SHARING INFORMATION WITH OTHER APPLICATIONS

What is object linking and embedding?
Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) is a technology that lets you share data between applications and is supported for Microsoft® Windows®.

Linking

A linked object is a pointer to data in a source file; when data in the source file changes, the changes are reflected in Notes®. (You can specify whether the linked data in Notes is updated automatically or manually when data in the source file changes.)

Because a linked object's data is stored in the source file, users who need to edit (or update) a linked object need to have the server application, have access to the source file on a file server, and maintain the directory mapping to the source file on the file server. Also, if a source file is moved or deleted, the linked object that points to it has to be re-created.

Embedding

An embedded object is a copy of data from a source file; when data from the source file changes, the changes are not reflected in the embedded object.

Because an embedded object's data is stored in Notes, users who need to edit an embedded object don't need access to the source file. For this reason, embedding makes it easier to share static data from other applications in Notes with other users.

Note: Embedded objects require more storage space in a Notes application than do linked objects.

Parent topic: Getting started with sharing information