InvisibleApp.HelpPaths property (Visio)

Article
09/13/2021

Gets or sets the paths where Microsoft Visio looks for Help files. Read/write.

Syntax

expression.HelpPaths

expression A variable that represents an InvisibleApp object.

Return value

String

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 (File tab > Options > Advanced > General > File Locations). This string is stored in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\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".

Warning

Modifying the Windows registry in any manner, whether in 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.

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 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

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