Add and remove shortcuts in the Open & Save As dialogs
Add and remove shortcuts in the Open & Save As dialogs
Creating and removing customized shortcuts can either be done manually or via code. When we make any change(s) it will affect all Office programs.
Manually
If we want to do it manually we need to open the Regeditor and locate the following key in Windows registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Versionnumber\Common\Open Find\Places\UserDefinedPlaces
The ‘Versionnumber’ refers to 9.0, 10.0, 11.0 and later.
- Under this key we create a new subkey and name it (for instance Daily Dose)
- For the new subkey we add two string values:
‘Name’ and with the value for the name to be showed in the dialogs (for instance Daily Dose)
‘Path’ and with the value of the pathway to be available in the dialogs (for instance c:\Daily Dose)
The following image shows the settings in the registry:
Another important subkey is ‘Places’ which contain the string value ‘ItemSize’. It control if the shortcuts will be showed as compressed (value 0) or not (value 1). If we have many shortcuts it can be suitable to ‘compact’ them in the dialogs. The ‘ItemSize’ can be located at the following place in Windows registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Versionnumber\Common\Open Find\Places
Via code
The below solutions use the RegObj.dll and for more information about Regobj please see Add-ins - Working with Windows registry
Option Private Module
'A reference to the Registration Manipulation Classes must be set.
Dim m_regRootKey As RegKey
Dim m_regMainKey As RegKey
Dim m_stSubRoot As String
Dim m_stSubPlace As String
Sub Add_ShortCut_Office()
If Add_ShortCut("11.0", "XL-Dennis", "My storage", "c:\XL-Dennis", 0) Then
MsgBox "The shortcut has successfully been added to the list.", vbInformation
Else
MsgBox "The shortcut already exist in Windows Registry.", vbInformation
End If
End Sub
Sub Remove_ShortCut_Office()
If Remove_ShortCut("11.0", "XL-Dennis", 1) Then
MsgBox "The shortcut has successfully been removed.", vbInformation
Else
MsgBox "The shortcut does not exist in Windows Registry.", vbInformation
End If
End Sub
Function Add_ShortCut(ByVal stXLVersion, _
ByVal stMainKey As String, _
ByVal stName As String, _
ByVal stPath As String, _
ByVal lnSize As Long) As Boolean
On Error GoTo Error_Handling
'Registry path to set the size of the shortcuts in the dialogs.
m_stSubPlace = "Software\Microsoft\Office\" & stXLVersion & _
"\Common\Open Find\Places"
'Registry path to add user defined places.
m_stSubRoot = "Software\Microsoft\Office\" & stXLVersion & _
"\Common\Open Find\Places\UserDefinedPlaces"
'Set the rootkey.
Set m_regRootKey = RegKeyFromHKey(HKEY_CURRENT_USER)
'Parse the subkey.
Set m_regMainKey = m_regRootKey.ParseKeyName(m_stSubRoot)
With m_regMainKey
.SubKeys.Add stMainKey 'Create the subkey.
With .SubKeys(stMainKey)
'Add the shortcuts which are string values.
.Values.Add "Name", stName, RegValueType.rvString
.Values.Add "Path", stPath, RegValueType.rvString
End With
End With
'Parse the subkey.
Set m_regMainKey = m_regRootKey.ParseKeyName(m_stSubPlace)
'It seems that there only exist two workable values, 0 and 1
'where 0 represent the compacted status and 1 the standard.
If lnSize > 1 Then
lnSize = 1
ElseIf lnSize < 0 Then
lnSize = 0
End If
If m_regMainKey.Values("ItemSize").Value <> lnSize Then
m_regMainKey.Values("ItemSize").Value = lnSize
End If
Add_ShortCut = True
ExitHere:
'Release objects from memory.
Set m_regRootKey = Nothing
Set m_regMainKey = Nothing
Exit Function
Error_Handling:
'Error 35004 indicates that the shortcut entry already exist.
If Err.Number = 35004 Then Add_ShortCut = False
Resume ExitHere
End Function
Function Remove_ShortCut(ByVal stXLVersion, _
ByVal stMainKey As String, _
ByVal lnSize As Long) As Boolean
On Error GoTo Error_Handling
m_stSubPlace = "Software\Microsoft\Office\" & stXLVersion & _
"\Common\Open Find\Places"
m_stSubRoot = "Software\Microsoft\Office\" & stXLVersion & _
"\Common\Open Find\Places\UserDefinedPlaces"
Set m_regRootKey = RegKeyFromHKey(HKEY_CURRENT_USER)
Set m_regMainKey = m_regRootKey.ParseKeyName(m_stSubRoot)
m_regMainKey.SubKeys.Remove stMainKey
Set m_regMainKey = m_regRootKey.ParseKeyName(m_stSubPlace)
If lnSize > 1 Then
lnSize = 1
ElseIf lnSize < 0 Then
lnSize = 0
End If
If m_regMainKey.Values("ItemSize").Value <> lnSize Then
m_regMainKey.Values("ItemSize").Value = lnSize
End If
Remove_ShortCut = True
ExitHere:
Set m_regRootKey = Nothing
Set m_regMainKey = Nothing
Exit Function
Error_Handling:
'Error 35006 indicates that the shortcut entry does not exist.
If Err.Number = 35006 Then Remove_ShortCut = False
Resume ExitHere
End Function
The following picture shows the Open Dialog when we have added a shortcut (via the above code) and also have compressed the list:
The above is applicable for Excel 2000 and later.
Kind regards,
Dennis
Important: Whenever You are working with the Windows registry make sure You first make a backup of the registry.
Very nice tip!
Any idea’s for getting this across the UI? Like when saving files from IE?
Hi Dennis
I was actually looking into doing this
except via APIs.
Thanks for saving me the time.
cool tip!, Thanks Dennis
Hi guys,
Bill - I’m not aware of a central part of the registry to control the UI.
Ivan - Thanks but I would welcome an API solution as this one rely on a separate DLL
Ross - You’re welcome.
Kind regards,
Dennis
Great tip Dennis,
Any Ideas on how I can get windows explorer to open in a user defined directory rather than the C:\Documents and Settings\xyz\Start Menu
Thanks
Sam,
I would suggest that You take a look at Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx
The entries in the registry that may be of interest are:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
(You find similar entries in the HEY_LOCAL_MACHINE part of the registry)
However, per se I’m not a “registry-hacker” and only solve things when it’s absolutely necessary via the registry
Kind regards,
Dennis
I use a shortcut with a command line switch in the Quick Launch bar
eg: C:\WINDOWS\explorer.exe /root, \\Server\directory
or see
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=130510
Hui…
Dennis, Hui
Thanks for the tip…. I forgot I asked the question and saw your reply today
Regards
Sam
In 2003 you can do this by selecting File > Open, then browsing to the desired folder, then going to the Tools menu in the File Open Dialog box and selecting “Add to My Places”.
Dianne
Thanks…. had not used that before
Sam