The following examples delete duplicate paragraphs using a Text Range object. Compare the following examples:

Dim AmountMoved As Long 
Dim myRange As Range 
 
'start with first paragraph and extend range down to second 

Set myRange = ActiveDocument.Paragraphs(1).Range 
AmountMoved = myRange.MoveEnd(unit:=wdParagraph, Count:=1) 
 
'loop until there are no more paragraphs to check 
 
Do While AmountMoved > 0 
 
	'if two paragraphs are identical, delete second one 
	'and add the one after that to myRange so it can be checked 
 
	If myRange.Paragraphs(1).Range.Text = _ 
			myRange.Paragraphs(2).Range.Text Then 
		myRange.Paragraphs(2).Range.Delete 
		AmountMoved = 
			myRange.MoveEnd(unit:=wdParagraph, Count:=1) 
	Else 
		'if two paragraphs aren't identical, add the one 
		'after that to my range, so it can be checked, and 
		'drop the first one, since it is no longer of 
		'interest. 
			AmountMoved = 
				myRange.MoveEnd(unit:=wdParagraph, Count:=1) 
			myRange.MoveStart unit:=wdParagraph, Count:=1 
	End If 
 
Loop

tell application "Microsoft Word"
	--start with first paragraph and extend range down to second
	set myRange to text object of paragraph 1 ¬
		of active document
	set rangeEnd to end of content of myRange

	--in AppleScript a new range is made and returned, cannot alter 
	--ranges in place, so redefine myRange to the new range
	set myRange to (move end of range myRange ¬
		by a paragraph item count 1)
	set newRangeEnd to end of content of myRange
	set amountMoved to newRangeEnd - rangeEnd
	set rangeEnd to newRangeEnd

	--loop until there are no more paragraphs to check 
	repeat while amountMoved > 0
          
		--if two paragraphs are identical, delete second one 
		--and add the one after that to myRange so it 
		--can be checked
		if content of text object of paragraph 1 of myRange = ¬
			content of text object of paragraph 2 ¬
				of myRange then
			delete text object of paragraph 2 of myRange
			set myRange to text object of paragraph 1 ¬
				of myRange
			set rangeEnd to end of content of myRange
			set myRange to (move end of range myRange ¬
				by a paragraph item count 1         
			set newRangeEnd to end of content of myRange
			set amountMoved to newRangeEnd - rangeEnd
			set rangeEnd to newRangeEnd

		else
			--if two paragraphs aren't identical, add 
			--the one after that to my range, so it can 
			--be checked, and drop  the first one, since 
			--it is no longer of interest.
			set myRange to (move end of range myRange ¬
				by a paragraph item count 1
			try
				set newRangeEnd to end of content ¬
					of myRange
				set amountMoved to newRangeEnd - rangeEnd
				set rangeEnd to newRangeEnd
				set myRange to (move start ¬
					of range myRange by a paragraph ¬
					item count 1          
			on error -- errors because can't get 
				--newRangeEnd when move end of range 
				--is missing value at end of document                     
				set amountMoved to 0
			end try
		end if
          
	end repeat

end tell

These examples differ because in AppleScript, you cannot alter a range and have it continue to be the same range. Ranges are not dynamic. You can change the range, but then you have to reset the variable myRange to the newly altered one.

To make that possible, the commands that alter ranges have to return the new range so that you can get hold of it. This is fairly straightforward. A command, such as set range, which in its VBA version does not need to return a result, returns the altered range in AppleScript. Simply reassign it to the same variable (for example, myRange) that it was assigned to before set range, and carry on as you do in VBA.

For example, in the following code, myRange is redefined to end at the end of the third paragraph of the active document:

Set myRange = ActiveDocument.Paragraphs(1).Range
myRange.SetRange Start:=myRange.Start, _
	End:=ActiveDocument.Paragraphs(3).Range.End

In VBA, myRange is still defined, only now it will end at the end of the third paragraph. SetRange does not return a result, and does not need to because myRange has been modified "in place."

In AppleScript, you can't set myRange to the text object (range) of paragraph 1 and then try to extend it over more paragraphs, at least not with the set range command. This causes Microsoft Word to crash (this is not true for the move end of range command). The myRange variable remains a reference to the first paragraph, and it can't be something else simultaneously.

To solve this problem, create your own range that you set to the same start and end points, and modify that range, as shown in the following example:

tell application "Microsoft Word"
	set par1Range to text object of paragraph 1 of active document
	set myRange to create range active document start (start of content¬ 
		of par1Range) end 
(end of content of par1Range) 
	set myRange to set range myRange start (start of content of myRange) ¬
		end (end of content of (get text object of paragraph 3 ¬
			of active document))
	content of myRange
end tell

That works, and there's no crashing. The myRange variable is set to the same dimensions as par1Range, but in terms of a start and an end point, not in terms of belonging to a particular paragraph. You can now use set range to redefine the end point, but in terms of an integer, not paragraph 3 itself. The set range command returns a result that is a text range, but a new one. There is no modifying "in place."

To continue referring to it as myRange, you need to redefine the variable myRange to that result. Or, you could set a different variable to the result. However, if your VBA macro expects it still to be called myRange, your script should, too, to minimize changes.

Another option is to avoid using set range entirely, as shown in the following example:

tell application "Microsoft Word"
	set par1Range to text object of paragraph 1 ¬
		of active document
	set par3Range to text object of paragraph 3 ¬
		of active document
	set myRange to create range active document start ¬
		(start of content of par1Range) end ¬
		(end of content of par3Range)
	content of myRange
end tell

Although commands such as move end of range and move start of range otherwise work the same as MoveEnd and MoveStart in VBA, the fact that they have to return the modified range means that they cannot return the number of characters moved, as in VBA. However, that's not very hard to find. You can keep getting the end of content of the text object of the range, both before and after the move, and subtract one from the other to get the difference (amountMoved) as the same amount moved.

It also means that you have to keep updating the variables for rangeEnd and newRangeEnd after performing the subtraction, as in set rangeEnd to newRangeEnd, or you will "run out of variables." So it just takes a few more lines of code to do the same thing.

In VBA, you can get the number of characters moved by doing the following:

Set myRange = ActiveDocument.Paragraphs(1).Range 
AmountMoved = myRange.MoveEnd(unit:=wdParagraph, Count:=1)

This code sets myRange to the range of the first paragraph, and then uses MoveEnd to move the end, another paragraph on. Again, it does so "in place." There's no need to redefine myRange because it's still there as a dynamic reference, and the MoveEnd method is able to return the integer that represents the number of characters this move has advanced.

This time, in AppleScript, you do not have to create your own range. You can use move end of range on a text range set to the text object of the first paragraph, without crashing. However, you still cannot modify the range "in place." You have to set myRange, or another variable, to get hold of the new range returned by move end of range, as shown in the following example:

tell application "Microsoft Word"
	set myRange to text object of paragraph 1 of active document
	set myRange to (move end of range myRange ¬
		by a paragraph item count 1)
end tell

That works. But, because the command must return the new range as the result, it cannot return the amount moved. That is why so much of the script is concerned with calculating the amount moved, which isn't difficult (getting and redefining rangeEnd after every move) but is a bit of a bother. As you'll see shortly, there is a simpler way to do it given the necessary difference in the AppleScript command from the VBA version.

Something else to bear in mind with this example is to keep alert at the end of the document. In VBA when you try to do the final MoveEnd on the last paragraph mark, it doesn't error, but simply returns 0. In AppleScript, move end of range also doesn't error, but returns missing value (for a nonexistent new range that can't be made). That's a sort of null value. However, the next line that attempts to get end of content of a non-existent range does error.

To solve this problem, you trap the error in a try/on error block and arbitrarily set the amountMoved variable to 0. There are other ways to do this, but this method keeps the same structure as the VBA macro. Also, this is an opportunity for you to see that AppleScript has a repeat/while loop, too, although it's not used very often.

You can also rewrite the script to keep all of the move end, move start, and delete occurrences, and omit all of the get end of content and amountMoved calculations. You then depend on the trapped error at the end to close the script in a simple repeat loop with no while.

The following example is the improved version, optimized for AppleScript:

tell application "Microsoft Word"
	--start with first paragraph and extend range down to second
	set myRange to text object of paragraph 1 of active document
	set myRange to (move end of range myRange by a paragraph item count 1)
     
	--loop until there are no more paragraphs to check 
	repeat
		--if two paragraphs are identical, delete second one 
		--and add the one after that to myRange so it can be checked
		if content of text object of paragraph 1 of myRange = ¬
			content of text object of paragraph 2 of myRange then
			delete text object of paragraph 2 of myRange
			set myRange to text object of paragraph 1 of myRange
			set myRange to (move end of range myRange ¬
				by a paragraph item count 1)
		else
			--if two paragraphs aren't identical, add the one 
			--after that to my range, so it can be checked, 
			--and drop the first one, since it is no longer 
			--of interest.
			set myRange to (move end ¬
				of range myRange by a paragraph item count 1)
			try
				set myRange to (move start of range myRange ¬
					by a paragraph item count 1)
			on error -- last paragraph 
				--(missing value, so can't move start)
				exit repeat -- finish
			end try
		end if
	end repeat
end tell