iCalamus offers to place content from other programs into a document. In general, you will add e.g. texts, images or graphics into documents using the Import and Place functions. When you want to change these items afterwards, you may do so in iCalamus, but it may not be straightforward. Basically, you can change text directly in iCalamus, but for images and graphics, and even more special objects, iCalamus doesn't yet offer many tools. So you will usually have to start the external program in which you created such an object, then change the object, save it, and place it in iCalamus once more.
Right now, there are some applications which support the LinkBack technology, and are easier to use.
A link is a reference to another place. A backlink is a
reference back to the source of an object. The LinkBack technology
offers all necessary steps to let a program like iCalamus recognize
when you have placed objects from a LinkBack supporting program into a
document. When you select such an object, iCalamus knows
that
the object originates from program XY. iCalamus can call this program
for you, hand over the object to this program for editing, then update
the object in the document immediately after you have saved changes to
the object.
When you have created a bar code with Barcody, our Bar Code Generator program for OS X, and have placed it in a iCalamus document, iCalamus knows that it originates from Barcody.
When you have selected the bar code in the document, the usually
grayed out menu entry Edit LinkBack Item
changes into a
program-specific entry, in this case, into Edit in Barcody
.
When you choose this menu entry, iCalamus automatically starts Barcody and transfers the selected object to Barcody for editing. Now you can change the bar code parameters effortlessly in Barcody.
After you have saved the bar code, it will be automatically updated in the iCalamus document.
Further information about LinkBack can be found on this website:
www.linkbackproject.org