Office Object Model-
Overview &Task Automation
Overview &Task Automation
| Objects are the
fundamental building blocks of the Microsoft Office 97 applications. Every
unit of content and functionality in Office each workbook, worksheet,
document, range of text,slide, and so on is an object that you can be
controled programmatically |
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| The way the
objects that make up an application are arranged relative to each other,
together with the way the content and functionality are divided among the
objects, is called the object hierarchy or the object model. The toplevel
object in an application is usually the Application object, which is the
application itself. The Application object contains other objects that you
have access to only when the Application object exists (that is, when the
application is running) Because the Document object depends on the existence
of the Word Application object for its own existence, the Document object is
said to be the child of the Application object; conversely, the Application
object is said to be the parent of the Document object. |
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| To get to the
content and functionality contained in an object, you use properties and
methods of that object. In general, you use properties to get to content,
which can include the text contained in an object or the attribute settings
for the object; and you use methods to get to functionality, which entails
everything you can do to the content. however, this distinction doesn't always hold true; there are a number
of properties and methods in every object model that constitute exceptions to
this rule. |
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| In these cases,
the first name (usually the plural form) is the name of a collection object.
A collection object is an object that contains a set of related objects. You
can work with the objects in a collection as a single group rather than as
separate entities. The second name (usually the singular form), enclosed in
parentheses, is the name of an individual object in the collection. For
example, in Word, you can use the Documents collection to work with all the
Document objects as a group. |
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| Although the
Documents collection object and the Document object are both objects in their
own right, each with its own properties and methods, they're grouped as one
unit in most object model graphics to reduce complexity. You can use a
collection object to get to an individual object in that collection, usually
with the Item method or property |