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Objects can be almost any type of information, including text, bitmap images, vector graphics, and even voice annotation and video clips. The objects themselves must be created from an application that supports OLE 1.0 or 2.0. Once data is copied to the clipboard from the OLE application, the data is now considered as an object (data with intelligence) such that when you paste it into a container document (this must also support OLE 1.0 or 2.0), the object "knows" what source application created it and what it should do if a user double-clicks on the object.
OLE associates two major types of data with an object: visual representation data and native data. An object's visual representation data is information needed to render the object on a display device, while its native data is all the information needed for an application to edit the object. The visual representation will typically always be present, but the native data depends on what method of OLE was used: linking or embedding. In linking, as stated above, you will see the data (visual representation), but you may not be able to do anything with the data unless the source document is available. In embedding, you will also see the data (visual representation), but the native data will activate the object's service assuming that the application that created the object is available.
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