Visual Basic and DDE/OLE with Other Windows Applications

ID Number: Q76562

1.00

WINDOWS

Summary:

Microsoft Visual Basic 1.0 for Windows can link to a number of Windows

applications through dynamic data exchange (DDE). Visual Basic can

also, through the addition of custom controls, link to other Windows

applications through object linking and embedding (OLE). Custom

controls for OLE support are provided with Microsoft Professional

Toolkit for Visual Basic, available from Microsoft End User Sales and

Service or from your nearest dealer of Microsoft products.

This information applies to Microsoft Visual Basic programming system

version 1.0 and to Microsoft Windows version 3.0 and 3.1.

More Information:

Visual Basic has built-in support for DDE. Visual Basic can link and

share information with any other Windows application that also

supports DDE.

Additional articles in this Knowledge Base discuss exactly how to

establish a DDE link between Visual Basic and the following

applications:

- Another Visual Basic application

- Microsoft Word for Windows

- Microsoft Excel for Windows

- Q+E (shipped with Microsoft Excel)

To locate these articles, query on the following words:

Visual and Basic and DDE

A Visual Basic application can also use OLE to link with any other

Windows application that supports OLE.

OLE controls are not built into Visual Basic itself, but are readily

available through the Microsoft Professional Toolkit for Visual Basic,

available from Microsoft End User Sales and Service or your nearest

Microsoft dealer.

A more challenging approach to obtain OLE support is to write your own

custom control. With the Visual Basic Control Development Kit (CDK),

along with either the Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK)

and Microsoft C or Microsoft QuickC for Windows, you can create a

custom control that supports OLE and add it to your Visual Basic

application. The Visual Basic CDK is shipped as part of Microsoft

Professional Toolkit for Microsoft Visual Basic version 1.0 for

Windows.

Below is a list of applications for Microsoft Windows and their

abilities to support DDE and/or OLE.

Product Version Supports DDE Supports OLE

------- ------- ------------ ------------

Bookshelf 1.0 No Yes

Money 1.0 No Yes

Publisher 1.0 No Yes

Visual Basic 1.0 Yes No and Yes*

Excel 3.0 Yes Yes

PowerPoint 2.0 No Yes

Project 1.0 No No

Word 1.0 Yes No

Word 2.0 Yes Yes

Works 2.0 No No

* Not built into Visual Basic itself, but is available through

Microsoft Professional Toolkit for Visual Basic or through another

Visual Basic custom control.

Additional reference words: 1.00 3.00