BIFF Files

The BIFF file format is used by Microsoft Excel. In a BIFF file, data is expressed in lines and columns. A BIFF file contains character and numeric data (both positive and negative decimal values).

BIFF format versions 4 and 8 are supported for 5250 Data Transfer. Both BIFF4 and BIFF8 support 256 columns, which is the maximum for a Microsoft Excel worksheet. Documentation on both formats is freely available from the Microsoft Web site.

BIFF4 handles data for Microsoft Excel V2, V3, and V4. The format supports a maximum of 16 384 rows.

BIFF8 is a superset of BIFF4 and stores data as an OLE compound document. BIFF8 handles data for Microsoft Excel V5, V7 (Excel 95), V8 (Excel 97), and V9 (Excel 2000). The format supports a maximum of 65 536 rows.

The transfer facility supports only the following two data types for a BIFF file:
  • Character data
  • Numeric data