Dashed or dotted line patterns are converted to a solid line pattern when you embed a Visio 2002 object (816630)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Visio 2002 Standard
  • Microsoft Visio 2002 Professional
Important This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Visio 2002 when your drawing contains objects that use a dashed or a dotted line pattern, and you copy and paste the objects to a Microsoft Office document or to a document in another program that supports linked and embedded objects, you may find that some of the embedded Visio objects are displayed with a solid line pattern. Objects that use a line pattern with thick, short lines retain their formatting, whereas objects that use a line pattern with thinner, longer lines do not retain their formatting. The line pattern of these embedded objects are converted to solid lines.

CAUSE

Visio renders very long lines and very thin lines as solid lines to reduce the size of the Enhanced Metafile (EMF) of the embedded object. By doing so, Visio reduces the increase in file size that occurs when you embed objects in documents in other programs and also helps to avoid printer buffer overruns.

Note that the Visio drawing is not changed, only the EMF image of the drawing that is displayed in the document is changed when the drawing is not activated. When you double-click the embedded Visio drawing, the line pattern of objects is displayed as expected by using either a dotted or dashed line pattern. When you print the document that contains the embedded Visio object, the EMF image is printed by using solid lines.

RESOLUTION

How to Obtain the Hotfix

This issue is fixed in the Visio 2002 Post-Service Release 1 Hotfix Package that is dated July 23, 2003. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

823326 Visio 2002 Post-Service Release 1 Hotfix Package: July 23, 2003

After you install this hotfix, follow the steps that are listed in the "More Information" section of this article to set the MetafileDashLineAsSolid registry key and to activate the hotfix.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, increase the thickness of the line pattern of the embedded Visio object after you copy and paste the Visio drawing to the other program. To do so, follow these steps:
  1. Open the document that contains the embedded Visio drawing.
  2. Double-click the embedded Visio drawing in the document.
  3. Right-click the Visio object whose line pattern you want to modify, point to Format, and then click Line.
  4. In the Weight box, click the line thickness setting that you want, and then click OK.
  5. Click an empty area of the document outside the embedded Visio drawing.
  6. Save the document.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

To activate this hotfix, follow these steps:
  1. Quit Visio 2002.
  2. Click Start, and then click Run.
  3. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
  4. Locate, and then click to select the following registry key:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Visio\Application

  5. After you select the key that is specified in step 4, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click DWORD Value.
  6. Type MetafileDashLineAsSolid, and then press ENTER.
  7. Right-click MetafileDashLineAsSolid, and then click Modify.
  8. In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK.
  9. On the File menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.
Note You can set the MetafileDashLineAsSolid registry entry to any one of the following values, as appropriate to your situation:
  • 0: Do not substitute solid lines for dashed or dotted lines.
  • 1: Only substitute solid lines for dashed or dotted lines in extreme situations. For example, substitute solid lines for dashed or dotted lines when the increase in file size that may result is 100 times the size of the original file,.
  • 2: Substitute solid lines for dashed or dotted lines when reasonable. This is the default value.
  • 3: Always substitute solid lines for dashed or dotted lines.

REFERENCES

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

824684 Description of the Standard Terminology That Is Used to Describe Microsoft Software Updates

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:9/27/2005
Keywords:kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbRegistry kbQFE kbbug kbfix KB816630 kbAudEndUser kbAudITPRO
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