XL2002: Excel Saves XML Files in the XML Spreadsheet Format

When you save a file in the Extensible Markup Language (XML Spreadsheet) format, the file is not saved in a generic XML file format.

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XML Spreadsheet (*.xml) is the only XML format listed in the Save As dialog box.

Microsoft Excel can save XML files in the XML Spreadsheet format. It cannot save workbooks in a different XML schema, including schemas that follow the XML Schema Definition (XSD) language proposed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

Microsoft Excel can open any XML file. If the XML file references an Extensible Style Language (XSL) file, Excel lets you choose whether to use that XSL file to transform the XML file, or to use the built-in XML flattener.

For additional information about how Excel opens XML files, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: By default, XML files are opened as read-only. This leaves the original file unchanged for future use.

You can also create XML Spreadsheet files programmatically, by using either Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows, version 6.0, or Active Server Pages (ASP) technology.

For additional information about how to programmatically create an XML Spreadsheet file, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

For more information about the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and XML, please see the following W3C Web site: