README

A fully independent, pure-PHP BIFF8 reader and writer for legacy Excel 97–2003 .xls files.

This package does not require, suggest, wrap, or call PhpSpreadsheet. Both the OLE Compound File container and the BIFF8 workbook stream are processed natively.

Install

composer require mnb/mnb-phpexcel-xls:^2.0

Requirements:

PHP 8.1+
ext-iconv
mnb/mnb-phpexcel-core

Read an XLS file

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

use Mnb\PHPExcel\Format\Xls;

$rows = Xls::read(__DIR__ . '/files/report.xls')
    ->sheet('Data')
    ->withHeaderRow()
    ->toArray([
        'skip_empty_rows' => true,
        'max_rows' => 5000,
    ]);

foreach ($rows as $row) {
    echo $row['Name'] . PHP_EOL;
}

You can also use the reader directly:

use Mnb\PHPExcel\Reader\XlsReader;

$reader = new XlsReader();
$sheetNames = $reader->sheetNames('report.xls');
$rows = $reader->readSheet('report.xls', 1);

Write an XLS file

use Mnb\PHPExcel\Core\CellValue;
use Mnb\PHPExcel\Format\Xls;

Xls::write([
    ['Name' => 'Alice', 'Amount' => 1250.50, 'Approved' => true],
    ['Name' => 'Bob', 'Amount' => 875.00, 'Approved' => false],
], __DIR__ . '/files/report.xls', [
    'with_header' => true,
    'sheet_name' => 'Data',
]);

Typed cells and cached formulas are supported:

Xls::write([
    ['Date', 'Amount', 'Double'],
    [
        CellValue::date('2026-07-29'),
        CellValue::number('1250.50'),
        CellValue::formula('B2*2', 2501.00),
    ],
], 'typed.xls');

Formula read modes

$session = Xls::read('report.xls');

$formulas = $session->toArray(['formula_cells' => 'formula']);
$cached   = $session->toArray(['formula_cells' => 'cached_value']);
$both     = $session->toArray(['formula_cells' => 'both']);

both returns Mnb\PHPExcel\Reader\State\FormulaResult values containing the formula, cached result, result type, and native BIFF token metadata.

Native feature coverage

Reader

OLE/CFB version 3 and version 4 containers
FAT, DIFAT, MiniFAT, directory entries, normal streams, and mini streams
Workbook and older Book stream names
BIFF8 workbook globals and worksheet substreams
sheet names, order, hidden state, and worksheet selection
Unicode shared strings, including SST data split across CONTINUE records
numeric NUMBER, RK, and MULRK cells
strings through LABELSST and LABEL
Boolean, error, blank, and multi-blank cells
formulas with numeric, string, Boolean, error, and blank cached values
common BIFF8 formula token decoding
built-in and custom date-format detection
1900 and 1904 date systems
source-level row and column limits/projection
forward row iteration through IterableReaderInterface

Writer

valid BIFF8 workbooks inside native CFB/OLE containers
multiple worksheets
Unicode shared strings with CONTINUE splitting
numbers, text, Booleans, blanks, errors, dates, and date-times
common formulas compiled into BIFF8 RPN tokens
formula cached values
merged cells
column widths and row heights
frozen rows and columns
atomic file replacement
BIFF8 worksheet limits: 65,536 rows and 256 columns

Formula compiler coverage

The native writer currently supports:

numeric, text, Boolean, and error literals
A1 cell references and ranges
+, -, *, /, ^, &
=, <>, <, <=, >, >=
unary plus/minus and percentage
parentheses
common built-in functions such as SUM, AVERAGE, MIN, MAX, IF, COUNT, COUNTA, ROUND, DATE, TIME, VLOOKUP, and SUMIF

Unsupported formula tokens or functions raise UnsupportedXlsFeatureException when writing. On reading, unknown formula token streams remain available as a =#BIFF_FORMULA[...] representation while their cached value can still be returned.

Unsupported writer features in the first native milestone

These features are not silently advertised as implemented:

images and drawings
charts and pivot tables
comments and hyperlinks
conditional formatting
data validation
AutoFilter records
VBA projects and macros
external workbook links and defined names
legacy XLS encryption

By default, unsupported worksheet presentation features are skipped so data export remains usable. Set strict_features to true to receive an UnsupportedXlsFeatureException instead:

Xls::write($workbook, 'report.xls', [
    'strict_features' => true,
]);

Security limits

The native binary reader validates and limits:

file and stream sizes
FAT, DIFAT, MiniFAT, and directory counts
cyclic or invalid allocation chains
stream and sector boundaries
BIFF record lengths and total record counts
shared-string counts
BIFF8 row and column boundaries

Limits can be reduced for untrusted uploads:

$rows = Xls::read('upload.xls')->toArray([
    'max_file_size' => 64 * 1024 * 1024,
    'max_stream_size' => 32 * 1024 * 1024,
    'max_chain_sectors' => 200000,
    'max_biff_records' => 1000000,
    'max_shared_strings' => 250000,
]);

Tests

With Composer development dependencies installed:

vendor/bin/phpunit tests

Without PHPUnit, from a workspace containing sibling mnb-phpexcel-core and mnb-phpexcel-xls repositories:

php -d assert.exception=1 tests/run-native-smoke.php

The fixture suite includes a LibreOffice-generated BIFF8 file, native write/read round-trips, formulas, dates, and SST continuation coverage.

See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md, docs/SUPPORTED-RECORDS.md, and docs/ROADMAP.md for internals, the exact record matrix, and next compatibility milestones.

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