Article ID: 176803
Article Last Modified on 10/10/2006
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Excel 2000 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Excel 95 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Excel 5.0 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Excel 98 for Macintosh
This article was previously published under Q176803
SUMMARY
The LibraryPath property of the Application object in Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications works slightly differently in Microsoft Excel for Windows than it does in Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh. This article explains the differences and how to avoid problems when using the LibraryPath property in your Visual Basic macros and procedures.
MORE INFORMATION
You can use the LibraryPath property in Visual Basic macros and procedures in Microsoft Excel to return the path to the Library folder. The Library folder is the folder where most add-ins included with Microsoft Excel are stored.
In Microsoft Excel for Windows, the LibraryPath property appears similar to the following:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Library
Note that there is no trailing separator (in this case, a backslash) at the end of the path.
However, in Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, the LibraryPath property appears similar to the following:
Macintosh HD:Microsoft Office:Microsoft Excel 5:Macro Library:
-or-
Macintosh HD:Microsoft Office 98:Office:Excel Add-Ins:
Note that there is a trailing separator (in this case, a colon) at the end of the path. This may cause problems if you are writing code that is intended to work in both Microsoft Excel for Windows and Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh.
You can prevent problems from occurring by programmatically removing the trailing separator from the LibraryPath before you use it. The following example demonstrates one way in which this may be done.
Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements.
Sample Visual Basic Procedure
Sub GetGoodLibraryPath()
' Store the LibraryPath in a variable.
xLibraryPath = Application.LibraryPath
' If the LibraryPath ends in a colon...
If Right(xLibraryPath, 1) = ":" Then
' ...remove the colon from the end of the path.
xLibraryPath = Left(xLibraryPath, Len(xLibraryPath) - 1)
End If
' Display the corrected LibraryPath.
MsgBox "The application's LibraryPath is " & xLibraryPath
End Sub
Once you have corrected the LibraryPath, you can use the PathSeparator property to add either a backslash or a colon to the end of the path, and then add a file name after the separator. Following is an example:
xFilePath = xLibraryPath & Application.PathSeparator & "Addin.xla"
If you use the PathSeparator property when the LibraryPath has not been corrected, you may receive an error message when you run the macro in Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh.
REFERENCES
For additional information about getting help with Visual Basic for Applications, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
163435 VBA: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for Applications
Additional query words: XL5 XL7 XL97 XL98 XL
Keywords: kbdtacode kbhowto kbprogramming KB176803
