114 / Chapter 10 Inserting Graphics and Other Objects

Dragging and Dropping an Object into a Worksheet

You can also drag an OLE object into a Mathcad worksheet directly from another application. However, this method of copying does not allow you to create a link to the object.

Editing an Embedded Object

Double-click an embedded object in a Mathcad worksheet, so that the menus and toolbars change to those of the source application and a hatched border surrounds the object. You can use in-place activation to edit objects created by applications such as Excel and Word inside Mathcad.

If the source application does not support in-place activation inside Mathcad or the object is linked, the behavior is different. In the case of an embedded object, a copy of the object is placed into a window from the other application or the object is inserted as an icon. If the object is linked, the source application opens the file containing the object.

Editing a Link

If you’ve inserted a linked object into a Mathcad worksheet, you can update the link, eliminate it, or change the source file to which the object is linked. To do so, choose Links from the Edit menu.

Online Help See the online Help topic “Links dialog box” for information on each option in the dialog box.

Inserting Objects Computationally Linked to Your Worksheet

If you want to insert an object that is computationally linked to your Mathcad worksheet, you can insert a component. A component is a specialized OLE object that can receive data from Mathcad and return data to Mathcad, linking the object dynamically. The SmartSketch component, for example, allows you to insert SmartSketch drawings whose dimensions are computationally linked to your Mathcad calculations.

An example using the SmartSketch component is shown in Figure 10-1. In addition to the SmartSketch component, Mathcad includes several components for exchanging data with Excel and MATLAB.

Online Help For information on using components to import and export data, as well as dynamically connecting Mathcad and other applications, see “Accessing External Files and Applications” in online Help.