User`s manual

7 ActiveX and DDE Support
7-24
The Service Name
Every application that can be a DDE server has a unique service name. The
service name is usually the application’s executable filename without any
extension. Service names are not case sensitive. Here are some commonly used
service names:
•The service name for MATLAB is Matlab.
•The service name for Microsoft Word for Windows is WinWord.
•The service name for Microsoft Excel is Excel.
For the service names of other Windows applications, refer to the application
documentation.
The Topic
The topic defines the subject of a DDE conversation and is usually meaningful
to both the client and server applications. Topic names are not case sensitive.
MATLAB topics are System and Engine and are discussed in “Accessing
MATLAB As a Server” on page 7-25. Most applications support the System
topic and at least one other topic. Consult your application documentation for
information about supported topics.
The Item
Each topic supports one or more items. An item identifies the data being passed
during the DDE conversation. Case sensitivity of items depends on the
application. MATLAB Engine items are case sensitive if they refer to matrices
because matrix names are case sensitive.
Clipboard Formats
DDE uses the Windows clipboard formats for formatting data sent between
applications. As a client, MATLAB supports only Text format. As a server,
MATLAB supports Text, Metafilepict, and XLTable formats, described below:
•
Text – Data in Text format is a buffer of characters terminated by the null
character. Lines of text in the buffer are delimited by a carriage return
line-feed combination. If the buffer contains columns of data, those columns
are delimited by the tab character. MATLAB supports Text format for
obtaining the results of a remote
EvalString command and requests for
matrix data. Also, matrix data can be sent to MATLAB in Text format.