Microsoft Excel Workspace File Format

This chapter describes the workspace BIFF file, which is the file that Microsoft Excel writes when you choose the Save Workspace command from the File menu. The workspace file stores the position, size, filename, window attributes, and so on, of each workbook window.

The following illustration shows the workspace file for a workspace with two workbook windows. The file contains global BOF, CODEPAGE, and EOF records. There is a set of WNDESK, WINDOW1, and REVERT records for each window, and at the end of the file, an EXTERNSHEET record for each window.

The workspace BIFF file is not an OLE 2 compound file, therefore you must use the Dumpbiff.exe utility (an MS-DOS program) to examine the file. For general information about BIFF records, see BIFF Record Information.

Record Descriptions

The first two fields in every BIFF record are record number and record length. Because these fields have the same offset and size in every BIFF record, they are not documented in the following descriptions.

BOF: Beginning of File (0809h)

The BOF record marks the beginning of the file.

BOF Record Number Field

Offset	Name	Size	Contents
0	vers	1	ver: = 00 BIFF2 = 02 BIFF3 = 04 BIFF4 = 08 BIFF5/BIFF7
1	bof	1	09h

Record Data

Offset	Name	Size	Contents
4	vers	2	Version number (0500 for BIFF5 and BIFF7)
6	dt	2	Substream type: 0005h = Workbook globals 0006h = Visual Basic module 0010h = Worksheet or dialog sheet 0020h = Chart 0040h = Microsoft Excel 4.0 macro sheet 0100h = Workspace file
8	rupBuild	2	Build identifier (internal use only)
10	rupYear	2	Build year (internal use only)

The rupBuild and rupYear fields contain numbers that identify the version (build) of Microsoft Excel that wrote the file. If you write a BIFF file, you can use the BiffView utility to determine the current values of these fields by examining any BOF record in a workbook file.

CODEPAGE: Default Code Page (42h)

The CODEPAGE record stores the default code page (character set) that was in use when the workspace was saved.

Record Data

Offset	Name	Size	Contents
4	cv	2	Code page the file is saved in: 01B5h (437 dec.) = IBM PC (Multiplan) 8000h (32768 dec.) = Apple Macintosh 04E4h (1252 dec.) = ANSI (Microsoft Windows)

EOF: End of File (0Ah)

The EOF record marks the end of the file. It has no record data field, and is simply 0A000000h.

EXTERNSHEET: External Reference (17h)

The EXTERNSHEET record specifies an externally referenced workbook in the workspace. You should not change the order of EXTERNSHEET records.

Record Data

Offset	Name	Size	Contents
4	cch	1	Length of filename
5	rgch	var	Filename

The cch field contains the length of the source workbook filename. The rgch field contains the source workbook filename.

Filename Encoding

Whenever possible, filenames are encoded to make BIFF files transportable across file systems. Encoded filenames are identified by the first character of the rgch field. The first character of the rgch field may be any one of the following values.

Name	Value	Meaning
chEmpty	00	Reference to an empty workbook name (see text)
chEncode	01	Filename has been encoded (see following table)
chSelf	02	Self-referential external reference (see text)

chEmpty indicates that the filename is an external reference to an empty workbook name, as in the formula =Sheet1!$A$1.

chSelf indicates that the filename is an external reference where the dependent and source workbooks are the same. An example of this is a workbook SALES.XLS that contains the formula =SALES.XLS!$A$1.

A chEncode at the beginning of rgch indicates that the filename of the source workbook has been encoded to a less system-dependent filename. The following special keys are recognized in the rgch field.

Name	Value	PC file systems	Macintosh file system
chVolume	01	Represents an MS-DOS drive letter. It is followed by the drive letter. For example, the formula ='D:\SALES.XLS'!A1 generates the chVolume key when the dependent workbook is not on the D: drive. UNC filenames, such as \\server\share\myfile.xls generate an @ character after the chVolume key; this replaces the initial double backslash (\\).	Represents a single-character volume name. Because single-character volume names are uncommon on the Macintosh, the chLongVolume key is used to represent volume names that are longer than a single character.
chSameVolume	02	Indicates that the source workbook is on the same drive as the dependent workbook (the drive letter is omitted). For example, the formula ='\SALES.XLS'!A1 generates the chSameVolume key when the dependent workbook is not in the root directory.	Indicates that the source workbook is on the same volume as the dependent workbook (the volume name is omitted).
chDownDir	03	Indicates that the source workbook is in a subdirectory of the current directory. For example, the formula ='XL\SALES.XLS'!A1 generates the chDownDir key. The subdirectory name precedes the chDownDir key, and the filename follows it.	Indicates that the source workbook is in a folder in the current folder. For example, the formula =':XL:Sales1992'!A1 generates the chDownDir key. The folder name precedes the chDownDir key, and the filename follows it.
chUpDir	04	Indicates that the source workbook is in the parent directory of the current directory. For example, the formula ='..\SALES.XLS'!A1 generates the chUpDir key.	Indicates that the source workbook is in the parent folder of the current folder. For example, the formula ='::Sales1992'!A1 generates the chUpDir key.
chLongVolume	05	(not used)	The chLongVolume key is followed by the length of the name (1 byte) and then by the volume name string.
chStartupDir	06	Indicates that the source workbook is in the startup directory (the XLSTART subdirectory of the directory that contains EXCEL.EXE).	Indicates that the source workbook is in the Excel Startup Folder (5), which is in the System Folder.
chAltStartupDir	07	Indicates that the source workbook is in the alternate startup directory.	Indicates that the source workbook is in the alternate startup folder.
chLibDir	08	Indicates that the source workbook is in the LIBRARY directory.	Indicates that the source workbook is in the Macro Library folder.

REVERT: Revert Data (DBh)

This record stores internal data for revert-to-saved processing.

Record Data

Offset	Name	Size	Contents
4	rgch	var	Revert array; for internal use only

WINDOW1: Window Information (3Dh)

The WINDOW1 record contains workbook-level window attributes. The xWn and yWn fields contain the location of the window in units of 1/20 of a point, relative to the upper-left corner of the Microsoft Excel window client area. The dxWn and dyWn fields contain the window size, also in units of 1/20 of a point.

Record Data

Offset	Name	Size	Contents
4	xWn	2	Horizontal position of the window
6	yWn	2	Vertical position of the window
8	dxWn	2	Width of the window
10	dyWn	2	Height of the window
12	grbit	2	Option flags
14	itabCur	2	Index of selected workbook tab (0-based)
16	itabFirst	2	Index of first displayed workbook tab (0-based)
18	ctabSel	2	Number of workbook tabs that are selected
20	wTabRatio	2	Ratio of width of the workbook tabs to the width of the horizontal scroll bar; to obtain the ratio, convert to decimal and then divide by 1000.

The grbit field contains the following option flags.

Offset	Bits	Mask	Name	Contents
0	0	01h	fHidden	= 1 if the window is hidden
	1	02h	fIconic	= 1 if the window is currently displayed as an icon
	2	04h	(reserved)
	3	08h	fDspHScroll	= 1 if horizontal scroll bar is displayed
	4	10h	fDspVScroll	= 1 if vertical scroll bar is displayed
	5	20h	fBotAdornment	= 1 if workbook tabs are displayed
	7-6	C0h	(reserved)
1	7-0	FFh	(reserved)

WNDESK: Describes Windows in the Workbook

The WNDESK record describes each window that appears in the workspace.

Record Data

Offset	Name	Size	Contents
4	ish	2	Document number (zero-based)
6	dt	2	Document type; always = 0005h