About Interacting with Other Windows Applications (ActiveX)

AutoCAD® ActiveX technology allows you to exchange information easily with other ActiveX-enabled applications such as Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word.

This capability allows you to collect, store, and present AutoCAD information in formats other than the AutoCAD drawing. You can also read information from these applications back into AutoCAD to direct the creation or manipulation of AutoCAD objects. An example of using this technology is to create a bill of materials as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet from the objects in an AutoCAD drawing.

You have already learned how to write code using the AutoCAD ActiveX Object Model. Exchanging information with other ActiveX-enabled applications involves simply referencing the other applications' ActiveX Object Model and writing the code necessary to utilize their objects.

Note: This chapter provides only a brief introduction to the capabilities of cross-application programming. This material is not AutoCAD-specific, and as such it is discussed in both Microsoft documentation and independent programming guides.