[cap-talk] [Off-topic] Document linking in Microsoft OLE

[Karp, Alan H]

James A. Donald wrote:
> 
> Upon reopening the Word file, I find that the word file
> *asks* me for *permission* to access the external file,
> rather than assuming an automatic right to dynamically
> access the Excel file.  If I deny that, the Excel data
> in the Word file acts as an ordinary paste, as Excel
> data contained *inside* a Word file, not as a dynamic
> link.
> 
Actually, it asks me if I want to update the data from the linked files
(one message no matter how many linked files).  When I say NO and open
the file from inside Word, I see the updates.  Clearly, it's not using
data stored in the Word file.  I am also able to edit and save the file
after Word is closed.  So, it sounds like the behavior is different on
my machine.  Aah, the Joy of Windows.

We discussed this behavior when we thought about adding support for
linked files to Polaris.  Asking the user to approve access to each
linked file everytime the containing file was opened seemed too
dangerous.  After all, the macro virus could ask for access to a lot of
files, one of them being my Quicken data.  In my rush to get my editing
done, I might just select OK to All.  Instead, we thought we could ask
the first time the containing file was opened and remember the choice.
The "capability" wouldn't be durable, but it would have the same effect
from the user's point of view.
> 
> All we have to do is fix the operating system so that
> not only does well written software never do such
> things, badly written software is incapable of doing
> such things.
> 
Consistent behavior would indeed be nice.

________________________
Alan Karp
Principal Scientist
Virus Safe Computing Initiative
Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
1501 Page Mill Road
Palo Alto, CA 94304
(650) 857-3967, fax (650) 857-7029
https://ecardfile.com/id/Alan_Karp
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