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*Details: File format summary

    
 

 

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Summary
Name Microsoft Excel 4.0 Workbook (xls)
Version 4W
Other names Microsoft Excel Workbook (4.0)
Identifiers MIME:  application/vnd.ms-excel
Apple Uniform Type Identifier:  com.microsoft.excel.xls
PUID:  fmt/58
Family  
Classification Spreadsheet
Disclosure None
Description The Binary Interchange File Format (BIFF) is a spreadsheet file format developed by Microsoft. BIFF 4W is a native file format of Microsoft Excel 4.0 for Windows. Excel 4.0 allowed either a single worksheet to be stored as a worksheet file (BIFF 4S), or for multiple worksheets to be combined in a single workbook file (BIFF 4W). The format is proprietary and Microsoft does not make details of its structure public. The information contained here is derived primarily from OpenOffice.org's reverse-engineered documentation of the format, and should not therefore be regarded as definitive. BIFF is a stream based format, and a BIFF 4W file comprises a Workbook Globals Substream, containing a Beginning of File (BOF) record, one or more embedded Worksheet streams (in BIFF 4S format), and terminated by an End of File (EOF) record.
Orientation Binary
Byte order Little-endian (Intel)
Related file formats Is previous version of Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 Workbook (xls) (5/95)
Is subsequent version of Microsoft Excel 3.0 Worksheet (xls) (3)
Technical Environment  
Released  
Supported until  
Format Risk  
Developed by Microsoft Corporation
Supported by Microsoft Corporation
Source Digital Preservation Department / The National Archives
Source date 11 Mar 2005
Source description  
Last updated 19 Jul 2013
Note  
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