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This artilce describes Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) drag and drop in FarPoint controls. After a general overview of OLE drag and drop and a comparsion between automatic and manual drag and drop, this article provides detailed information on how manual drag-and-drop operations work.

While most of the article focuses on FarPoint's fpSpread ActiveX® control, much of the information applies to all of FarPoint's controls that support OLE drag and drop. For information on a specific FarPoint control, see the documentation for that control.

• Automatic Versus Manual Drag and Drop
• Properties, Methods, and Events Associated with a Manual OLE Drag-and-Drop Operations/A>
• How a Typical Manual Drag-and-Drop Operation Works
• Manual OLE Drag and Drop Operation Flowchart
• About FarPoint

OLE drag and drop allows the user to drag data (such as text or graphics) from one control or application to another control or application. For example, the user could select and drag text from Microsoft Word® and drop the text into an edit cell in FarPoint's fpSpread ActiveX control.

The object from which data is dragged is the source . The object into which the data is dropped is the target . You can use properties, events, and methods to control and respond to actions that affect both the source and the target. The fpDataObject object is a container for data being transferred from a source to a target in an OLE drag-and-drop operation. This object is called in the Spread controls' OLE drag-and-drop events.

Automatic Versus Manual Drag and Drop

OLE drag-and-drop operations can be either automatic or manual.

If a control supports automatic drag-and-drop operations, you do not need to write code to respond to any OLE drag-and-drop events. You only need to set the control's OLEDragMode property, OLEDropMode property, or both, to Automatic. If you choose, though, you can customize the drag-and-drop operation by setting the OLEDragMode property, OLEDropMode property, or both, to Manual and using the available events and methods.

If a control supports manual drag-and-drop operations, you must write code in the OLE drag-and-drop events to define what happens during the drag-and-drop operation. With manual drag-and-drop operations, you can

• Have greater control over the drag-and-drop process
• Provide feedback during drag-and-drop operations
• Specify which data formats are allowed
• Specify which drop effects are allowed

The Spread ActiveX controls support manual OLE drag-and-drop operations. Because the Spread controls support manual drag-and-drop operation, these controls can act as the source or target object.

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Properties, Methods, and Events Associated with a Manual OLE Drag-and-Drop Operations

The following table summarizes what events occur, what properties you set, and what methods you call in terms of the source control, the target control, and the fpDataObject object for each step of a manual OLE drag-and-drop operation. For more detailed information about what can occur during each step, see How a Typical Manual Drag-and-Drop Operation Works . For a flowchart that outlines the drag-and-drop operation, see Manual OLE Drag-and-Drop Operation Flowchart .

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How a Typical Manual Drag-and-Drop Operation Works

The following table lists the steps involved in a typical manual OLE drag-and-drop operation and what happens and what to do in terms of the source and target control properties, events, and methods. For a more detailed flowchart showing this process and code examples, see Manual OLE Drag-and-Drop Operation Flowchart .

User action	What happens/What to do
1. Select data	Data to be copied or moved is selected.
2. Start drag	MouseDown and MouseMove events occur. In either mouse event, call the OLEDrag method (S). This manually starts the drag operation and fires the OLEStartDrag event (S). In the OLEStartDrag event(S), Set the AllowedEffects parameter (None, Copy, Move, Scroll)