OLE Objects

The Windows version of ConceptDraw is an OLE-compatible application (supports Object Linking and Embedding). This feature lets you use ConceptDraw drawings in other OLE-compatible software, as well as work with other applications' objects from within ConceptDraw.
OLE-compatibility means that you can combine objects created in different applications, such as pictures, audio and video files, etc., within a single document.

OLE Objects in ConceptDraw documents
ConceptDraw Objects in Other OLE-Compatible Applications

OLE Objects in ConceptDraw Documents

You can link data from other applications to your document. When you create a link to another application's object, your document stores only a reference to the location where its file resides (not the linked object itself). When you change the original data file, all the changes are reflected in your document.

To modify a linked object, call its context menu or use the Edit menu.
At the bottom of the menu, use the Object <Application> item. It includes a submenu of actions you can perform on the linked objects: Edit and Open.
Clicking any of these items launches the <Application> in which you can edit the linked object.

Note:  It is usually enough to double-click an OLE object to launch its editing application.

You can embed objects created in other applications into your ConceptDraw document, and also use objects from ConceptDraw in other applications - for instance, illustrate your text documents with charts, diagrams and other drawings. All the embedded data is stored with the document, even if the original file exists.

To modify an embedded object, call its context menu or use the Edit menu.
At the bottom of the menu, use the Object <Application> item. It includes a submenu of actions you can perform on the linked objects: Edit and Open.
Choose any of these options to launch the <Application> where you can edit the embedded object.

Note:  It is usually enough to double-click an OLE object to launch its editing application.

If there are other OLE-compatible applications on your system, you can create and insert a new OLE object into your document, and then edit such an object from within ConceptDraw.

To insert a new OLE object, perform the following steps:

1. From the Insert menu, select Object: the Insert Object dialog will appear.
2. Choose Create New to create a new object.
3. From the Object Type list, choose the needed type.
   If the needed file type is not found in the list, the corresponding application is probably not installed on your system.
4. If you need the object to be displayed as icon only, check Display As Icon.
5. Click OK.

A new object editing window will appear. In this window you can create a new object using the tools of the corresponding OLE-application.
To finish editing the object, click away from the object (if it is in the ConceptDraw window), or choose File / Exit (if the OLE-application was opened in a new window).

To edit an OLE object that already exists in your document, call its context menu or use the Edit menu.
At the bottom of the menu, use the Object <Application> item - its exact name varies with the type of the chosen object (for instance, for Microsoft Word objects it is called Document Object).
It includes a submenu of actions you can perform on the linked objects:
- Edit - to edit the OLE object inside ConceptDraw.
- Open - to open the OLE object in the application where it was created.

After you choose an item, the editing starts. To finish editing, click outside the object editing window (if it is within the ConceptDraw window), or choose File / Exit (if the corresponding OLE-application was opened in a new window).

Note:  It is usually enough to double-click an OLE object to launch its editing software.

ConceptDraw Objects in Other OLE-Compatible Applications

You can create ConceptDraw objects from within another OLE-compatible application and insert it into your document. For instance, you can insert a ConceptDraw drawing into a Word document.

To insert a ConceptDraw document into another OLE-compatible application, do the following:

1. In the OLE-compatible application, activate the document in which a ConceptDraw object should be inserted.
2. In the Insert menu, choose Object. The Insert Object dialog will appear.
3. Choose the Create New option.
4. From the list of the object types available, choose ConceptDraw Document.
5. If you need the document to be displayed as icon only, check the Display As Icon option.
6. Click OK.

You will start editing the new object in the ConceptDraw window. To get back to the primary application, choose Exit from the File menu.

To modify a ConceptDraw document within another OLE-compatible application, call the OLE-object's context menu or use the Edit menu.
In the menu, use the ConceptDraw Document item. It gives you the choice of two actions: Edit or Open. You can use either of them to turn the object editing mode on.
To finish editing, choose Exit from the File menu.

Note:  It is usually enough to double-click an OLE object to launch its editing software.

You can insert objects stored in ConceptDraw files into the documents in other OLE-compatible applications.

To do this, perform the following steps in the in the OLE-compatible application:

1. In the Insert menu, choose Object. The Insert Object dialog will appear.
2. Choose the Create From File option.
3. Click Browse and select the needed ConceptDraw file to insert in your document.
4. To link the selected file, check the Link option. The object in the file will be stored apart from the document, and all the changes made in the source file will be reflected in your document.
   Otherwise (if the Link option is unchecked), the object will be embedded and stored with the document.
5. If you need the object to be displayed as icon only, check the Display As Icon option.
6. Click OK.

If you need to insert an object from an open ConceptDraw document into a document in another OLE-compatible application, perform the following steps:

1. Select the object.
2. Copy it onto the Clipboard - you can use the Copy command from the Edit or context menu, or the Copy tool .
3. In the target application, activate the document in which the object should be inserted.
4. From the Edit menu in the application, choose Paste or Paste Special.

Note:  If you select and copy several objects in ConceptDraw, they will be pasted into the application's document as a single object, though when you double-click to edit it as an OLE object, the components can be edited separately.