How does OLE work with email?

Question

I know that I can link two files together (e.g. a Visio diagram included inside a Word document) such that if I edit the diagram inside the Word document, the Visio file is updated.

How does this work if I email the Word document to someone else, without also attaching the Visio file to my email? Suppose we are both using Outlook. Will it fail because they don't have the Visio file? Assume it's not on some shared filesystem.

What about if I upload the Word doc to some kind of portal instead of emailing it? Does that change anything?

Answer 1

_{Note: I mention embedding an Excel document inside a Visio file here, but the same applies for a Visio file inside a Word document and other document formats imported via OLE. I have tested both types and they do behave as mentioned.}

When you edit an Excel document inside a Visio document then that Excel sheet will be converted to a .emf Enhanced Metafile document for viewing within Visio. This file will always be contained within your Visio document, even if the original file is "linked" instead of "embedded".

As a result the file is still viewable by other people, but without the original Excel file they cannot edit that table. They can change anything else in the file, but they will only be able to break the link to that file and then ungroup the shapes to do some rather basic editing.

You can verify this by saving as a .vsdx (or .docx) format (new Office Visio format) document and then extracting the Visio file in your favourite Zip program (such as 7-zip).

Within the extracted structure will be a media folder which contains your various pictures and .emf files, one of which when double clicked should open Paint and show your Excel table.

If you chose to embed your other document then it will be within an "ole" folder and you will still have a .emf file created.

The same should apply to Word documents and other OLE imported objects.

If you want them to be able to edit the Visio document within the Word document then you should Embed rather than Link the file.

If you send them both files then they will be able to save them to their computer and edit them as you would. If they are unable to edit the Visio file then they should be able to edit the link to the Visio file and point it at the new location. To edit the link they go to the File tab and on the Info screen there should be an "Edit Links to Files" button they can select.