A few specific word bookmarks not being preserved after updating their text

Question

So, I'm trying to use an excel spreadsheet to populate a word template. The named ranges in the.xlsm file are the same as the word template bookmark names. Most run just fine, but for two of them, the.bookmarks.add method fails without an error or warning and the bookmark is then lost. As far as I can see, there is nothing special or particular about these two. What might be the cause?

The offending bookmarks are called "client_address2" (of 2) and "test_name2" (of 3).

Sub preencher_word_2dd()
'Substitui os bookmarks do word pelo conteúdo do Bookmarks.xlsm
    Dim wdApp As Word.Application
    Dim wDoc As Word.Document
    Dim bmkwb As Workbook
    Dim bmk As Worksheet
    Dim nome_report As String
    Dim i As Integer
    
    Set bmkwb = ActiveWorkbook
    Set bmk = bmkwb.Sheets(1)
    
    'Get the running word application
    Set wApp = GetObject(, "Word.Application")

    'get report name to be updated
    nome_report = bmk.Range("project_number").Value & "_" & bmk.Range("report_number") & "_01 Overview.docx"
    
    'select the correct, already open, word document
    Set wDoc = wApp.Documents(nome_report)
    Debug.Print wDoc.Bookmarks.Count
    
    i = 1
    With wDoc
        For i = 1 To .Bookmarks.Count
            For Each nm In bmkwb.Names
                If .Bookmarks(i).Name = nm.Name Then
                    'On Error Resume Next
                    UpdateBookmark wDoc, .Bookmarks(i), nm.RefersToRange.Value
                    'On Error GoTo 0
                    Exit For
                End If
            Next nm
        Next i
        .Fields.Update
    End With
    Debug.Print wDoc.Bookmarks.Count
End Sub

Sub UpdateBookmark(wDoc As Word.Document, b As Word.Bookmark, TextToUse As String)
    Dim BMRange As Word.Range
    Dim BMName As String
    Dim n_bmks As Integer
    
    n_bmks = wDoc.Bookmarks.Count
    Set BMRange = b.Range
    BMName = b.Name
    BMRange.Text = TextToUse
    
    wDoc.Bookmarks.Add BMName, BMRange
    If n_bmks <> wDoc.Bookmarks.Count Then
        Debug.Print BMName, BMRange
        Debug.Print wDoc.Bookmarks.Count, "Bookmark lost"
    End If
End Sub

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

You refer to bookmarks «called "client_address2" (of 2) and "test_name2" (of 3)». I assume these are named "client_address1", "client_address2", "test_name1", "test_name2", and "test_name3", as Word documents cannot have two or more bookmarks with the same name.

Are any bookmarks contained within or overlapping another bookmark? if so, that might result in your 'For i = 1 To.Bookmarks.Count' crashing out if those embedded/overlapping bookmarks longer exist. As for:

i = 1
With wDoc
    For i = 1 To .Bookmarks.Count
        For Each nm In bmkwb.Names
            If .Bookmarks(i).Name = nm.Name Then
                'On Error Resume Next
                UpdateBookmark wDoc, .Bookmarks(i), nm.RefersToRange.Value
                'On Error GoTo 0
                Exit For
            End If
        Next nm
    Next i
    .Fields.Update
End With

that could all be reduced to:

With wDoc
  For Each nm In bmkwb.Names
    If .Bookmarks.Exists(nm.Name).Name Then _
      Call UpdateBookmark(wDoc, .Bookmarks(nm.Name), nm.RefersToRange.Value)
  Next nm
  .Fields.Update
End With