ActiveX/OLE 2.0 Support

Personal Communications sessions can be included as part of a compound document. A compound document is a document that appears to be a single unit, but which is in fact made up of information from more than one program. For example, a compound document could include data that allows Personal Communications to execute within the context of the spreadsheet program.

When included as part of another program, Personal Communications is known as an embedded or linked object and the program is known as a container. Personal Communications supports ActiveX/OLE 2.0–compliant containers such as Lotus Notes®, Lotus® WordPro, and Microsoft® Word. For most containers you can embed an object by using a menu sequence (for example, in Microsoft® Word, use Insert, then Object), or by dragging and dropping a workstation profile into the document.

As an embedded object, Personal Communications can change its appearance to be part of the container program, providing the container program allows this change to occur. Or, Personal Communications can be started so that it runs in its own separate window utilizing its own profile and screen displays.

There is a variety of ways that Personal Communications can be activated as an embedded object. For example, Personal Communications can be shown as an icon within another program, and be activated by double-clicking. Another way Personal Communications can be activated is through a script; Visual Basic® or LotusScript are examples of scripting languages supported by Personal Communications, but any ActiveX/OLE automation scripting language can be used.

The use of scripts allows Personal Communications to be activated as a part of an automation request. For example, a script can be written to automatically start Personal Communications every time the container object is started, or a script can be used to automatically put data on host entry screens.

The Personal Communications session ends when the container is closed or when you close the Personal Communications window. If Personal Communications was actuated as a linked object, it must be closed separately.