Getting Useful XML out of Microsoft Excel

Abstract

This paper presents a solution that transforms a Microsoft Excel Open XML Spreadsheet (XLSX) file into a shallow-structured XML file used at Typefi, called Content XML (CXML), using XSLT and XProc. This solution has three main research areas: The XProc pipeline to read the Excel file content. Transform Excel tables to a CALS table using XSLT functions. Transform Excel charts and embedded images. Significant information is read from the chart.xml and converted to a Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file, and then referenced as an image in the output XML. The XLSX file can contain various elements such as tables, charts, and graphics. This solution does not yet use all the features available within the Excel XML but is a work in progress and future improvements will be guided by customer requests.