ACC2: List of OLE 2.0 Features Supported in MS Access v. 2.0

• Microsoft Access version 2.0

SUMMARY

Advanced: Requires expert coding, interoperability, and multiuser skills.

Microsoft Access version 2.0 supports the Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) specification version 2.0. The OLE 2.0 specification describes a standard set of interfaces that allow applications to share features. Applications may provide none, some, or all of this functionality.

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When you install Microsoft Access version 2.0, all the files necessary for OLE 2.0 functionality are installed and Microsoft Access is registered in your system as an OLE 2.0 client. If you choose to install Microsoft Graph during the Microsoft Access installation, it is registered as an OLE 2.0 server application.

Embedding and Linking

Objects created in OLE 1.0 and 2.0 servers can be embedded or linked into Microsoft Access forms, reports, and tables. Microsoft Access supports the OLE 2.0 standard menus and dialog boxes for inserting and updating objects.

Visual Editing

Microsoft Access 2.0 supports in-place editing of OLE objects in a form's Form view. To prevent in-place editing of an embedded OLE object, set the Enabled property of the object's frame to No. In-place activation is not available in a form or report's Design view, or in a table, query, or form's Datasheet view.

Drag and Drop

Microsoft Access 2.0 does not support Drag and Drop across applications. Drag and Drop is used in Microsoft Access 2.0 to quickly create macro actions, new controls, and to customize tool bars.

OLE Automation

Microsoft Access 2.0 provides full access to the OLE Automation methods supported by embedded objects through the use of Access Basic.

Context-Sensitive Menus

Context-sensitive menus are used extensively in Microsoft Access 2.0 to provide shortcuts for commonly used commands. This includes access to an OLE object's object-specific verb menu when you click the secondary mouse button on an OLE object. When an OLE object is activated in place, mouse clicks are passed to the OLE object. When the object is not active the mouse clicks are handled by Microsoft Access.

OLE Server

Objects created in Microsoft Access 2.0 cannot be embedded or linked into other OLE 2.0 applications; Microsoft Access 2.0 is not an OLE 2.0 server. You can export objects to other Windows applications using a variety of methods including DDE and the Microsoft Access Export command.

Conversion and Emulation

Microsoft Access 2.0 does not have a Convert dialog box. Objects that are registered to use AutoConversion or Object Type Emulation (also called "Activate As" or "Treat As") are fully supported by Microsoft Access 2.0.

Relative Links

Links in OLE 2.0 maintain both a relative link source reference and an absolute link source reference. You can take advantage of this functionality in Microsoft Access 2.0, or you can continue to use the OLE 1.0 behavior in which only absolute link source reference information is saved. This allows users operating in a heterogeneous environment (where both Microsoft Access 1.x and 2.0 is used) to share databases. This option is controlled through an entry in the MSACC20.INI file called AllowOLE1LinkFormat. The default for this entry is 0, which means that all OLE 2.0 link tracking information (both the relative and absolute link source references) is maintained and stored.

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