Why Is an External Excel Spreadsheet a Compound Document?
Compound document is the terminology used by Microsoft to describe the means by which a document can use the functionality of a different type of file. For example, using a spreadsheet document to create a table in a word processing document, or to mix text with video and sound on a web page.
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Compound Document Objects
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Microsoft documents--Word documents, Excel Spreadsheets or WAV media files--can all be classified as compound documents as they all contain separate types of data that can be used in a different document.
A different application could use just one aspect of a file, like the sound from a video file without the images. Files capable of being split into different objects in this way are called compound documents. Each of the possible aspects that could be used are called objects.
Compound Document Usage
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Compound document objects can be linked or embedded. If an object is linked to, then the code that provides functionality or appearance is stored with the originating document or its associated application. If an object is embedded, then the code providing functionality or appearance is stored within the document.
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Excel Files as Compound Document
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As all Excel spreadsheets use text formatting information (font size, type and color), any workbook file could be classified as a compound document, as could any Word document. If only one aspect of the file is linked to a second application, then it is a compound document object.
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References
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