The National Archives
Search our website
  • Search our website
  • Search our records
   
 
Image of software box and CD PRONOM
Welcome (PRONOM  home page) About PRONOM Add an entry
Search Help - opens in a new window Information resources - opens in a new window
 
 
 

*Details: File format summary

   
 

 

Search by keyword Search by file format Search by PUID Search by software Search by vendor Search by lifecycles Search by Migration Pathway

Details for:

Save as... XML | CSV Printer friendly version
 
 

Summary

Name Microsoft Excel 97 Workbook (xls)
Version 8
Other names Microsoft Excel Workbook (97-2000)
Identifiers MIME:  application/vnd.ms-excel
Apple Uniform Type Identifier:  com.microsoft.excel.xls
PUID:  fmt/61
Family  
Classification Spreadsheet
Disclosure None
Description The Binary Interchange File Format (BIFF) is a spreadsheet file format developed by Microsoft. BIFF 8 is a native file format of Microsoft Excel 97. The format is proprietary and Microsoft does not make details of its structure public. The information here is derived primarily from OpenOffice.org's reverse-engineered documentation of the format and should not therefore be regarded as definitive. BIFF 8 is based on Microsoft’s generic OLE2 Compound Document Format. An Excel workbook is stored as a ‘Book’ stream within a Compound Document Format file. The Book stream comprises a Workbook Globals Substream, containing a Beginning of File (BOF) record, the Workbook global records, and terminated by an End of File (EOF) record. This is followed by one or more Worksheet substreams, containing a Beginning of File (BOF) record, the worksheet records, and terminated by an End of File (EOF) record. The format remained unchanged with the release of Excel 2000.
Orientation Binary
Byte order Little-endian (Intel)
Related file formats Has lower priority than Microsoft Excel Template (97-2003)
Has lower priority than Microsoft Works Spreadsheet (6-9)
Has priority over Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 Workbook (xls) (5/95)
Has priority over OLE2 Compound Document Format  
Is previous version of Microsoft Excel 2000-2003 Workbook (xls) (8X)
Is subsequent version of Excel 95 Workbook (xls) (7)
Is subtype of OLE2 Compound Document Format  
Technical Environment  
Released  
Supported until  
Format Risk  
Developed by None.
Supported by None.
Source Digital Preservation Department / The National Archives
Source date 11 Mar 2005
Source description This format can be identified via a container signature in DROID version 6 or later. The PRONOM database cannot currently represent container signatures.
Last updated 18 Dec 2012
Note  
Top of page Top of page
 
         
The National Archives Newsletter Icon

Send me The National Archives’ newsletter

A monthly round-up of news, blogs, offers and events.