The Excel code is not actually a plugin, despite its position in the
plugins directory. This is for ease of debugging at least initialy.

Simply select an excel file and watch those bits go flying.

For information on the Excel file format simply see:

	http://www.microsoft.com/msdn

OR mail me, ( you don't want to use that 'J++' applet ).

The 'ole' helper program is designed to let you inspect the contents of
OLE2 files. It has a complicated syntax, as described in the help you get
when you just run it.

Try for starters:

	./ole somefile.xls biff workbook

You _must_ be in the plugins/excel directory for it to find the biff_types.h
which it uses to annotate the biff records nicely; patches welcome.

It will also dump the contents of drawing streams inside the BIFF do:

	./ole somefile.xls draw workbook

Or to put / get files to / from an OLE file use:

	./ole somefile.xls put <filename> <stream name>
or
	./ole somefile.xls get <stream name> <filename>

FAQ's:

1. Why is the code so complicated ?

	Well, this is rather beyond our control. In order to support the several
different versions of the stream some complexity is unnavoidable. Furthermore
the structure of the streams whilst logical has to be mapped to gnumeric's
structure which can be another source of complexity.

	Due to several bad design decisions made in the format ( favouring memory
savings over elegance, speed and maintainability ) the abstraction of the lower
biff-records will become more and more integraly tied into the upper layers to
remove problems with 'continue' records in several places.

	Actualy, upon further thought I'll retract some of what I said above, its
still ugly, but I think the source of the problem is twofold:

	1) Segmentation - whoever was responsible for this should be given a very
	very hard stare.

	2) Minimal Changes - later versions of Biff should have been handled
	totaly differently with regard to the file format, perhaps they wanted
	minimal forwards compatibility; but seems unlikely.


1999-09-03 Michael Meeks <michael@imaginator.com>

