Cannot invoke OLE server - Adobe Framemaker

Can you reimport them?

I have found OLE to be unreliable. If I need Visio components, I paste the Visio diagrams into Illustrator, do the rest of the work in Illustrator, then import the AI.

You could try creating PDF from your original Visio file and importing the PDF into FrameMaker.

Cheers,

Sean

Jonathan, it is conventional wisdom that OLE should be avoided with FrameMaker, because it acts up at the most unexpected and inconvenient times. I don't know if you can get the original OLE links back... perhaps try a different computer or go to backup files. In any case, consider Sean's suggestion about importing PDFs instead, in the future.

Russ

I believe there have been several Microsoft tweaks/changes/bug fixes to OLE over time, often slipstreamed in via automatic updates so that users are often unaware that "things" have changed. For example, here's a link that talks about a change to Excel and OLE in one Office Service pack: <http://support.microsoft.com/kb/812647>

How much impact these changes might have on an existing FM doc set is debatable; while we do have some forum members who find that OLE is very stable, for many of us it's a nightmare-in-waiting best avoided if at all possible. Contraindications are if the doc set could potentially be needed to move from one host system to another (user changes or system upgrades) or the location of the linked files moves (links are directory/path dependent).

I have had situations where I chose to use OLE objects, simply because the convenience was so compelling. I did have problems periodically, though, and learned to keep lots of backups.

Thanks for all the postings. I have reimported a lot of them. It is really nice to be able to double click on something and be able to edit it natively. That's the disadvantage of PDFs in my mind.

Somehow the comment that "it is conventional wisdom that OLE should be avoided with FrameMaker, because it acts up at the most unexpected and inconvenient times" doesn't give me warm fuzzies about this product. I don't have a lot of choice at this point about what to use, and I'm aware that MSWord has lots of issues as well, but it's awfully frustrating to have this happen so randomly.

Similarly, has anyone had the problem of Frame unable to save a file because of graphics changes? This is an even worse problem. I'll edit graphics and try to save. I get a message that FM was unable to save my document, there's an internal error, some changes may have been lost, and that I should contact Adobe. Inevitably, all changes are lost. I have contacted them and gotten the "I don't know, that shouldn't have happened" response, but no solution.

Jonathan,

For what it's worth, I would contend that FrameMaker is a very stable and consistent product. It does have its quirks, though, one of them being OLE. Long-time faithfuls of the product have learned to just avoid the few scenarios that might cause trouble, and otherwise find that its reliability is rarely matched.

Russ

I would add that the list of output formats for Visio is short; it needs EPS added at least. (Ain't no such thing as the perfect software.)

OLE should be avoided because it is a moving target and thus inherently unstable.

Similarly, has anyone had the problem of Frame unable to save a file because
of graphics changes? This is an even worse problem. I'll edit graphics
and try to save.




No. Never.

What are the graphics types. How and where are you editing them?

Cheers.

Sean

I have had problems such as this, but not consistently. Coincidentally, I think they were related to OLE objects.