Differences Between OleClose and OleDelete Functions (72638)

This article was previously published under Q72638

The following information applies to version 1.0 of the OLE extensions to Windows.

There has been some confusion concerning the use of the OleClose and OleDelete functions. OleClose is used to close an object, while OleDelete closes the object and deletes it, reclaiming its storage.

Since dynamic data exchange (DDE) is the underlying information transport mechanism for the OLE protocol, closing an object simply terminates the DDE conversation between the OLE client and the OLE server. This conversation can be restarted by calling OleReconnect. Performing a reconnect is valid only for linked objects that are already open in their server. Attempting to reconnect to an object that is not open in its server will fail.

OleDelete closes the object as well, but also frees the memory associated with the object. Calling OleDelete notifies the OLE library that the specified object is no longer part of the client document.