A hotlink is a connection between programs that allows users to change information in one program while the computer updates the same information in linked programs. Hotlinks are commonly implemented through technologies such as OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) or the older DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) method.
Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) is a technology developed by Microsoft that allows embedding and linking to documents and other objects. An example is inserting a drawing created in CorelDRAW into a Microsoft Word document. The OLE object can be embedded as a static copy or linked to reflect changes made to the original drawing. Double-clicking on the drawing in Word opens a CorelDRAW window for editing within Word.
