U.M. (Windows)

Appendix D: Linking and embedding objects
This appendix explains how to work with Object Linking and
Embedding (OLE) to combine information from other applications
with information in FileMaker Pro files.
Important Before you read this appendix, be sure you know how to work
with FileMaker Pro, as explained in the rest of this guide. You should
also know how to use FileMaker Pro Help, as explained in the preface,
“Getting help.”
Understanding Object Linking and Embedding
With OLE, you can combine information from other applications with
information in FileMaker Pro. You include OLE objects—like graphics,
spreadsheets, sounds, or text created in other applications—in container
fields or layouts in FileMaker Pro files.
For example, suppose your company maintains an electronic catalog of
its products in a graphics application. You work with a FileMaker Pro
file that includes the most recent product graphics. Without OLE, you
must open the application that contains the graphics, and then cut and
paste each graphic into your FileMaker Pro file whenever products
change. With OLE, you can create a link from your FileMaker Pro file
to the graphics file. When you update the link in FileMaker Pro, you see
the most recent graphic.
When you combine an OLE object with FileMaker Pro, you can:
1 Create a link from FileMaker Pro to the object. The object is stored in
a source file that was created in another application, and can change.
When you update the link in your database, you see information as it
currently exists in the source file.
1 Embed the object in FileMaker Pro, to make it part of your file. A
copy of the object can exist in a source file in another application, but
there’s no connection to the object that’s embedded in your database.
You can create an embedded object that isn’t saved as a separate
source file, so that the object exists only in your database.