Re: How to build a program that can read the content of a very simple MS Excel file?

[John Machin <sjmachin lexicon net>]

On 14/06/2007 2:40 PM, Huge Mountain wrote:
> Thank all you for your help!
>
> I have another question:
> I'm trying to get the binary format of MS Excel file with this 
> book, excelfileformat.pdf from 
> http://sc.openoffice.org/excelfileformat.pdf 
> <http://sc.openoffice.org/excelfileformat.pdf>
> In part 5.4, page 81, we have:
> Structure of the Page Settings Block in the Worksheet Substream:
> ○ HORIZONTALPAGEBREAKS ➜6.54
> ○ VERTICALPAGEBREAKS ➜6.107
> ○ HEADER ➜6.51
> ○ FOOTER ➜6.44
> ○ HCENTER ➜6.50 (BIFF3-BIFF8 only)
> ○ VCENTER ➜6.106 (BIFF3-BIFF8 only)
> ○ LEFTMARGIN ➜6.62
> ○ RIGHTMARGIN ➜6.81
> ○ TOPMARGIN ➜6.103
> ○ BOTTOMMARGIN ➜6.11
> ○ PLS
> ○ SETUP ➜6.89 (BIFF4-BIFF8 only)
> ○ BITMAP ➜6.6 (BIFF8 only)
> Every record is described clearly, except PLS which isn't mentioned in 
> this document. I don't know if it's a record or something else. I have 
> been seen the binary format of a MS Excel file (created by MS Excel 
> 2000). If I consider PLS as a record, with this excel file  I have PLS's 
> ID is 77 (equal 4D in hex) and size of following data is 1454 byte.
> The excelfileformat document doesn't discribe PLS's format. Could you 
> help me to know this "record"?

"Microsoft Excel97 Developer's Kit", p. 372: "The PLS record saves 
printer settings and printer driver information". The size is variable.

If, as you said, you are interested only in data extraction, you can 
ignore this record, along with all the other records you mention above, 
as well as many more that you haven't mentioned at all.

Cheers,
John