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Is it possible to read the xml data or xml format of excel 2003 in open xml. Is there anyway we can read excel 2003 in 2007. We can ask customers to save excel 2003 in any format but we cannot ask them to store in 2007 .

user476566
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No, you cannot read excel 2003 as Open XML since it is not stored as XML, but is stored in a proprietary binary file format called Binary Interchange File Format (BIFF). You can save from 2007 to a 2003 format, but you cannot do the opposite. I asked a similar question here.

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amurra
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    You can save from 2003 to 2007 format with the appropriate free add-in installed from Microsoft. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/microsoft-office-compatibility-pack-for-word-excel-and-powerpoint-2007-file-formats-HA010168676.aspx – Samuel Neff Mar 24 '11 at 18:30
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    When you mean BIFF I'm thinking that you are refering the format that XLS files use. However, I am using Excel 2003 and I see that I have the ability tto save in XML format. Is there an SDK that I can use to read this 2003 format and are there gotchas when upgrading to office 2007? – Chad Sep 19 '12 at 17:56
  • Note that he specifically did say the 2003 XML format -- 2003 does have it's own XML format (so it *is* stored as XML in this case) -- is there a way to losslessly convert the 2003 XML format to the 2007 XML Flat Package format? – BrainSlugs83 Jun 13 '13 at 03:49
  • save from 2003->2007 and use xml sdk – Lapenkov Vladimir Aug 11 '15 at 11:53
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You can standardize on Office Open XML and ask all customers to save in the 2007 format. From Excel 2003 you can save to Excel 2007 format as long as you have the compatibility pack installed.

Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 file formats

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/microsoft-office-compatibility-pack-for-word-excel-and-powerpoint-2007-file-formats-HA010168676.aspx

It's common to have this installed because they'd need it to read any .docx or .xlsx files they'd received.

Samuel Neff
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