Embedding and Inserting OLE Objects

Whenever possible, Designer embeds an object while pasting it. Double-clicking an embedded object automatically opens the program in which the object was created so you can edit it. You can also select the object, click the right mouse button, and click Edit on the shortcut menu to edit the embedded object.

Designer automatically embeds the object if the object's associated program is a registered OLE server. To find out if the object is an OLE object, select it and look at the status bar to see if OLE Object is displayed.

Use the Paste button to paste and embed the object into your drawing. If the source program is OLE-compatible, the object is automatically embedded when it is pasted. The format of the original object is highlighted.

Besides using Paste to embed objects from OLE-compatible programs, or you can use Insert Object.

Insert Object lets you either:

• Insert any file that is associated with a registered OLE server program on your computer. If you choose to link to the file, the inserted object reflects any changes you make to the file.

or

• Open an OLE-compatible program, create a new object in the program, and insert the object into Designer. You don't have to save the object as a file.

If you paste (embed) from a non-drawing program such as Microsoft Word, the object is sometimes pasted as a picture (usually an icon). If you want to paste editable text, you must paste it without embedding or linking it. On the Edit menu, click Paste Special, select Text, and then click Paste. Although you must have the embedded object's associated program on your system, you don't have to have the original file. This makes embedding useful for portable computers where disk space is at a premium.