Microsoft KB Archive/114990

= Microsoft Knowledge Base =

Excel: Apple Event Description and Summary
Last reviewed: September 12, 1996

Article ID: Q114990

The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 3.0, 4.0, 5.0

SUMMARY
Apple Events are messages that can be sent from one application or process to another. These high-level events allow applications to communicate with one another in order to accomplish some task.

MORE INFORMATION
Applications (or processes) typically send Apple events to accomplish any of the following tasks:


 * Issue a command ("As in, please do this")
 * Receive information ("As in, here is some information")
 * Process Results ("As in, here is the result you asked for")

Apple events can also contain a descriptor record that may contain data. This allows applications to send data to one another.

Apple events are grouped into functionality classes or "Suites." All applications should (they are not required to do so) support the Required suite; however, a typical application will support the Required suite, Core suite, and one functional suite. The functional suite is generally related to the application itself. For example, a word processor would also include the Text suite whereas a database would include the Database suite. Some examples and descriptions of suites are as follows:

Required: These events (Open Application, Open Documents, Print Documents, Quit Application) are the events that all applications should support.

Core: Any application that supports more than the Required suite should support the entire Core suite. Since the constructs supplied in the Core suite apply to nearly every application, the Core suite is the most important suite. Please refer to the References section below for references to events in the Core suite, as there are too many events in the Core suite to list here.

Others suites include Text, Database, Table, Quickdraw Graphics, Finder, and Custom suites developed for a particular application.