Object Linking

Object Linking

Figure 13.3 shows a Word document with an Excel spreadsheet linked into it.
Follow these steps to create a similar document yourself:
1. Start Word and enter your text.
2. Click where you want the table to go.

3. Choose Insert, Object.
4. Select the Create from File tab.
5. Enter or select the filename as though this were a File Open dialog box.
6. Be sure to check the Link to File box.
7. Click OK.
The entire file appears in your document. If you make a change in the file on disk, the
change is reflected in your document. You can edit the file in its own application by
double-clicking it within Word. The other application is launched to edit it, as shown in
Figure 13.4. If you delete the file from disk, your Word document still displays what the
file last looked like, but you aren't able to edit it.
FIG. 13.3 A Microsoft Word document can contain a link to an Excel file.
FIG. 13.4 Double-clicking a linked object launches the application that created it.
You link files into your documents if you plan to use the same file in many documents
and contexts, because your changes to that file are automatically reflected
everywhere that you have linked it. Linking does not increase the size of your document
files dramatically because only the location of the file and a little bit of presentation
information needs to be kept in your document.