The VBA version

The following code is the VBA subroutine:

Sub ControlWordFromXL() 

Dim oWord As Word.Application 
Dim WordWasNotRunning As Boolean 
Dim oDoc As Word.Document 
Dim myDialog As Word.Dialog 
Dim UserButton As Long 
 
'Get existing instance of Word if it's open; 
'otherwise create a new one 
 
On Error Resume Next 
 
Set oWord = GetObject(, "Word.Application")
If Err Then 
	Set oWord = New Word.Application 
	WordWasNotRunning = True 
End If 
 
On Error GoTo Err_Handler 
 
oWord.Visible = True 
oWord.Activate 
Set oDoc = oWord.Documents.Add 
 
' code here to manipulate the document
 
oDoc.Close savechanges:=wdDoNotSaveChanges 
 
If WordWasNotRunning Then 
	oWord.Quit 
End If 
 
'Make sure you release object references. 
 
Set oWord = Nothing 
Set oDoc = Nothing 
Set myDialog = Nothing 
 
'quit  
Exit Sub 
 
Err_Handler: 
	MsgBox "Word caused a problem. " &
		Err.Description, vbCritical, "Error: " _ 
		& Err.Number 
	If WordWasNotRunning Then 
		oWord.Quit 
	End If 
 
End  Sub

The AppleScript version

The following code is the AppleScript subroutine. You use a subroutine rather than top-level script when you want to use the same code frequently in several scripts.

to ControlWord()
	-- no need for any Dim statements, a try/error 
	-- block to invoke Word, or to create a new 
	-- instance of Word specifically, but check to 
	-- see if Word is already running, for later  
	tell application "System Events"
		set wordWasRunning to exists process "Microsoft Word"
	end tell 
	try
		tell application "Microsoft Word"
			-- no need to make Word visible, 
			-- nor the option*
			activate
			set oDoc to make new document
            
			-- code here to manipulate the document       
			close oDoc saving no
			if not wordWasRunning then quit
		end tell
	on error errMsg number errNum
		-- bring current application
		-- (e.g., Excel) to the front to view 
		-- dialog
		activate
		display dialog "Word caused a problem. "¬ 
			& errMsg & return & "Error: " & errNum ¬ 
			with icon 0
		if not wordWasRunning then
			tell application "Microsoft Word" to quit
		end if
	end try
	-- no need to release object references
end ControlWord

Comparing the two

System Events is a background application with a very interesting dictionary. In this example, System Events checks whether Word as a process exists since there's no way to mimic the VBA method of trying to create a new Word instance. In VBA, you receive an error if one exists already.

Note that the application class in the Word dictionary does not have a visible property. However, window does, so you can hide and show individual windows.

If you want to hide and show the application, you do that in System Events, where you can set the visible property of any process, including Word. The Finder can do the same thing with "legacy" commands, but these process features are actually done by System Events. The Finder simply passes on the command. This is a basic difference between Macintosh and Windows. The system, rather than the application itself, controls things like the visibility of applications.

Also note that in AppleScript you need to use try in order to catch an error. If you want to put the try block around the entire ControlWord() handler, put it around the call to the handler, not inside of the handler.

In this example, when you are using Mac OS X v10.4 (Tiger), the call to Word to quit inside the on error block works. However, in Mac OS X v10.3 (Panther) and earlier versions, if Word has already quit, this new tell statement launches Word only to quit it.