Link to File is not working. EMBEDs are displayed as icons.

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Mike

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I'm trying to create links to image files (.EMF .JPG .WMF) in Word 2007,

Excel 2007, and PowerPoint 2007. Instead of getting a LINK, I get an EMBED

Package.



Open a blank Word 2007 doc / Insert tab / on Text panel click Object button

/ Create from File tab / Browse... to the file / turn on "Link to file" /

click OK.



Depending on the image file type, I either get an icon and filename, or just

the filename. Pressing Alt-F9 shows that it got inserted as an "EMBED

Package", not a "LINK".



If I perform the same steps to link to a Word or Excel file, the complete

doc or spreadsheet is displayed, and Alt-F9 shows that it is a LINK.



Additionally, when I perform similar steps on an image file, but leave "Link

to file" turned off, I still get icons and filenames.



I'm running Windows XP, Service Pack 3, 091208-2036. Microsoft Office Small

Business 2007, Word 2007 (12.0.6504.5000) SPs MSO (12.0.6425.1000).

Different systems at my company running Vista or XP (Service Pack 3) get

different results...sometimes it works as expected...sometimes it doesn't.



My 2 problems are:



1. I need to have full images displayed in the Word, Excel, or PowerPoint

file.



2. When I turn on "Link to File", I should get a LINK, not EMBED Package.



How can I change my settings to overcome both of these problems? What ARE

the settings that control these?



Any help will be appreciated!



--

Mike
 
In article , Mike wrote:

> I'm trying to create links to image files (.EMF .JPG .WMF) in Word 2007,

> Excel 2007, and PowerPoint 2007. Instead of getting a LINK, I get an EMBED

> Package.



Don't insert objects, then.



Choose Insert, Picture

Choose the picture you want to insert

Click the down-arrow next to the Insert button on the Insert Picture dialog box

Choose Link to File or Insert and Link.



Insert and Link embeds the picture in the file but updates the picture if the

external picture file is updated.



Link to File creates handy links that will break if you sneeze in the direction

of the file. Very fragile, not recommended.



>

> Open a blank Word 2007 doc / Insert tab / on Text panel click Object button

> / Create from File tab / Browse... to the file / turn on "Link to file" /

> click OK.

>

> Depending on the image file type, I either get an icon and filename, or just

> the filename. Pressing Alt-F9 shows that it got inserted as an "EMBED

> Package", not a "LINK".

>

> If I perform the same steps to link to a Word or Excel file, the complete

> doc or spreadsheet is displayed, and Alt-F9 shows that it is a LINK.

>

> Additionally, when I perform similar steps on an image file, but leave "Link

> to file" turned off, I still get icons and filenames.

>

> I'm running Windows XP, Service Pack 3, 091208-2036. Microsoft Office Small

> Business 2007, Word 2007 (12.0.6504.5000) SPs MSO (12.0.6425.1000).

> Different systems at my company running Vista or XP (Service Pack 3) get

> different results...sometimes it works as expected...sometimes it doesn't.

>

> My 2 problems are:

>

> 1. I need to have full images displayed in the Word, Excel, or PowerPoint

> file.

>

> 2. When I turn on "Link to File", I should get a LINK, not EMBED Package.

>

> How can I change my settings to overcome both of these problems? What ARE

> the settings that control these?

>

> Any help will be appreciated!
 
Thanks, Steve.



I'm trying to figure out why the steps I've described sometimes work and

sometimes do not work, to display a picture which Word 2007 recognizes as a

LINK. This is important for us, because the company I work for automatically

creates LINKs in Word and PowerPoint, and they need to be inserted as

Objects, yet displayed as pictures, not displayed as icons or filenames.

We're not going to change the way we do this, by inserting a Picture instead

of an Object. What we need to know is: Why does it work on some installs of

Word 2007 and not others?

--

Mike





"Steve Rindsberg" wrote:



> In article , Mike wrote:

> > I'm trying to create links to image files (.EMF .JPG .WMF) in Word 2007,

> > Excel 2007, and PowerPoint 2007. Instead of getting a LINK, I get an EMBED

> > Package.

>

> Don't insert objects, then.

>

> Choose Insert, Picture

> Choose the picture you want to insert

> Click the down-arrow next to the Insert button on the Insert Picture dialog box

> Choose Link to File or Insert and Link.

>

> Insert and Link embeds the picture in the file but updates the picture if the

> external picture file is updated.

>

> Link to File creates handy links that will break if you sneeze in the direction

> of the file. Very fragile, not recommended.

>

> >

> > Open a blank Word 2007 doc / Insert tab / on Text panel click Object button

> > / Create from File tab / Browse... to the file / turn on "Link to file" /

> > click OK.

> >

> > Depending on the image file type, I either get an icon and filename, or just

> > the filename. Pressing Alt-F9 shows that it got inserted as an "EMBED

> > Package", not a "LINK".

> >

> > If I perform the same steps to link to a Word or Excel file, the complete

> > doc or spreadsheet is displayed, and Alt-F9 shows that it is a LINK.

> >

> > Additionally, when I perform similar steps on an image file, but leave "Link

> > to file" turned off, I still get icons and filenames.

> >

> > I'm running Windows XP, Service Pack 3, 091208-2036. Microsoft Office Small

> > Business 2007, Word 2007 (12.0.6504.5000) SPs MSO (12.0.6425.1000).

> > Different systems at my company running Vista or XP (Service Pack 3) get

> > different results...sometimes it works as expected...sometimes it doesn't.

> >

> > My 2 problems are:

> >

> > 1. I need to have full images displayed in the Word, Excel, or PowerPoint

> > file.

> >

> > 2. When I turn on "Link to File", I should get a LINK, not EMBED Package.

> >

> > How can I change my settings to overcome both of these problems? What ARE

> > the settings that control these?

> >

> > Any help will be appreciated!

>

>

>

> .

>
 
In article , Mike wrote:

> Thanks, Steve.

>

> I'm trying to figure out why the steps I've described sometimes work and

> sometimes do not work, to display a picture which Word 2007 recognizes as a

> LINK. This is important for us, because the company I work for automatically

> creates LINKs in Word and PowerPoint, and they need to be inserted as

> Objects,



Why must they be inserted as objects? Just curious, really.



> yet displayed as pictures, not displayed as icons or filenames.

> We're not going to change the way we do this, by inserting a Picture instead

> of an Object. What we need to know is: Why does it work on some installs of

> Word 2007 and not others?



Try doubleclicking the different image types on both the systems where this works as

expected and those where it doesn't? Do different apps launch as a result? When

you insert a file as an object, what you get will depend on the app that's

registered to "own" the file's type (ie, its extension).







> --

> Mike

>

> "Steve Rindsberg" wrote:

>

> > In article , Mike wrote:

> > > I'm trying to create links to image files (.EMF .JPG .WMF) in Word 2007,

> > > Excel 2007, and PowerPoint 2007. Instead of getting a LINK, I get an EMBED

> > > Package.

> >

> > Don't insert objects, then.

> >

> > Choose Insert, Picture

> > Choose the picture you want to insert

> > Click the down-arrow next to the Insert button on the Insert Picture dialog box

> > Choose Link to File or Insert and Link.

> >

> > Insert and Link embeds the picture in the file but updates the picture if the

> > external picture file is updated.

> >

> > Link to File creates handy links that will break if you sneeze in the direction

> > of the file. Very fragile, not recommended.

> >

> > >

> > > Open a blank Word 2007 doc / Insert tab / on Text panel click Object button

> > > / Create from File tab / Browse... to the file / turn on "Link to file" /

> > > click OK.

> > >

> > > Depending on the image file type, I either get an icon and filename, or just

> > > the filename. Pressing Alt-F9 shows that it got inserted as an "EMBED

> > > Package", not a "LINK".

> > >

> > > If I perform the same steps to link to a Word or Excel file, the complete

> > > doc or spreadsheet is displayed, and Alt-F9 shows that it is a LINK.

> > >

> > > Additionally, when I perform similar steps on an image file, but leave "Link

> > > to file" turned off, I still get icons and filenames.

> > >

> > > I'm running Windows XP, Service Pack 3, 091208-2036. Microsoft Office Small

> > > Business 2007, Word 2007 (12.0.6504.5000) SPs MSO (12.0.6425.1000).

> > > Different systems at my company running Vista or XP (Service Pack 3) get

> > > different results...sometimes it works as expected...sometimes it doesn't.

> > >

> > > My 2 problems are:

> > >

> > > 1. I need to have full images displayed in the Word, Excel, or PowerPoint

> > > file.

> > >

> > > 2. When I turn on "Link to File", I should get a LINK, not EMBED Package.

> > >

> > > How can I change my settings to overcome both of these problems? What ARE

> > > the settings that control these?

> > >

> > > Any help will be appreciated!

> >

> >

> >

> > .

> >
 
OK. Here are the specifics. The software that my company produces is coded

(in Visual C++ with Visual Studio 2008) to export a graphic to a Metafile

Companion file (.WMF file type). Metafile Companion is installed on my local

computer, and double clicking on any .WMFs on my system launch Metafile

Companion. The same happens on co-workers' computers. Our software produces

the .WMFs correctly...they look fine if you open them in Metafile Companion.



One of the options in our software is to "Create Link". This is supposed to

insert an Object LINK into a Word doc or PowerPoint file, then launch Word or

PowerPoint and display the .WMF as a full image. It does that on some

systems, and Alt-F9 shows that it is a LINK. On other systems, including

mine, this process inserts a large icon that's labeled with the filename, and

Alt-F9 in Word shows that it is an EMBED Package, not a LINK. Our software

is not at fault. I know this because...



If I manually launch Word on my system, and open a blank Word 2007 doc /

Insert tab / on Text panel click Object button / Create from File tab /

Browse... to the file / turn on "Link to file" / click OK, I get a small icon

and Alt-F9 shows that it is an EMBED Package. If I do the same on a

co-worker's system where our software launched Word and displayed the full

image, the manual insert into Word using "Link to file" creates a LINK and

displays the full image. Therefore, I conclude that Word and PowerPoint

settings, or Windows settings, are causing different behavior on different

systems.



NOTE: Metafile Companion cannot be at fault either. The same manual insert

of a .jpg using "Link to file" produces the same results...works on some

systems, doesn't work on others.



I'm not going to ask our programmers to change their code when it's pretty

obvious that it's not their code that's at fault. Manual procedures in Word

using any .jpg that has no connection with our applications demonstrates the

behavior.



--

Mike





"Steve Rindsberg" wrote:



> In article , Mike wrote:

> > Thanks, Steve.

> >

> > I'm trying to figure out why the steps I've described sometimes work and

> > sometimes do not work, to display a picture which Word 2007 recognizes as a

> > LINK. This is important for us, because the company I work for automatically

> > creates LINKs in Word and PowerPoint, and they need to be inserted as

> > Objects,

>

> Why must they be inserted as objects? Just curious, really.

>

> > yet displayed as pictures, not displayed as icons or filenames.

> > We're not going to change the way we do this, by inserting a Picture instead

> > of an Object. What we need to know is: Why does it work on some installs of

> > Word 2007 and not others?

>

> Try doubleclicking the different image types on both the systems where this works as

> expected and those where it doesn't? Do different apps launch as a result? When

> you insert a file as an object, what you get will depend on the app that's

> registered to "own" the file's type (ie, its extension).

>

>

>

> > --

> > Mike

> >

> > "Steve Rindsberg" wrote:

> >

> > > In article , Mike wrote:

> > > > I'm trying to create links to image files (.EMF .JPG .WMF) in Word 2007,

> > > > Excel 2007, and PowerPoint 2007. Instead of getting a LINK, I get an EMBED

> > > > Package.

> > >

> > > Don't insert objects, then.

> > >

> > > Choose Insert, Picture

> > > Choose the picture you want to insert

> > > Click the down-arrow next to the Insert button on the Insert Picture dialog box

> > > Choose Link to File or Insert and Link.

> > >

> > > Insert and Link embeds the picture in the file but updates the picture if the

> > > external picture file is updated.

> > >

> > > Link to File creates handy links that will break if you sneeze in the direction

> > > of the file. Very fragile, not recommended.

> > >

> > > >

> > > > Open a blank Word 2007 doc / Insert tab / on Text panel click Object button

> > > > / Create from File tab / Browse... to the file / turn on "Link to file" /

> > > > click OK.

> > > >

> > > > Depending on the image file type, I either get an icon and filename, or just

> > > > the filename. Pressing Alt-F9 shows that it got inserted as an "EMBED

> > > > Package", not a "LINK".

> > > >

> > > > If I perform the same steps to link to a Word or Excel file, the complete

> > > > doc or spreadsheet is displayed, and Alt-F9 shows that it is a LINK.

> > > >

> > > > Additionally, when I perform similar steps on an image file, but leave "Link

> > > > to file" turned off, I still get icons and filenames.

> > > >

> > > > I'm running Windows XP, Service Pack 3, 091208-2036. Microsoft Office Small

> > > > Business 2007, Word 2007 (12.0.6504.5000) SPs MSO (12.0.6425.1000).

> > > > Different systems at my company running Vista or XP (Service Pack 3) get

> > > > different results...sometimes it works as expected...sometimes it doesn't.

> > > >

> > > > My 2 problems are:

> > > >

> > > > 1. I need to have full images displayed in the Word, Excel, or PowerPoint

> > > > file.

> > > >

> > > > 2. When I turn on "Link to File", I should get a LINK, not EMBED Package.

> > > >

> > > > How can I change my settings to overcome both of these problems? What ARE

> > > > the settings that control these?

> > > >

> > > > Any help will be appreciated!

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > > .

> > >

>

>

>

> .

>
 
I'd look very closely at the file associations and DDE settings if any for the

WMF file extension on both systems where things work right and where they don't.

If there are differences, that might be the key.



I'm not suggesting that you ask anyone to change their code ... I was simply

curious as to why embedding an object was necessary. Sometimes it is. I like

to know these things. ;-)



If it were clearly an application-specific bug, special-casing the code to work

around the bug might be necessary, but since the same apps behave differently on

different systems, it certainly doesn't seem like that'd be the case here.



In article , Mike wrote:

> OK. Here are the specifics. The software that my company produces is coded

> (in Visual C++ with Visual Studio 2008) to export a graphic to a Metafile

> Companion file (.WMF file type). Metafile Companion is installed on my local

> computer, and double clicking on any .WMFs on my system launch Metafile

> Companion. The same happens on co-workers' computers. Our software produces

> the .WMFs correctly...they look fine if you open them in Metafile Companion.

>

> One of the options in our software is to "Create Link". This is supposed to

> insert an Object LINK into a Word doc or PowerPoint file, then launch Word or

> PowerPoint and display the .WMF as a full image. It does that on some

> systems, and Alt-F9 shows that it is a LINK. On other systems, including

> mine, this process inserts a large icon that's labeled with the filename, and

> Alt-F9 in Word shows that it is an EMBED Package, not a LINK. Our software

> is not at fault. I know this because...

>

> If I manually launch Word on my system, and open a blank Word 2007 doc /

> Insert tab / on Text panel click Object button / Create from File tab /

> Browse... to the file / turn on "Link to file" / click OK, I get a small icon

> and Alt-F9 shows that it is an EMBED Package. If I do the same on a

> co-worker's system where our software launched Word and displayed the full

> image, the manual insert into Word using "Link to file" creates a LINK and

> displays the full image. Therefore, I conclude that Word and PowerPoint

> settings, or Windows settings, are causing different behavior on different

> systems.

>

> NOTE: Metafile Companion cannot be at fault either. The same manual insert

> of a .jpg using "Link to file" produces the same results...works on some

> systems, doesn't work on others.

>

> I'm not going to ask our programmers to change their code when it's pretty

> obvious that it's not their code that's at fault. Manual procedures in Word

> using any .jpg that has no connection with our applications demonstrates the

> behavior.
 
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