Can't delete all comments in VSTO C# Word Add In

Question

I'm trying to loop through all comments in a Word Doc and Clear all the comments that contain a substring of "CME" in the comment text. The application is a VSTO Add-In written in C# and it's using .NET 4.8.

I have 2 problems.

The delete method isn't in the list of methods I can choose here Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.ActiveDocument.Comments[i]
When I use the DeleteRecursively() Method, it doesn't delete all the comments, it leaves one and I have to click the clear comments button on the ribbon again to get rid of the last one.

What I have tried.

I have installed office interop library via nuget.
I have tried looking for other methods on the Comment in the collection, but haven't found anything that works.
Searched the web.

Here is the method

private void btnClearComments_Click(object sender, RibbonControlEventArgs e)
        {
            if (Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.ActiveDocument.Comments.Count != 0)
            {
              //  Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.ActiveDocument.DeleteAllComments();                                                 
              //  MessageBox.Show("Clearing All Comments ");
              for(int i = 1; i <= Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.ActiveDocument.Comments.Count; i++)
                {
                    if (Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.ActiveDocument.Comments[i].Range.Text.Contains("CME"))
                    {
                        Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.ActiveDocument.Comments[i].DeleteRecursively();   
                    }
                }
                
            }
            else
            {
               
                MessageBox.Show("There are No Comments to Delete");                

            }            

        }

Any Help would be appreciated, thanks.

Rno · Accepted Answer · 2023-09-22 19:09:50Z

The Comment object does not have a Delete method, see docs.
It probably also depends on the number of comments? The Comments collection in Word is 1-based. That is confusing from a C# point of view, which is always 0-based. When there is 1 comment left, clicking will remove it. But, depending on the total number of comments, several clicks may be necessary? That is, if I understand your code correctly.

There are a few things I would like to point out.

There is no need to check for the number of comments <= 0.
it is a common mistake to alter a collection while iterating over it.

Consider your code:

// imagine we have 3 things, and as with Comments they start counting at 1
for (counter = 1; i <= things.Count; i++)
{
    remove things[counter]; // remove the thing at counter. 
}

Let's take it step by step. after the first loop, counter is 2 now, and there are also 2 things left. So the next loop will remove another thing, leaving 1, but counter will be 3 so it will never be processed.

@Dmitry is therefore correct in suggesting doing the deletion in reverse order.
That would have the added benefit of having to call the Count property just once. In this case it is a call to a COM object, which is particularly expensive. But it is always good to avoid unnecessary calls.

Consider this:

private void btnClearComments_Click(object sender, RibbonControlEventArgs e)
{
    int nComments = Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.ActiveDocument.Comments.Count; // single call
    for (int i = nComments; nComments >= 1 ; i--) // keeping with the index 1 theme
    {
        if (Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.ActiveDocument.Comments[i].Range.Text.Contains("CME"))
        {
            Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.ActiveDocument.Comments[i].DeleteRecursively();   
        }
    }
}

Dmitry Streblechenko · Accepted Answer · 2023-09-20 21:23:32Z

1

Try a backward loop:

for (int i = Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.ActiveDocument.Comments.Count; i >= 1; i--)

answered Sep 20, 2023 at 21:23

Dmitry Streblechenko

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