XLS file extension

The .xls files are used in Microsoft Excel 97 to 2003 for Workbooks, spreadsheet document files. The XLS is Microsoft Excel's proprietary file format for storing its documents. Microsoft Excel up until 2007 version used a proprietary binary file format called Binary Interchange File Format (BIFF) as its primary format. There are several versions of the format that have been released as it was revised over time.

The latest versions of Microsoft Office use the Open XML file format and the Excel Workbooks are stored in the .xlsx Microsoft Excel 2007/2010 Open XML Workbook files.

Data inside all Microsoft Office document files are stored in series of fixed-size streams. The location of each fixed-size stream is described by several sector allocation tables. These streams contain meta-data information about the document, such as the author name, subject, and individual sheet names. Series of records form a fixed-size stream. Each record holds the specific data element in the BIFF file. The COLINFO record, specifies parameters regarding the default formatting information and width of a range of columns.

In addition to storing spreadsheet data, the Microsoft Excel file format is designed to store information regarding various formatting data pertaining to its representation. The Excel file format accommodates the embedding of Graphic Objects in spreadsheets. The Objects types supported are pictures, lines, buttons and so on. Objects are usually inserted into a spreadsheet through the provided menus in the application. Each object also contains some attributes that define its colour, or size among others. These Objects are contained in the file as Records in specific Streams. Objects are identified with ID numbers.

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