Changes to the functionality of the My Shapes folder in Visio 2003 after Visio 2003 Service Pack 2 is installed (906521)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2003
  • Microsoft Office Visio Standard 2003
Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure to back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows registry

INTRODUCTION

Microsoft Office Visio 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) contains changes to the functionality of the My Shapes folder. This article describes the changes.

For more information about Visio 2003 Service Pack 2, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

887622 Description of Visio 2003 Service Pack 2

MORE INFORMATION

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

The My Shapes folder

By default, when you first start Visio 2003 after you install the program, the path of the My Shapes folder is defined as follows:

%userprofile%\My Documents\My Shapes

Note In this path, %userprofile% indicates the path of the user profile that contains the My Documents folder.

The path of the My Shapes folder is stored in the MyShapesPath string value of the following registry subkey:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Visio\Application

Note If you want to prevent the My Shapes folder from being created, you can set a nonexistent path in the MyShapesPath string value.

When you move, delete, or rename the My Shapes folder

If you use Microsoft Windows Explorer to move, to delete, or to rename the My Shapes folder and then you start Visio 2003 SP2, the following actions occur:
  • The My Shapes folder is not automatically re-created when you start Visio 2003 SP2. The path that was originally set in the MyShapesPath string value in the registry remains. If the folder that the MyShapesPath string value points to does not exist, the MyShapesPath string value becomes a nonexistent path. The presence of a nonexistent path is what instructs Visio 2003 SP2 not to re-create the My Shapes folder.
  • If a nonexistent path is present in the MyShapesPath string value in the registry, the My Documents folder is the default folder when you click Open on the File menu and when you click Save As on the File menu.
Additionally, the following actions occur:
  • If you delete the path in the MyShapesPath string value in the registry but you do not delete, move, or rename the My Shapes folder, Visio 2003 SP2 writes the MyShapesPath string with the default value back into the registry the next time that you start Visio 2003 SP2.
  • If you delete the path in the MyShapesPath string value in the registry and you delete, move, or rename the My Shapes folder, Visio 2003 SP2 writes the MyShapesPath string with the default value back into the registry and re-creates the My Shapes folder the next time that you start Visio 2003 SP2.

When you use the Microsoft Office Visio 2003 Multilingual User Interface Pack

When you first start Visio 2003 SP2 together with the Microsoft Office 2003 Multilingual User Interface Pack (MUI Pack), the following actions occur:
  • A single My Shapes folder is created by using the localized folder name that is based on the installed MUI Pack.
  • When you start Visio 2003 SP2 together with another MUI Pack language, an additional My Shapes folder is not created. The created My Shapes folder is used for all other MUI Pack languages.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:9/29/2005
Keywords:kbhowto kbinfo KB906521 kbAudEndUser
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