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Application.StencilPaths Property

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Visio Automation Reference

Gets or sets the paths where Microsoft Office Visio looks for stencils. Read/write.

Version Information
 Version Added:  Visio 4.0

Syntax

expression.StencilPaths

expression   A variable that represents an Application object.

Return Value
String

Remarks

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

The string passed to and received from the StencilPaths 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\12.0\Visio\Application\StencilPath subkey.

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

Setting the StencilPaths property replaces existing values for Stencils 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:

Visual Basic for Applications 
  Application.StencilPaths = Application.StencilPaths & ";" & "newpath".

** Warning **   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 us the StencilPaths property to add a path to the stencils.

Visual Basic for Applications 
  
Public Sub ShowStencilPaths_Example()
 
    Dim strMessage As String
    Dim strNewPath As String
    Dim strStencilPath As String
    Dim strTitle As String

'Get the path we want to add. 
strStencilPath = Application.StencilPaths 
strTitle = "StencilPaths" 
strMessage = "The current content of the Visio Stencils box is:" 
strMessage = strMessage & vbCrLf & strStencilPath 
MsgBox strMessage, vbInformation + vbOKOnly, strTitle 
strMessage = "Type in an additional path for Visio to look for stencils. " 
strNewPath = InputBox$(strMessage, strTitle) 

'Make sure the folder exists and that it's not
'already in the stencil paths. 
strMessage = "" 
If strNewPath = ""  Then
    strMessage = "You did not enter a path."
    ElseIf InStr(strStencilPath, strNewPath)  Then
        strMessage = "The path you specified is already in the stencil paths." 
    ElseIf Len(Dir$(strNewPath, vbDirectory)) = 0 And _ 
            Len(Dir$(Application.Path & strNewPath, _ 
            vbDirectory)) = 0 Then
        strMessage = "The folder you typed does not exist (or is blank)." 
    Else
        Application.StencilPaths = strStencilPath & ";" & strNewPath 
        strMessage = "We just added " & strNewPath & _ 
            " to the stencil paths." 
    End If

If strMessage <> ""  Then
    MsgBox strMessage, vbExclamation + vbOKOnly, strTitle 
End If



End Sub

See Also