Inserting Objects
When creating documents there are often special objects created by other applications such as Excel or CorelDRAW that the user is interested in incorporating into the document. Both MS Word and WP support insertion of such objects into the documents, but they also go beyond this capability by providing object linking and embedding (OLE). Provided that the software for the alternate application (such as Excel) is resident on the computer the other application can be invoked directly inside the word processor, thus allowing the user to create the object within the document. Preexisting objects can also be linked into a document, meaning that rather than storing the object again (statically) inside of the document the word processor can instead create a link to tell the word processor where the file is that should be incorporated. Using the linking method allows the document to be more dynamic by reflecting changes made in the object and the document size can also be lessened considerably since the object is stored elsewhere. Both MS Word and WordPerfect have sizable collections of applications from which they can embed/link/copy objects, such as CorelDRAW, MS ClipArt, and MS Excel.
In addition to inserting objects into documents, MS Word and WP also facilitate insertion and linking of databases and spreadsheets as well as insertion of document files from other word processors. WordPerfect goes the extra mile by providing a Viewer inside of the file searching facility so that before inserting a file the user can verify it is the desired item.