OLE Programmer's Reference

This text is a reference to OLE, which allows the Windows user to take work that was created in one application and "embed" it in another in such a way that all of the original properties and functions of the original application are retained. For example, a spreadsheet chart can be "embedded" in a PowerPoint slide to perk up a presentation. A live "link" is established between the chart, now part of the slide and the original spreadsheet. If, prior to the presentation, the data depicted in the chart has changed, a simple change in the spreadsheet will automatically update the slide. Alternatively, because the chart is an "object" in the technical sense, its spreadsheet properties can be activated simply by pointing and clicking, enabling additional simultaneous changes "on the fly". It is Windows' engineering that makes this possible, but it doesn't happen automatically. Programs must be written so that they are "OLE aware" and few programs other than Microsoft's are.