title: Storing a hidden, non-editable variable in a form. Word 97 Compatible
body: <p>I need a non-editable field in a word form that can be read in vba.</p>
  
  <p>Currently I use a text field, which is hidden. As in:</p>
  
  <pre><code>ActiveDocument.FormFields("DocID").Select
      Selection.Font.Hidden = false
  //do read then re-hide it.
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>However users can still 'tab' in to this text field and overwrite the document ID that is there and thus invalidate the vba macro. And unfortunately that is what happens.</p>
  
  <p>I can set the text field property 'Fill-in enabled' to false which gives the desired effect in the form, i.e the user cannot edit it. However now this text field cannot be read in vba.</p>
  
  <pre><code>ActiveDocument.FormFields("DocID").SomeProperty 
  //throws error 'The requested member of the collection does not exist'
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>So my question is, <strong>is there a way I can store a hidden variable in a word form that can be read in a vba macro?</strong></p>
  
  <p>Unfortunately this has to be a Word-97 compatible solution.</p>