Adobe InDesign CS5 - Manual (Page 690)

684 USING INDESIGN
Sharing content between InCopy and InDesign
Last updated 11/16/2011
Layout You can create the basic layout geometry for the content in InDesign, and then create or import the text and
styles from a word-processing application. (Text files placed within InCopy are embedded in the InCopy document
and are not linked to any external file.)
Placing/Duplicating If you place an InCopy content file more than once, each instance of the content appears in the
InDesign Links panel, but they are all managed as one content file. The same is true for any exact copies of a content
file (by any means of duplication).
Note: If you copy and paste some, but not all, of the text in a managed InCopy content file, the result is a new content file
that is not connected to the original and has no link to any external file (InCopy or otherwise). The original and the pasted
portions can be edited independently of each other.
Updates/Management Once multiple instances of a managed content file are present in an InDesign document, they
behave as if they were open in two applications. For example, checking out one instance of the content file locks all
other instances so that you can edit only the checked-out instance. In this case, you would use the appropriate Update
command to refresh the other (open) instances of the content.