If Word automatically disables macros that you need to run, you may need to change your security settings. When you open a VBA project that might be dangerous, Word disables its macros (see Figure 8-5). Consequently, Microsoft has bundled up Word (and the other Office applications) increasingly tightly against malefaction.
Because VBA can take a wide variety of actions on your computer without your intervention, it's a security threat. The problem is that Word's security settings are set to protect you from potentially dangerous code. Word is the host application here the other Office applications, and many other applications, also host VBA.
Visual Basic for Applications is what's called a hosted programming language: instead of running on its own, as Visual Basic itself does, VBA requires a host application to provide it with an environment in which to work. Help! What's a host application, what's the problem, andmost of allhow do I fix it? The Solution: When I open the template that one of my colleagues has developed, Word says that the macros are disabled and tells me to check the host application's online help or documentation.