Limitations When Linking and Embedding from Other Applications

The following are some limitations that you may encounter when linking and embedding from other applications.

Limitation	Description
Font height and weight	Although the font used in the source application can be changed in MicroStation, the height and width of the font are determined by the source application. If the application does not supply a way to change these settings, then the height and width of the font remains unchanged when linked or embedded in MicroStation. Microsoft Excel has this limitation.
Clipboard data	Once a large spreadsheet is pasted into a design file, it can be viewed properly in releases prior to MicroStation v8.1. However, if you update the link while in any of the prior versions, the spreadsheet is truncated or clipped according to limitation mentioned previously. Depending on the type of metafile being used, the image may not look correct when pasted. There can be two formats (Windows Metafile and Enhances Metafile) of drawing commands in the Windows Clipboard at the same time. Windows automatically converts from one format to the other. Occasionally, the conversion from "Windows Metafile" to "Enhances Metafile" produces an image that does not display properly. MicroStation can use either drawing format that is in the clipboard. However, there is no way for MicroStation to determine which format is the original format and which is the synthesized format. Consequently, you must tell MicroStation which format it should use when creating OLE objects from the Windows Clipboard. The configuration variable MS_OLECNTR_CONFIG_ALLOWEMF specifies the format that MicroStation will use.
Page size	Microsoft Word does not copy horizontal complex data it perceives to be outside the width of a typical printed sheet of paper. This limitation is due to the physical space and not to the number of columns. To determine the limitation of a Microsoft Word document: In Microsoft Word, choose Edit > Select All to select the entire document. Hold down the Shift key and choose Edit > Copy Picture. The Copy Picture dialog opens. In the Appearance section, select As Shown on Screen. In the Format section, select Picture. Click OK. If the message, "The picture is too large and will be truncated"" is displayed, you have exceeded the page size limit. To correct this problem, you should reduce the size of your document using the Format menu. Keep in mind that this does not apply to spreadsheets brought in from Excel 2002.

Limitation

Description

Font height and weight

Although the font used in the source application can be changed in MicroStation, the height and width of the font are determined by the source application. If the application does not supply a way to change these settings, then the height and width of the font remains unchanged when linked or embedded in MicroStation. Microsoft Excel has this limitation.

Clipboard data

Once a large spreadsheet is pasted into a design file, it can be viewed properly in releases prior to MicroStation v8.1. However, if you update the link while in any of the prior versions, the spreadsheet is truncated or clipped according to limitation mentioned previously. Depending on the type of metafile being used, the image may not look correct when pasted.

There can be two formats (Windows Metafile and Enhances Metafile) of drawing commands in the Windows Clipboard at the same time. Windows automatically converts from one format to the other. Occasionally, the conversion from "Windows Metafile" to "Enhances Metafile" produces an image that does not display properly. MicroStation can use either drawing format that is in the clipboard. However, there is no way for MicroStation to determine which format is the original format and which is the synthesized format. Consequently, you must tell MicroStation which format it should use when creating OLE objects from the Windows Clipboard. The configuration variable MS_OLECNTR_CONFIG_ALLOWEMF specifies the format that MicroStation will use.

Page size

Microsoft Word does not copy horizontal complex data it perceives to be outside the width of a typical printed sheet of paper. This limitation is due to the physical space and not to the number of columns.

To determine the limitation of a Microsoft Word document:

In Microsoft Word, choose Edit > Select All to select the entire document.
Hold down the Shift key and choose Edit > Copy Picture.

The Copy Picture dialog opens.
In the Appearance section, select As Shown on Screen.
In the Format section, select Picture.
Click OK.

If the message, "The picture is too large and will be truncated"" is displayed, you have exceeded the page size limit. To correct this problem, you should reduce the size of your document using the Format menu. Keep in mind that this does not apply to spreadsheets brought in from Excel 2002.