Problem : Difference between OLE Linking and Embedding vs hyperlink
I was looking at
http://www.ammara.com/ and their picture add-in for Access, and I noticed a comparison graph that compared use of their product to
1. OLE Embedding
1. OLE linking
I know what embedding is. But “OLE Linking” Is that different than having a hyperlink that pulls a picture in? If so, what exactly does it do.
Solution: Difference between OLE Linking and Embedding vs hyperlink
Just so we are on the same page:
Images can be displayed in an Access database in three ways:
1. OLE Embed
2. OLE Link
3. Hyperlink to an image
Here is the way I have heard it.
OLE embed, actually inserts the image into the DB, but that in and of itself does not cause the bloat.
Access actually stores a copy of the image in the .BMP format, in order to display it.
As you know a .jpg and a .bmp file created from the same image can differ in size by a factor of up to 10:1.
This is because the .jpg format is “compressed” (or “lossy”).
Even if an OLE image is “Linked” Access still stores a copy of it, (somewhere?), in .BMP format, in order to display it.
That is why you still get the bloat with linked OLE images (Though not as bad as with Embedded OLE images)
A hyperlink just stores the path to the image. When you activate the link, the main program associated with that file type, opens the file in a separate window.
So you can say that technically, Access is not displaying the hyperlink image at all.
That’s why there is no bloat.
Now above, we are just talking about whats in the “tables”
You can have images displayed in forms.
In a form based on a table containing OLE images, The OLE embedded or linked images will be displayed in a “Bound Object Frame”.
Because they are “bound” to the data in the table.
You can also insert a static image directly on your form (Like a company logo), using an “Image” control from the toolbox.
That image will be “Embedded”.
I have not, personally, used the “Unbound Object Frame” or the “Bound Object Frame” to display Images on an Access form.
Hope this helps as well.
