I have several graphs, perpared in an Origin project, that I would
like to embed in a Microsoft Word document.Ideally, I would like them to be actually linked (not copied) to the
document - so that if I go into the Origin project and edit them
the changes are reflected in the Word document. However, I may
be willing to (grudgingly) go along with copying.
I have tried many ways, most of which crash Origin.
The only way that works half way decently, to save each graph
from the project as a separate file, and then to embed these in
the Word document, is unsatsfactory because it creates a copy,
not a link reference.
Q: are there any better ways to accomplish this?
(And, moreover, the crashes - ANY CRASH - should be considered
bugs.)
Detail
In Word, I see "Insert/Object/Origin Graph".
However, when I hit this I get a pre-made blank graph, "UNTITLED".
Attempts to edit this graph, or link it to one of the graphs I have
already made, fail. Let me describe some of the things I have tried.
Word: Insert/Object/Origin Graph => gives me an UNTITLED Origin Project,
"Graph in Document.doc". Now, in Origin, attempting to "Open"
my existing project gives me "Save Changes to Project UNTITLED".
If I hit "No", Origin crashes, with the dialog error box "DDE Server Window:
ORIGIN50,EXE - Application Error // The instruction at "0x1001dab6" referenced
memory at "0x000002d4"...
Now doing the same thing, except hitting "Yes" ... also crashes.
Now, instead of trying to Open my existing project, I try to clear out the
garbage graph that Origin has opened by default, so that I can do something
like paste my own graph in (ugly, loses link):
Word: Insert/Object/Origin Graph => gives me an UNTITLED Origin Project,
"Graph in Document.doc". Now, in Origin, selecting graph by clicking on Y
axis,
hitting DELete key, gives me a dialog box "Are you sure that you want to
delete
the selected layer?" If I hit yes, Origin dumps me back into Word, with the
original graph unchanged.
Now, if I try to first paste the graph I want from the clipboard into the
opened
window, it works, but I cannot get rid of the original garbage graph:
Word: Insert/Object/Origin Graph => gives me an UNTITLED Origin Project,
"Graph in Document.doc". Now, in Origin, insert desired graph (which
I got from my original Origin project by Copy Page).
Unfortunately, the copied page does not appear to be an editable
object - it can be resized, but not edited as a graph
Try to delete garbage graph by selecting by clicking on Y axis,
hitting DELete key, gives me a dialog box "Are you sure that you want to
delete
the selected layer?" If I hit yes, Origin dumps me back into Word, with the
original graph unchanged, but garbage hanging around.
Trying to do the same thing by adding another layer => no good.
Ok, now I try to append the original worksheet... Eventually I manage to
delete all of the graphs except the garbage one and the one that I want,
and then I merge them. Ughh..... And, of course, it's link-likeness has
disappeared.
The only way that I have yet succeeded in getting a previously existing
Origin graph to embed in a Word document has been
a) In Origin, save the graph as a file all on its lonesome
b) In Word, Insert/Object/Create from File/that file.
This is unsatisfactory, in that it creates a copy of the data that can fall
out of date. Word, of course, can insert the graph as a "Link to File",
so that Word will update it whenever necessary. It would be nice if
Origin could create the file in a similar linked to manner - so that I can
always
edit the project, and have the graph files automatically updated.
(Even better if it were possible to have the project embedded as a
linked to object in multiple places, with a particular graph nominated
as the graph to be displayed at each place as necessary. Which I know
can be done, because I have used programs that do that.
{This is the problem with so-called "object oriented" programming - so
often do naive OO programmers implement parent-child relationships, one-to-one
or one-parent-to-many-subobjects, without realizing that what is important is
relations: parent-object-to-many-linked-to-instances-of-a-peer=object.} )
