File extension | .xls |
File category | documents |
Description | XLS – is a spreadsheet created by a popular Microsoft Excel application. It includes document data that is located in cells that have a specific address. They can contain formulas, mathematical equations associated with the information in other cells, and fixed information. It is often used for the development of graphs and charts. The format allows us to store and edit a broad range of parameters - images, tables, macros, types, diagrams. It has been widely used until the appearance of the 2007 version of Excel, and then it was replaced with the XMLSS extension. The information inside the XLS document is contained in a series of static-size streams. Their location is described using several segment distribution tables. It differs in backward compatibility and supports various file formats created for DOS. It is often used by web browsers to exclude the use of binary formats. The utility is included in the Microsoft Office suite and, in addition to Excel, can be opened by various applications like Apache Open Office, Libre Office, adapted to Mac OS, Windows, or Linux. |
Technical details | The format's relevance is explained by its simplicity, although it does not support separate functions, for example, storing VBA macros. Until XMLSS appeared, the Excel application used the Biff extension when formatting, created based on the IFF container format. Due to this, changes to the book templates and their contents were available. After introducing the new format in 2007, the program has not lost the backward compatible properties, which guarantees the wide distribution of XLS in the future. Subsequently, the XLS extension was replaced by the XLSM, XLSB, and XLSX formats. |
Programs | LibreOffice Google Docs |
Main program | Microsoft Office |
Developer | Microsoft |
MIME type |
File extension | .dbf |
File category | documents |
Description | Dbase, the database management software makes use of the DBF extension for the storage of its standard database files. However, dbase is not the only database software program compatible with DBF files as other “xBASE' programs support the file format as well. DBF gained popularity because its structure is easy to understand and also, it was earlier adopted by the database community. |
Technical details | DBF file contains multiple sets of data that are stored and arranged in arrays. It is used in dBASE II as a file format. Also, it has been employed in the proceeding versions of dBASE III, III+, and IV. DBF file is one of the earliest database files having a header. The header makes the program not familiar with the data structure read DBF file. However, it can be used on Microsoft Excel OpenOffice Calc, and some other programs. |
Programs | Microsoft Access 2016 Microsoft Visual FoxPro Apache OpenOffice Astersoft DBF Manager DBFView Alpha Software Alpha Anywhere GTK DBF Editor (Mac & Linux) |
Main program | dBase |
Developer | dBASE |
MIME type | application/dbase application/dbf zz-application/zz-winassoc-dbf |