PRB: Paste Link Fails in Microsoft Excel

ID: Q141440

The information in this article applies to:

The Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC), included with:
- Microsoft Visual C++ for Windows, versions 1.5, 1.51, 1.52
- Microsoft Visual C++ 32-bit Edition, versions 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 4.0, 5.0
  on the following platforms: Alpha, MIPS, x86

SYMPTOMS

After you attempt to use Paste Link to paste the clipboard contents into Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Excel fails and displays a warning:

Unable to paste link.

CAUSE

When Microsoft Excel attempts to paste link an object, it looks for a full moniker for the object (OLEWHICHMK_OBJFULL). The full moniker consists of the moniker of the object's container (OLEWHICHMK_CONTAINER) and the moniker of the object relative to its container (OLEWHICHMK_OBJREL). In MFC, if SetItemName() is not used to provide a name for the COleServerItem, the OLEWHICHMK_OBJREL portion of the moniker cannot be provided. This causes Paste Link to fail in Microsoft Excel.

RESOLUTION

Set the name of the item to be paste linked by using the SetItemName() function. The sample code in this article illustrates one way you might do this.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

This behavior seems to be unique to Microsoft Excel but may exist in other applications as well.

Run the scribble application (step 7) and save a document. In scribble, on the Edit menu, click Copy to copy the document object and metafile representation to the clipboard. Run Microsoft Excel, choose Paste Special, and select the Paste Link option. Attempt to use Paste Link to paste the Scrib Document Object or the "Picture." Microsoft Excel will not succeed and will display a warning:

Unable to paste link.

Sample Code

In the case of scribble, the following code will fix the problem



CScribItem::CScribItem(CScribDoc* pContainerDoc)
   : COleServerItem(pContainerDoc, TRUE)
{
    SetItemName("Scribble Item");
}

REFERENCES

For more information, see COleServerItem::XOleObject::GetMoniker() in Olesvr2.cpp and IOleObject::GetMoniker() in the OLE 2 Programmer's Reference.

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbole kbMFC kbVC
Version : winnt:
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbprb