Microsoft KB Archive/207778

= ACC2000: Can't Paste Special Link as Icon into Word or Excel =

Article ID: 207778

Article Last Modified on 6/24/2004

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Access 2000 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q207778



Moderate: Requires basic macro, coding, and interoperability skills.



SYMPTOMS
If you use the Paste Special command using the Paste Link option and click to select the Display As Icon check box when pasting a Microsoft Access object into either Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word, the pasted image has the following characteristics.

In Microsoft Word 2000
The object appears as a table and you cannot activate the object by using the mouse pointer.

In Microsoft Excel 2000
The object is a clear square that is automatically selected; however, once it is no longer selected (when, for example, you click elsewhere on the sheet) it becomes invisible. At that point, you cannot select it with the default mouse pointer.

For instructions on how to select the object again, please see the "More Information" Section later in this article.



CAUSE
You cannot paste an Access object into Word or Excel and have it appear as an icon.



Steps to Reproduce Problem

 * 1) Open Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word.
 * 2) In Access, open the sample database Northwind.mdb.
 * 3) In the Database window, select the Categories table, and on the Edit menu, click Copy.
 * 4) Switch to Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word and on the Edit menu, click Paste Special. In the Paste Special dialog box, click to select the Paste Link and the Display As Icon check boxes, and then click OK.

Note that the icon is pasted as a table in Microsoft Word and as a blank rectangle in Microsoft Excel.

How to Select the Icon in Excel
The default mouse pointer in Excel cannot select such an object once it is no longer selected. To re-select it, follow these steps:
 * 1) On the View menu, click Toolbars. If it is not already selected, click to select the Drawing toolbar so that a check mark appears beside it. You should then see the Drawing toolbar.
 * 2) On the Drawing toolbar, click the white arrow. This enables your mouse pointer to select objects from the drawing layer in Excel.
 * 3) Move the mouse pointer to the general area where you pasted the object and click there until you have selected the object. When it is selected, you see the resize points along the border of the object. If desired, you can then delete the object by clicking Delete on the Edit menu.
 * 4) To restore the normal mouse pointer, click again on the white arrow on the Drawing toolbar.

