1. A method of employing an electronically manipulative object that is usable in a plurality of different electronic document environments, the object comprising at least one electronically stored property that includes an associated rule that affects the object, the at least one property and associated rule being elements of the object, and wherein the object and the at least one property and associated rule exists outside of an electronic document environment that the object is used in, the rule associated with the at least one property being enforced in the plurality of different electronic document environments, the method comprising: (a) importing a copy of the object, including the object's at least one electronically stored property that includes an associated rule, into an electronic document environment; and (b) enforcing the rule associated with the at least one property of the object imported in step (a) in the electronic document environment.