp) When you click a field, the application receives a [FieldClicked](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/fieldclicked-event/llms-full.txt) event and responds with a pop-up window that shows the number of the field: ![The Field1 sample program with a gray pop-up window over the fifth field that reads "This is field no. 5. Its text is: -------".](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/tx-text-control-activex/field-click-popup.ed86cb56.webp) The event handler needs only four lines of code: ```vbscript Private Sub TXTextControl1_FieldClicked(ByVal FieldIndex As Integer) TXTextControl1.FieldCurrent = FieldIndex TXTextControl2.Text = "This is field no. " & FieldIndex _ & ". Its text is: " & TXTextControl1.FieldText TXTextControl2.Move TXTextControl1.FieldPosX, _ TXTextControl1.FieldPosY TXTextControl2.ZOrder End Sub ``` The code works as follows: - [FieldCurrent](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/fieldcurrent-property/llms-full.txt) selects the marked text field that has been clicked. - The second line builds the string that the pop-up window displays, with the field number and the field's [FieldText](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/fieldtext-property/llms-full.txt). - `Move` places the pop-up window, which is initially hidden behind the text window, at the position of the field, [FieldPosX](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/fieldposx-property/llms-full.txt) and [FieldPosY](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/fieldposy-property/llms-full.txt). - `ZOrder` brings the pop-up window in front of the text window to make it visible. When the mouse button is released, the [MouseUp](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/mouseup-event/llms-full.txt) event brings the text window to the front again: ```vbscript Private Sub TXTextControl1_MouseUp(Button As Integer, _ Shift As Integer, X As Single, Y As Single) TXTextControl1.ZOrder End Sub ``` ### Create Bookmarks by Number Marked text fields also make bookmarks. The second program references its bookmarks by their field numbers only. Its code is in the *Samples\\vb6\\Field2* sample source directory. The sample application has a *Bookmark* menu with the items *Insert* and *Go to...*. *Insert* creates a marked text field at the current caret position. If text is selected, the selection becomes the field. If not, the program selects the character next to the caret first: ```vbscript Private Sub mnuBookmark_Insert_Click() If TXTextControl1.Text = "" Then MsgBox "Cannot insert bookmark if control is empty." Else If TXTextControl1.SelLength = 0 Then _ TXTextControl1.SelLength = 1 TXTextControl1.FieldInsert "" End If End Sub ``` Type some text, insert a few bookmarks and choose *Go To...*. A dialog box opens in which you enter the number of the bookmark to jump to. The example has no error handling: if you enter the number of a field that doesn't exist, nothing happens. ![The Goto Bookmark dialog box of the Field2 sample with the box Go to bookmark no. set to 1 and the buttons OK and Cancel.](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/tx-text-control-activex/goto-bookmark-number.06f0c9f5.webp) Clicking *OK* runs the following procedure: ```vbscript Private Sub cmdOk_Click() Form1.TXTextControl1.FieldCurrent = Text1.Text Form1.TXTextControl1.SelStart = _ Form1.TXTextControl1.FieldStart - 1 Form1.TXTextControl1.SelLength = _ Form1.TXTextControl1.FieldEnd - _ Form1.TXTextControl1.FieldStart + 1 Unload Me End Sub ``` The code works as follows: - The number entered in the dialog box becomes the value of the [FieldCurrent](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/fieldcurrent-property/llms-full.txt) property. - [SelStart](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/selstart-property/llms-full.txt) and [SelLength](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/sellength-property/llms-full.txt) select the text from [FieldStart](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/fieldstart-property/llms-full.txt) to [FieldEnd](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/fieldend-property/llms-full.txt), which is the text of the bookmark. ### Give Bookmarks Names In commercial word processors, bookmarks are referenced by names, not by numbers. The user types a name when creating a bookmark, and the *Goto Bookmark* dialog box offers the names in a list box or a combo box. The third program works this way. Its code is in the *Samples\\vb6\\Field3* sample source directory. #### Insert a Named Bookmark The *Insert Bookmark...* menu item of this version opens a dialog box in which the user enters a label for the bookmark: ![The Insert Bookmark dialog box of the Field3 sample with the Bookmark Title box set to Important and the buttons OK and Cancel.](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/tx-text-control-activex/insert-bookmark-dialog.622797e6.webp) Clicking *OK* runs the following code: ```vbscript Private Sub btnOK_Click() Form1.TXTextControl1.FieldInsert "" Form1.TXTextControl1.FieldData( _ Form1.TXTextControl1.FieldCurrent) = Text1 Form1.TXTextControl1.SelLength = 0 Unload Me End Sub ``` The code works as follows: - `FieldInsert` creates a marked text field at the current caret position. - [FieldData](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/fielddata-property/llms-full.txt) stores the name of the bookmark, the text the user has typed, with the new field. #### Choose a Bookmark From a List The *Goto Bookmark* dialog box contains a combo box that lists all bookmarks created so far: ![The Goto Bookmark dialog box of the Field3 sample with a combo box listing the bookmarks First occurrence, Second occurrence, Delete this later on and Important, and the buttons OK and Cancel.](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/tx-text-control-activex/goto-bookmark-list.4793c4b9.webp) The combo box is filled with the bookmark titles when its form is loaded: ```vbscript Private Sub Form_Load() Dim nFieldID As Integer nFieldID = 0 ' Fill the combobox with bookmarks Do nFieldID = Form1.TXTextControl1.FieldNext(nFieldID, 0) If nFieldID > 0 Then cboBookmark.AddItem _ Form1.TXTextControl1.FieldData(nFieldID) End If Loop While nFieldID <> 0 ' Copy the first item to the edit control part of ' the combo box cboBookmark.Text = cboBookmark.List(0) End Sub ``` [FieldNext](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/fieldnext-method/llms-full.txt) returns the identifier of the field that follows the one passed to it, or the first field's identifier for 0. With 0 as its second parameter, it enumerates all fields. The loop ends when `FieldNext` returns 0. When the user clicks *OK*, the program searches the fields for the name selected in the combo box and selects the matching marked text field: ```vbscript Private Sub cmdOk_Click() Dim nFieldID As Integer nFieldID = 0 ' Search for the requested bookmark Do nFieldID = Form1.TXTextControl1.FieldNext(nFieldID, 0) If nFieldID > 0 Then If Form1.TXTextControl1.FieldData(nFieldID) = _ cboBookmark.Text Then Exit Do End If End If Loop While nFieldID <> 0 ' If the bookmark has been found, select it. ' Text Control will then automatically scroll to ' make it visible. If nFieldID <> 0 Then Form1.TXTextControl1.FieldCurrent = nFieldID Form1.TXTextControl1.SelStart = _ Form1.TXTextControl1.FieldStart - 1 Form1.TXTextControl1.SelLength = _ Form1.TXTextControl1.FieldEnd - _ Form1.TXTextControl1.FieldStart + 1 Else MsgBox "Bookmark not found." End If Unload Me End Sub ``` When the bookmark is found, selecting it makes TX Text Control scroll to it so that it is visible. Otherwise, a message box reports that the bookmark wasn't found. #### Delete a Bookmark You can extend the sample with a dialog box like *Go To Bookmark...* that deletes a bookmark without deleting its text. This converts the marked text field back to normal text, which the [FieldDelete](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/reference/txtextcontrol/fielddelete-method/llms-full.txt) method does when its `DeleteTotal` parameter is `False`. ### Next Steps - [Marked Text Fields](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/document-editor/fields/llms-full.txt): all properties, methods and events for marked text fields. - [Relating Data to a Marked Text Field](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/document-editor/fields/data/llms-full.txt): store data such as a database field name with each field. - [Link Targets and Bookmarks](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/document-editor/fields/link-targets-bookmarks/llms-full.txt): the target methods that newer versions use for bookmarks. - [Hypertext Links](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/document-editor/fields/hyperlinks/llms-full.txt): turn marked text fields into links and targets. --- ## Nearby - **Previous:** [Link Targets and Bookmarks](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/document-editor/fields/link-targets-bookmarks/llms-full.txt) - **Next:** [Hypertext Links](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-activex/document-editor/fields/hyperlinks/llms-full.txt)