Share via

HelpPaths Property [Visio 2003 SDK Documentation]

  • Article

Gets or sets the paths where Microsoft Office Visio looks for Help files.

strRet = object**.HelpPaths**

object**.HelpPaths** = pathsStr

strRet     String. A text string containing a list of folders where Visio looks for Help files. Individual items are separated by semicolons.

object     Required. An expression that returns an Application object.

pathsStr     Required String. A text string containing a list of folders; to indicate more than one folder, use semicolons to separate individual items in the path string.

Version added

4.0

Remarks

The HelpPaths property is set to an empty string ("") by default.

The string passed to and received from the HelpPaths property is the same string shown in the File Paths dialog box. (On the Tools menu, click Options, click the Advanced tab, and then click File Paths.) This string is stored in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Visio\Application\HelpPath subkey.

When the application looks for Help files, it looks in all paths named in the HelpPaths property and all the subfolders of those paths. If you pass the HelpPaths property to the EnumDirectories method, it returns a complete list of fully qualified paths in the folders passed in.

Setting the HelpPaths property replaces existing values for HelpPaths in the File Paths dialog box. To retain existing values, get the existing string and then append the new file path to that string, as shown in the following code:

Application.HelpPaths = Application.HelpPaths & ";" & "newpath".

Note  Modifying the registry in any manner, whether through the Registry Editor or programmatically, always carries some degree of risk. Incorrect modification can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. It is a good practice to always back up a computer's registry first before modifying it. If you are running Microsoft Windows NT or Microsoft Windows 2000, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

Example

This Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macro shows how to get and set the HelpPaths property of the Application object. Before running this macro, replace fullpath(s) with the path or paths to the location or locations where you want Visio to look for Help files.

Public Sub GetHelpPaths_Example() 

    Dim strCurrentPath As String

    'Retrieve the current path to Visio Help files. 
    strCurrentPath = Application.HelpPaths 
    MsgBox ("The current path for Microsoft Office Visio Help files is " + strCurrentPath) 

End Sub  

Public Sub SetHelpPaths_Example() 

    Dim strNewPath As String

    'Store the new path. 
    strNewPath = "fullpath(s)" 

    'Set the new path in the Application object. 
    Application.HelpPaths = strNewPath 

End Sub

Applies to | Application object | InvisibleApp object

See Also | AddonPaths property | DrawingPaths property | EnumDirectories method | Path property | StartupPaths property | StencilPaths property | TemplatePaths property