To Link or Not To Link

Hi,


Working around the SPPID stuff may not be fun many times. But if one tries to get to the root, it is like getting more clear edge. Recently I was asked questions about inserting objects in SPPID drawing with and without links. To be true, earlier I used to tell to insert any object, one should not check the link check box. It always made work easier. Recently I tried to get to the root of inserting objects with link.

Intergraph uses OLE to insert object inside SPPID drawing. This insertion is way far better than inserting file to the drawing. (Object Linking and Embedding)OLE is actually a technology provided by Microsoft to embed or link an object to a document. There are two ways to use OLE, Linking and Embedding.

As the term defines, embedding is actually providing a separate object to the document. Like getting a working copy of a document. Whatever you do on it, it does not affect the master copy at all, and vice versa. This is done when one inserts the object inside drawing without checking Link Object checkbox. On the other hand, linking is actually like a pointer to the original file. Whenever you insert an object, say an excel sheet to a drawing, first it creates a link to the drawing, and then it checks back the link to excel. It is like indirectly working on excel sheet from SPPID drawing. Whatever changes you make in the SPPID drawing, it will be reflected back in excel sheet and vice versa. This helps to maintain the data sheet or specification sheet, if inserted inside the drawing, simultaneously. This can be done by checking the Link Object checkbox while inserting object to the drawing.

There are few things to take care while linking the objects. First of all, and most important, don’t link an object through local desktop. It will definitely create a disaster in future. Instead use a network path to link object. Second thing, the object should be at isolated path. If, by chance the file name is altered, the drawing will definitely crash. So, better take care of the name. Third and most important, never link same object to multiple drawings. It will affect the performance if the all drawings are worked upon same time.

Hope this was informative in any way for you…

Have a great life