Microsoft Office

Sharing Data with Other Applications 29
The result is a blank Word document, activated and ready for you to enter text. Notice that Word’s Ribbon
replaces Excel’s Ribbon, giving you access to all Word’s features.
To embed a copy of an existing Word file, use the Create From File tab in the Object dialog box and then
locate the file on your hard drive. The Word document is inserted into your Excel worksheet. Double-click
the document to display Word’s Ribbon.
Embedding other types of documents
You can embed many other types of objects, including audio clips, video clips, MIDI sequences, and even
an entire Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.
Figure 29.5 shows an MP3 audio file embedded in a worksheet. Clicking the object plays the song on the
default MP3 players.
FIGURE 29.5
An MP3 file embedded in a worksheet.
Microsoft Office includes several additional applications that you may find useful. For example, you can
embed a Microsoft Equation object in an Excel document to graphically illustrate a formula that you use in
a worksheet.
TIP
Some of the object types listed in the Object dialog box can result in quite useful and interesting
items when inserted into an Excel worksheet. If you’re not sure what an object type is, try
adding the object to a blank Excel workbook to see what is available. Keep in mind that not all the objects
listed in this dialog box actually work with Excel. Attempting to use some of them may even crash Excel.
Embedding an Excel Workbook in a Word
Document
You can embed an Excel workbook in a Word document in three ways:
n Copy a range and use Word’s Paste Special dialog box.
n Open an existing Excel file using Word’s Object dialog box.
n Create a new Excel workbook using Word’s Object dialog box.
The following sections cover these methods.
527