"Out of memory" Microsoft Visual Basic Error After Upgrading Microsoft Word

The information in this document applies to:

Issue

Many users who have MathType 3.5, after upgrading to Microsoft Word 98 or later, find that they receive the following message, either when they launch Microsoft Word or when they open a document created with a previous version of Microsoft Word,

Reason

The MathType Commands for Word macro template was written for Microsoft Word 6.0 which used WordBasic as its macro language. With the release of Microsoft Word 98, Microsoft switched to Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) as its macro language. The WordBasic macros included with MathType 3.5 were written for Word 6.0 cannot be used with Word 98.

Solution

If you are receiving this error message when you start Microsoft Word, rather then when attempting to install MathType's macros, you will need to rename your Microsoft Word Normal template.

If you want macros for a version of Microsoft Word later than Microsoft Word 6.0, the simplest solution is to upgrade to a newer version of MathType for the Macintosh. It is possible to write a macro for inserting MathType equations and to place a button for this macro on a toolbar in Microsoft Word. If you would also like macros for inserting equation sections, numbers, and references, as well as updating all the equations in a document, it will be necessary to upgrade.

This notice addresses the following issues,

1. Renaming the Normal template for Microsoft Word

2. Creating a macro to insert a MathType equation

3. Placing a button on the toolbar

4. Making MathType the default equation editor

Renaming the Normal template for Microsoft Word

One thing to note before renaming your Normal template is that it contains your macros, styles, and menu and toolbar customizations. Renaming your Normal template will force Microsoft Word to create a new Normal template which will reset Microsoft Word to its default, which will not have the old MathType macros for WordBasic attached to it. You should rename your current Normal file instead of deleting it if you have macros or styles that you want to keep. You can copy any macros or styles that you have written from your current Normal template to the new one. You will need to redo any toolbar customizations.

1. Quit all running applications.
2. Open your hard drive by double-clicking on it.
3. Open your Microsoft Office folder. Open the Templates folder inside it.
4. You should find a file named Normal with a Microsoft Word document icon. Rename this file Old Normal if you have macros or styles that you would like to save, otherwise, delete it. 
5. Launch Microsoft Word. Word should take a little longer than normal to start up. Once Microsoft Word has launched, Microsoft Word will have automatically created a new copy of Normal and saved it into your Templates folder.

If you have macros which you have recorded or written, they are now stored in Old Normal. You can delete Old Normal after copying all your macros from it.

Creating a macro to insert a MathType equation

To create the macro do the following:

1. Launch Microsoft Word.
2. From the Tools menu, choose Macro and then Macros to open the Macro dialog.
3. In the Macro Name field, type InsertEquation.
4. Under Macros In: it should say "All active templates and documents".

4. Click Create to open a new window.
5. Type in the following ,

Sub InsertEquation()
    Selection.InLineShapes.AddOLEObject ClassType:="Equation", _
        Filename:="", LinkToFile:=False, DisplayAsIcon:=False
End Sub

7. From the File menu, choose Close and Return to Microsoft Word.

Placing a button on the toolbar

After you have created the macro for inserting a MathType equation, you can use the toolbar button to launch MathType instead of the Microsoft Equation Editor. To place this button on the toolbar, do the following:

1. From the Tools menu of Microsoft Word, choose Customize.
2. Select the Commands tab.
3. Choose Insert in the list of Categories.
4. Choose Equation Editor under Commands. The list is not in alphabetical order. Equation Editor appears near the bottom of the list.
5. Drag the icon from the list and drop it on one the toolbars where you want the button to be placed. You cannot place the button in a blank space, it must be placed on an existing toolbar.
6. Click Close on the Customize dialog.

If clicking on still launches the Microsoft Equation Editor, follow the instructions in the following section.

Making MathType the default equation editor

If pressing the toolbar button within Word 98 still launches the Microsoft Equation Editor, do the following,

1. Quit all running applications.
2. Launch MathType.
3. After MathType has started, select Quit from the file menu.
4. Launch Microsoft Word.

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