The concatenation of different types of information into a single environment is a "compound document". If linked information is altered, the changes are reflected in the document. Similarly, a compound document may summon appropriate applications to modify linked sources directly. Let's say you made your MS Word document with an "embedded" Excel chart; if the spreadsheet changes, so does the chart in the document. Working on the document in MS Word could also summon a small version of Excel to modify the chart—or even the spreadsheet that provides the chart data—from within the MS Word environment. In another case, let's say a marketing VP is on the road, about to give a presentation 1,000 miles away from the nearest branch office. He gets a call about a change in the sales forecast; it's good news, since the figures are now higher than expected. While connected at his hotel, he logs-in to his secure business network and starts the presentation manager. The slide showing the sales forecast is immediately updated for him. The presentation is updated and ready, and all before breakfast. A web page is but-a-simple example of a compound document. The Web has significant potential to host compound documents using technologies such as Ruby, Ajax, C# and Java. Interactive services—webmail, SAS, and user-based-content—are some better examples of "compound documents" on the Web.
