XF: Extended Format (E0h)

The XF record stores formatting properties. There are two different XF records, one for cell records and another for style records. The fStyle bit is true if the XF is a style XF. The ixfe of a cell record (BLANK, LABEL, NUMBER, RK, and so on) points to a cell XF record, and the ixfe of a STYLE record points to a style XF record. Note that in previous BIFF versions, the record number for the XF record was 43h.

Prior to BIFF5, all number format information was included in FORMAT records in the BIFF file. Beginning with BIFF5, many of the built-in number formats were moved to an internal table and are no longer saved with the file as FORMAT records. You still use the ifmt to associate the built-in number formats with an XF record. However, the internal number formats are no longer visible in the BIFF file.

The following table lists all the number formats that are now maintained internally. Note that 17h through 24h are reserved for international versions and are undocumented at this time.

Index to internal format (ifmt)	Format string

00h	General
01h	0
02h	0.00
03h	#,##0

Index to internal format (ifmt)	Format string

04h	#,##0.00
05h	($#,##0_);($#,##0)
06h	($#,##0_);[Red]($#,##0)
07h	($#,##0.00_);($#,##0.00)
08h	($#,##0.00_);[Red]($#,##0.00)
09h	0%
0ah	0.00%
0bh	0.00E+00
0ch	# ?/?
0dh	# ??/??
0eh	m/d/yy
0fh	d-mmm-yy
10h	d-mmm
11h	mmm-yy
12h	h:mm AM/PM
13h	h:mm:ss AM/PM
14h	h:mm
15h	h:mm:ss
16h	m/d/yy h:mm
25h	(#,##0_);(#,##0)
26h	(#,##0_);[Red](#,##0)
27h	(#,##0.00_);(#,##0.00)
28h	(#,##0.00_);[Red](#,##0.00)
29h	_(* #,##0_);_(* (#,##0);_(* "-"_);_(@_)
2ah	_($* #,##0_);_($* (#,##0);_($* "-"_);_(@_)
2bh	_(* #,##0.00_);_(* (#,##0.00);_(* "-"??_);_(@_)
2ch	_($* #,##0.00_);_($* (#,##0.00);_($* "-"??_);_(@_)
2dh	mm:ss
2eh	[h]:mm:ss
2fh	mm:ss.0
30h	##0.0E+0
31h	@

A BIFF file can contain as many XF records as are necessary to describe the different cell formats and styles in a workbook. The XF records are written in a table in the workbook stream, and the index to the XF record table is a 0-based number called ixfe.

The workbook stream must contain a minimum XF table consisting of 15 style XF records and one cell XF record (ixfe=0 through ixfe=15). The first XF record (ixfe=0) is the XF record for the Normal style. The next 14 records (ixfe=1 through ixfe=14) are XF records that correspond to outline styles RowLevel_1, ColLevel_1, RowLevel_2, ColLevel_2, and so on. The last record (ixfe=15) is the default cell XF for the workbook.

Following these XF records are five additional style XF records (not strictly required) that correspond to the Comma, Comma [0], Currency, Currency [0], and Percent styles.

Cell XF Record — BIFF8

Record Data

Offset	Bits	Mask	Name	Contents

4	15 – 0	FFFFh	ifnt	Index to the FONT record.
6	15 – 0	FFFFh	ifmt	Index to the FORMAT record.
8	0	0001h	fLocked	= 1 if the cell is locked.
	1	0002h	fHidden	= 1 if the cell is hidden.
	2	0004h	fStyle	= 0 for cell XF. = 1 for style XF.
	3	0008h	f123Prefix	If the Transition Navigation Keys option is off (Options dialog box, Transition tab), f123Prefix = 1 indicates that a leading apostrophe (single quotation mark) is being used to coerce the cell's contents to a simple string. If the Transition Navigation Keys option is on, f123Prefix = 1 indicates that the cell formula begins with one of the four Lotus 1-2-3 alignment prefix characters: ' left " right ^ centered \ fill
	15 – 4	FFF0h	ixfParent	Index to the XF record of the parent style. Every cell XF must have a parent style XF, which is usually ixfeNormal = 0.
10	2 – 0	0007h	alc	Alignment: 0 = general 1 = left 2 = center 3 = right 4 = fill 5 = justify 6 = center across selection
	3	0008h	fWrap	= 1 wrap text in cell.
	6 – 4	0070h	alcV	Vertical alignment: 0 = top 1 = center 2 = bottom 3 = justify
	7	0080h	fJustLast	(Used only in Far East versions of Microsoft Excel).
	15 – 8	FF00h	trot	Rotation, in degrees; 0 – 90dec is up 0 – 90 deg., 91 – 180dec is down 1 – 90 deg, and 255dec is vertical.
12	3 – 0	000Fh	cIndent	Indent value (Format Cells dialog box, Alignment tab).
	4	0010h	fShrinkToFit	= 1 if Shrink To Fit option is on (Format Cells dialog box, Alignment tab).
	5	0020h	fMergeCell	= 1 if Merge Cells option is on (Format Cells dialog box, Alignment tab).
	7 – 6	00C0h	iReadingOrder	Reading direction (Far East versions only): 0 = Context 1 = Left-to-right 2 = Right-to-left
	9 – 8	0300h	(Reserved)
	10	0400h	fAtrNum	= 1 if the ifmt is not equal to the ifmt of the parent style XF.
	11	0800h	fAtrFnt	= 1 if the ifnt is not equal to the ifnt of the parent style XF.
	12	1000h	fAtrAlc	= 1 if either the alc or the fWrap field is not equal to the corresponding field of the parent style XF.
	13	2000h	fAtrBdr	= 1 if any border line field (dgTop, and so on) is not equal to the corresponding field of the parent style XF.
	14	4000h	fAtrPat	= 1 if any pattern field (fls, icvFore, icvBack) is not equal to the corresponding field of the parent style XF.
	15	8000h	fAtrProt	= 1 if either the fLocked field or the fHidden field is not equal to the corresponding field of the parent style XF.
14	3 – 0	000Fh	dgLeft	Border line style (see the following table).
	7 – 4	00F0h	dgRight	Border line style (see the following table).
	11 – 8	0F00h	dgTop	Border line style (see the following table).
	15 – 12	F000h	dgBottom	Border line style (see the following table).
16	6 – 0	007Fh	icvLeft	Index to the color palette for the left border color.
	13 – 7	3F80h	icvRight	Index to the color palette for the right border color.
	15 – 14	C000h	grbitDiag	1=diag down, 2=diag up, 3=both.
18	6 – 0	0000007Fh	icvTop	Index to the color palette for the top border color.
	13 – 7	00003F80h	icvBottom	Index to the color palette for the bottom border color.

Offset	Bits	Mask	Name	Contents

	20 – 14	001FC000h	icvDiag	for diagonal borders.
	24 – 21	01E00000h	dgDiag	Border line style (see the following table).
	25	03800000h	(Reserved)
	31 – 26	FC000000h	fls	Fill pattern.
22	6 – 0	007Fh	icvFore	Index to the color palette for the foreground color of the fill pattern.
	13 – 7	3F80h	icvBack	Index to the color palette for the background color of the fill pattern.
	14	4000h	fSxButton	= 1 if the XF record is attached to a PivotTable button.
	15	8000h	(Reserved)

Border Line Styles (BIFF8)

The border line style fields — dgTop, dgLeft, and so on — correspond to the options in the Format Cells dialog box, Border tab, as shown in the following table.

*dg value**	Border line style

0h	None
1h	Thin
2h	Medium
3h	Dashed
4h	Dotted
5h	Thick
6h	Double
7h	Hair
8h	Medium dashed
9h	Dash-dot
Ah	Medium dash-dot
Bh	Dash-dot-dot
Ch	Medium dash-dot-dot
Dh	Slanted dash-dot

Style XF Record — BIFF8

The style XF record is identical to the cell XF record, except that some of the fields have slightly different meanings.

Offset	Bits	Mask	Name		Contents

4	15 – 0	FFFFh	ifnt		Index to the FONT record.
6	15 – 0	FFFFh	ifmt		Index to the FORMAT record.
8	0	0001h	fLocked		= 1 if the cell is locked.
	1	0002h	fHidden		= 1 if the cell is hidden.
	2	0004h	fStyle		= 0 for cell XF. = 1 for style XF.
	3	0008h	f123Prefix		This bit is always = 0 for style XF.
	15 – 4	FFF0h	ixfParent		For style XF records, this field equals FFFh (ixfNULL).
10	2 – 0	0007h	alc		Alignment: 0 = general 1 = left 2 = center 3 = right 4 = fill 5 = justify 6 = center across selection
	3	0008h	fWrap		= 1 wrap text in cell.
	6 – 4	0070h	alcV		Vertical alignment: 0 = top 1 = center 2 = bottom 3 = justify
	7	0080h	fJustLast		(Used only in Far East versions of Microsoft Excel.)
	15 – 8	FF00h	trot		Rotation, in degrees; 0 – 90dec is up 0 – 90 deg., 91 – 180dec is down 1 – 90 deg, and 255dec is vertical.
12	3 – 0	000Fh	cIndent		Indent value (Format Cells dialog box, Alignment tab).
	4	0010h	fShrinkToFit		= 1 if Shrink To Fit option is on (Format Cells dialog box, Alignment tab).
	5	0020h	fMergeCell		= 1 if Merge Cells option is on (Format Cells dialog box, Alignment tab).
	7 – 6	00C0h	iReadingOrder		Reading direction (Far East versions only).
	9 – 8	0300h	(Reserved)
	10	0400h	fAtrNum		= 1 if the ifmt is not equal to the ifmt of the parent style XF.
	11	0800h	fAtrFnt		= 1 if the ifnt is not equal to the ifnt of the parent style XF.
	12	1000h	fAtrAlc		= 1 if either the alc or the fWrap field is not equal to the corresponding field of the parent style XF.
	13	2000h	fAtrBdr		= 1 if any border line field (dgTop, and so on) is not equal to the corresponding field of the parent style XF.
	14	4000h	fAtrPat		= 1 if any pattern field (fls, icvFore, icvBack) is not equal to the corresponding field of the parent style XF.
	15	8000h	fAtrProt		= 1 if either the fLocked field or the fHidden field is not equal to the corresponding field of the parent style XF.
14	3 – 0	000Fh	dgLeft		Border line style (see the following table).
	7 – 4	00F0h	dgRight		Border line style (see the following table).
	11 – 8	0F00h	dgTop		Border line style (see the following table).
	15 – 12	F000h	dgBottom		Border line style (see the following table).
16	6 – 0	007Fh	icvLeft		Index to the color palette for the left border color.
	13 – 7	3F80h	icvRight		Index to the color palette for the right border color.
	15 – 14	C000h	grbitDiag		1=diag down, 2=diag up, 3=both.
18	6 – 0	0000007Fh	icvTop		Index to the color palette for the top border color.
	13 – 7	00003F80h	icvBottom		Index to the color palette for the bottom border color.
	20 – 14	001FC000h	icvDiag	for diagonal borders.
	24 – 21	01E00000h	dgDiag	Border line style (see the following table).
	25	03800000h	(Reserved)
	31 – 26	FC000000h	fls	Fill pattern.
22	6 – 0	007Fh	icvFore	Index to the color palette for the foreground color of the fill pattern.
	13 – 7	3F80h	icvBack	Index to the color palette for the background color of the fill pattern.
	14	4000h	fSxButton	This bit always = 0 for style XF.
	15	8000h	(Reserved)

Border Line Styles (BIFF8)

The border line style fields — dgTop, dgLeft, and so on — correspond to the options in the Format Cells dialog box, Border tab, as shown in the following table.

*dg value**	Border line style

0h	None
1h	Thin
2h	Medium
3h	Dashed
4h	Dotted
5h	Thick
6h	Double
7h	Hair
8h	Medium dashed
9h	Dash-dot
Ah	Medium dash-dot
Bh	Dash-dot-dot
Ch	Medium dash-dot-dot
Dh	Slanted dash-dot

Cell XF Record — BIFF7 and earlier

Record Data

Offset	Bits	Mask	Name	Contents

4	15 – 0	FFFFh	ifnt	Index to the FONT record.
6	15 – 0	FFFFh	ifmt	Index to the FORMAT record.
8	0	0001h	fLocked	= 1 if the cell is locked.
	1	0002h	fHidden	= 1 if the cell is hidden.
	2	0004h	fStyle	= 0 for cell XF. = 1 for style XF.
	3	0008h	f123Prefix	If the Transition Navigation Keys option is off (Options dialog box, Transition tab), f123Prefix = 1 indicates that a leading apostrophe (single quotation mark) is being used to coerce the cell's contents to a simple string. If the Transition Navigation Keys option is on, f123Prefix = 1 indicates that the cell formula begins with one of the four Lotus 1-2-3 alignment prefix characters: ' left " right ^ centered \ fill
	15 – 4	FFF0h	ixfParent	Index to the XF record of the parent style. Every cell XF must have a parent style XF, which is usually ixfeNormal = 0.
10	2 – 0	0007h	alc	Alignment: 0 = general 1 = left 2 = center 3 = right 4 = fill 5 = justify 6 = center across selection
	3	0008h	fWrap	= 1 wrap text in cell.
10	6 – 4	0070h	alcV	Vertical alignment: 0 = top 1 = center 2 = bottom 3 = justify
	7	0080h	fJustLast	(Used only in Far East versions of Microsoft Excel.)
	9 – 8	0300h	ori	Orientation of text in cell: = 0 no rotation. = 1 text appears top-to-bottom; letters are upright. = 2 text is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise. = 3 text is rotated 90 degrees clockwise.
	10	0400h	fAtrNum	= 1 if the ifmt is not equal to the ifmt of the parent style XF.
	11	0800h	fAtrFnt	= 1 if the ifnt is not equal to the ifnt of the parent style XF.
	12	1000h	fAtrAlc	= 1 if either the alc or the fWrap field is not equal to the corresponding field of the parent style XF.
	13	2000h	fAtrBdr	= 1 if any border line field (dgTop, and so on) is not equal to the corresponding field of the parent style XF.
	14	4000h	fAtrPat	= 1 if any pattern field (fls, icvFore, icvBack) is not equal to the corresponding field of the parent style XF.
	15	8000h	fAtrProt	= 1 if either the fLocked field or the fHidden field is not equal to the corresponding field of the parent style XF.
12	6 – 0	007Fh	icvFore	Index to the color palette for the foreground color of the fill pattern.
	12 – 7	1F80h	icvBack	Index to the color palette for the background color of the fill pattern.
	13	2000h	fSxButton	= 1 if the XF record is attached to a PivotTable button.
	15 – 14	C000h	(Reserved)
14	5 – 0	003Fh	fls	Fill pattern.
	8 – 6	01C0h	dgBottom	Border line style (see the following table).
	15 – 9	FE00h	icvBottom	Index to the color palette for the bottom border color.
16	2 – 0	0007h	dgTop	Border line style (see the following table).
	5 – 3	0038h	dgLeft	Border line style (see the following table).
	8 – 6	01C0h	dgRight	Border line style (see the following table).
	15 – 9	FE00h	icvTop	Index to the color palette for the top border color.
18	6 – 0	007Fh	icvLeft	Index to the color palette for the left border color.
	13 – 7	3F80h	icvRight	Index to the color palette for the right border color.
	15 – 14	C000h	(Reserved)

Border Line Styles (BIFF7)

The border line style fields — dgTop, dgLeft, and so on — correspond to the options in the Format Cells dialog box, Border tab, as shown in the following table.

*dg value**	Border line style

0h	None
1h	Thin
2h	Medium
3h	Dashed
4h	Dotted
5h	Thick
6h	Double
7h	Hair

Style XF Record — BIFF7 and earlier

The style XF record is identical to the cell XF record, except that some of the fields have slightly different meanings.

Record Data

Offset	Bits	Mask	Name	Contents

4	15–0	FFFFh	ifnt	Index to the FONT record.
6	15–0	FFFFh	ifmt	Index to the FORMAT record.
8	0	0001h	fLocked	= 1 if the cell is locked.
	1	0002h	fHidden	= 1 if the cell is hidden.
	2	0004h	fStyle	= 0 for cell XF. = 1 for style XF.
	3	0008h	f123Prefix	This bit is always = 0 for style XF.
	15–4	FFF0h	ixfParent	For style XF records, this field equals FFFh (ixfNULL).
10	2–0	0007h	alc	Alignment: 0 = general 1 = left 2 = center 3 = right 4 = fill 5 = justify 6 = center across selection
	3	0008h	fWrap	= 1 wrap text in cell.
	6–4	0070h	alcV	Vertical alignment: 0 = top 1 = center 2 = bottom 3 = justify
	7	0080h	fJustLast	(Used only in Far East versions of Microsoft Excel.)
	9–8	0300h	ori	Orientation of text in cell: = 0 no rotation. = 1 text appears top-to-bottom; letters are upright. = 2 text is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise. = 3 text is rotated 90 degrees clockwise.
	10	0400h	fAtrNum	= 0 if the style includes Number (Style dialog box).
	11	0800h	fAtrFnt	= 0 if the style includes Font (Style dialog box).
	12	1000h	fAtrAlc	= 0 if the style includes Alignment (Style dialog box).
	13	2000h	fAtrBdr	= 0 if the style includes Border (Style dialog box).
	14	4000h	fAtrPat	= 0 if the style includes Patterns (shading) (Style dialog box).
	15	8000h	fAtrProt	= 0 if the style includes Protection (cell protection) (Style dialog box).
12	6–0	007Fh	icvFore	Index to the color palette for the foreground color of the fill pattern.
	12–7	1F80h	icvBack	Index to the color palette for the background color of the fill pattern.
	13	2000h	fSxButton	This bit always = 0 for style XF.
	15–14	C000h	(Reserved)
14	5–0	003Fh	fls	Fill pattern.
	8–6	01C0h	dgBottom	Border line style (see the following table).
	15–9	FE00h	icvBottom	Index to the color palette for the bottom border color.
16	2–0	0007h	dgTop	Border line style (see the following table).
	5–3	0038h	dgLeft	Border line style (see the following table).
	8–6	01C0h	dgRight	Border line style (see the following table).
	15–9	FE00h	icvTop	Index to the color palette for the top border color.
18	6–0	007Fh	icvLeft	Index to the color palette for the left border color.
	13–7	3F80h	icvRight	Index to the color palette for the right border color.
	15–14	C000h	(reserved)

Border Line Styles (BIFF7)

The border line style fields — dgTop, dgLeft, and so on — correspond to the options in the Format Cells dialog box, Border tab, as shown in the following table.

*dg value**	Border line style

0h	None
1h	Thin
2h	Medium
3h	Dashed
4h	Dotted
5h	Thick
6h	Double
7h	Hair