Working with OLE Objects

OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) is a technology by which users can work with documents containing “objects” created or edited by third‑party applications. That is, OLE allows an editing application to export these “objects” to another editing application and then import them with additional content.

In this article, we will talk about inserting an OLE object and setting its properties into a document.

Insert OLE Object

If you want OLE Object, call the InsertOleObject method and pass it the ProgId explicitly with other parameters.

The following code example shows how to insert OLE Object into a document:

Set File Name and Extension when Inserting OLE Object

OLE package is a legacy and “undocumented” way to store embedded objects if an OLE handler is unknown.

Early Windows versions such as Windows 3.1, 95, and 98 had a Packager.exe application that could be used to embed any type of data into the document. This application is now excluded from Windows, but Microsoft Word and other applications still use it to embed data if the OLE handler is missing or unknown. The OlePackage class allows users to access the OLE Package properties.

The following code example shows how to set the file name, extension, and display name for OLE Package:

Get Access to OLE Object Raw Data

Users can access OLE object data using various properties and methods of the OleFormat class. For example, it is possible to get the OLE object raw data or the path and name of a source file for the linked OLE object.

The following code example shows how to get OLE Object raw data using the GetRawData method:

Insert Ole Object as an Icon

OLE objects can also be inserted into documents as images.

The following code example shows how to insert OLE Object as an icon. For this purpose, the DocumentBuilder class exposes the InsertOleObjectAsIcon method:

The following code example shows how to inserts an embedded OLE object as an icon from a stream into the document:

Insert Online Video

Online video can be inserted into Word document from the “Insert” > “Online Video” tab. You can insert an online video into a document at the current location by calling the InsertOnlineVideo method.

The DocumentBuilder class introduces four overloads of this method. The first one works with the most popular video resources and takes the URL of the video as a parameter. For example, the first overload supports simple insertion of online videos from YouTube and Vimeo resources.

The following code example shows how to insert an online video from Vimeo into a document:

The second overload works with all other video resources and takes embedded HTML code as a parameter. The HTML code for embedding a video may vary depending on the provider, so contact the respective provider for details.

Please note that the document will be automatically optimized for MS Word 2013 to show video.

The following code example shows how to insert an online video into a document using such HTML code:

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FAQ

1. Q: How do I insert an OLE object into a Word document using C++?
   A: Use DocumentBuilder::InsertOleObject and provide the object’s ProgID (e.g., "Word.Document"). You can also specify the file name, display name, and other parameters as needed.

2. Q: How can I set a custom file name, extension, and display name for an OLE package?
   A: Create an OlePackage instance, set its FileName, Extension, and DisplayName properties, then pass it to InsertOleObject to embed the package with the desired metadata.

3. Q: How can I retrieve the raw binary data of an embedded OLE object?
   A: Access the OleFormat of the OLE object node and call OleFormat::GetRawData(). The method returns a System::ArrayPtr<uint8_t> containing the object’s binary content.

4. Q: How do I insert an OLE object as an icon rather than as an embedded object?
   A: Use DocumentBuilder::InsertOleObjectAsIcon, providing the ProgID and optionally an image stream for the icon. This inserts the OLE object as a clickable picture.

5. Q: What is the easiest way to embed an online video (e.g., YouTube or Vimeo) into a document?
   A: Call DocumentBuilder::InsertOnlineVideo with the video URL for supported platforms. For other providers, use the overload that accepts the embed HTML code returned by the video service.