The Microsoft Excel File Format - OpenOffice.org

3.3 Cell Addresses in Tokens
3.3.4 Cell Addresses in BIFF8
From BIFF8 on, 65536 (2 16 ) rows are available. A cell address contains the row index as a 16-bit value, the column
index as an 8-bit value, and two flags. The flags are encoded into the column index (which therefore needs 2 bytes), and
specify whether the row or column index is absolute or relative. The differences in interpreting relative indexes are
described in 3.3.1.
Index to column or column offset, with embedded relative flags (16-bit value), BIFF8:
Bit Mask Contents
7-0 00FF H Index to column (0…255) or column offset (method [B], -128…127)
14 4000 H 0 = Absolute column index 1 = Relative column index, or column offset
15 8000 H 0 = Absolute row index 1 = Relative row index, or row offset
Cell address, BIFF8:
Offset Size Contents
0 2 Index to row (0…65535) or row offset (method [B], -32768…32767)
2 2 Index to column or column offset, with relative flags (see table above)
Cell range address, BIFF8:
Offset Size Contents
0 2 Index to first row (0…65535) or offset of first row (method [B], -32768…32767)
2 2 Index to last row (0…65535) or offset of last row (method [B], -32768…32767)
4 2 Index to first column or offset of first column, with relative flags (see table above)
6 2 Index to last column or offset of last column, with relative flags (see table above)
Example for a reference in a cell formula (method [A], token tRef): The reference B$6 consists of the absolute
row index 5 and the relative column index 1. The value of the row index is 0005 H (row 6). The value of the
encoded column index is 4001 H (column B, column is relative). Though the column is relative, the fixed index
to column B is stored in cell formulas.
Example for a relative reference in a shared formula (method [B], token tRefN): The reference “decrease column
by 1, absolute row 6” (which would evaluate to the address B6, if used in cell C1) consists of the absolute row
index 5, and (in shared formulas) the relative column offset –1. The value of the row index is 0005 H (row 6). The
value of the encoded column index is 7FFF H (the signed 14-bit offset 3FFF H = –1, and the column relative flag).
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