We're really enthusiastic about the COM architecture, and we truly believe that ActiveX Controls will take over the programming world. We're not so sure about Visual Editing, though, and we aren't alone. From our cumulative experience meeting developers around the world, we've learned that few developers are writing applications that fit the "objects embedded in a document" model. From our programming experiences, we've learned that it is tricky for containers and components to coordinate the size and scale of embedded objects. From our "user" experience, we've learned that in-place activation can be slow and awkward, although the situation is improving with faster computers.
If you don't believe us, try embedding an Excel worksheet in a Word document, as shown in Figure 28-1. Resize the worksheet in both the active mode and the nonactive mode. Notice that the two sizes don't track and that processing is slow.
Consider the need for drawing graphics. Older versions of Microsoft PowerPoint used an in-place component named Microsoft Draw. The idea was that other applications could use this component for all their graphics needs. Well, it didn't work out that way, and PowerPoint now has its own built-in drawing code. If you have old PowerPoint files with Microsoft Draw objects, you'll have a hard time converting them.
Now consider printing. Let's say you receive a Word document over the Internet from Singapore, and that document contains the metafiles for some embedded objects. You don't have the objects' component programs, however. You print the document on your trusty 1200-dpi color laser printer, and the metafiles print with it. Embedded object metafiles can be rendered for a specific printer, but it's doubtful that the person in Singapore used your printer driver when creating the document. The result is less-than-optimal output with incorrect line breaks.
We do believe, however, that the OLE embedding technology has a lot of potential. Playing sounds and movies is cool, and storing objects in a database is interesting. What you learn in this chapter will help you think of new uses for this technology.