3 Structure Examples

This section contains examples of some of the most commonly used data structures in Excel Binary File Format files. The examples are meant to be a starting point for an implementer learning the file format. They are not meant to cover all records in the file format.

In the following sections, the schema definition might differ from the processing rules imposed by the application. The XSD in this specification provides a base description of the file format. The text that introduces the XSD specifies additional restrictions that reflect actual Microsoft product behavior. For example, the schema definition might allow for an element to be empty, null, or not present but the behavior of the application as specified restricts the same elements to being non-empty, not null, and present.