Linking Objects

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By creating links in Smart Characters, you save time and ensure consistency in your documents. You can share information from one document with several others, and you only need to maintain the original; the others are updated automatically. For example, if you store sales figures in a worksheet, you can use that data in several different reports created with Smart Characters. As long as you update the worksheet, Smart Characters updates the reports.

Creating links is as easy as copying and pasting. You copy a selection from an application or document called the source and paste it where you want to appear in the container document. You can create links between two Smart Characters documents or between a Smart Characters document and a file created by another application.

Once you've established links, you can check for new data and retrieve it with a single keystroke; or you can specify that new data is sent as soon as it is available. You can link information in a variety of presentation formats -- for example, as formatted or unformatted text.

See Creating Links(10- 4), Updating Links(10- 4), Editing Linked Information(10- 4), Editing and Canceling Links(10- 5)

Creating Links

Links are saved as FileName:ObjectRange, so there must be a source file. If the source file is new, save the source file prior to performing any linking operations. To create a link between two documents:

Create or open a source file in the OLE server application, and create or identify an object that you want to link.
Select the object, then select Edit | Copy to copy the selection to the Windows clipboard(D- - 9).
Switch to the destination OLE client application, position the insertion point, then select Edit | Paste Special, select a data type that does not end with the word object, then select Paste Link.

Smart Characters is both an OLE server and client. You can link Smart Characters objects to Smart Characters documents. See the Edit Copy Range(3- 10) and Paste Special(3- 10) commands.

Updating Links

Links can be updated either automatically or only when you request it. For example, if you link a worksheet to a Smart Characters document, you can control whether the information in the Smart Characters document changes every time the worksheet changes or only when you want the document to change.

The Edit Links(3- 12) command controls a link's source and update option. Uses include: changing the update option of a link, locking a link, manually updating a link, and reconnecting a broken link.

Editing Linked Information

Edit a linked object the same way you edit an embedded object. Remember, though, that any changes you make to a linked drawing appear in all the files associated with it through links.

To edit a linked Paint(D- - 6) drawing:

Open the file that contains the link to the drawing you want to edit.
Double click anywhere in the presentation of the linked drawing, or select the drawing, and then choose Paint Picture Object from the Edit menu. (The Object command changes to reflect the type of object selected.) Paint opens, displaying the drawing.
Edit the drawing as needed.

The presentation of the linked drawing is updated automatically to reflect your changes.

Choose File | Save, then Exit & Return To (name of document).

If you have set the Update option to Manual, the presentation of the linked drawing does not change when the drawing it is linked to changes. The presentation is updated only when you choose to update.

Editing and Canceling Links

To delete an object, select it and use the Edit | Clear command.
To change a linked object into a static object, delete the link with the Links(3- 12) dialog Cancel Link command. The linked information will remain in the container document, but it can no longer be updated.
To change the contents or the formatting of the linked object, do it at its source. See Editing Linked Information(10- 4).

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