Format

OLE2 Compound Document Format

Summary

Name

OLE2 Compound Document Format

Identifiers

PUID: fmt/111

Format type

Text (Structured)

Disclosure

None

Description

The OLE2 Compound Document Format is a generic document format developed by Microsoft as the underlying native binary format for many of its Office applications. The format is proprietary and Microsoft does not make details of its structure public. The information here is derived primarily from OpenOffice.org's reverse-engineered documentation of the format and should not therefore be regarded as definitive. A Compound Document acts as a file system in which independent data streams are organised within a hierarchy of containers, called storages. All storages and streams are contained within a parent Root Storage. A Directory Stream indexes every stream and storage in the file. A Compound Document begins with the Compound Document Header, including pointers to the location of the Directory Stream and Master Sector Allocation Table. The remainder of the file is organised into Sectors, the positions of which are defined in the Sector Allocation Table and Master Sector Allocation Table.

Source

Digital Preservation Department / The National Archives

Developed by

Microsoft Corporation

Relationships

Has lower priority than

• Microsoft Word Document Template 97-2003
• Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation 4.x
• Microsoft Powerpoint Presentation 95
• Microsoft Powerpoint Presentation 97-2003
• Microsoft Visio Drawing 5.0
• Microsoft Visio Drawing 2000-2002
• Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 Workbook (xls) 5/95
• Microsoft Excel 97 Workbook (xls) 8 & 8X
• Microsoft Excel 2000-2003 Workbook (xls) 8X
• Microsoft Word Document 6.0/95
• Microsoft Word Document 97-2003
• Microsoft Outlook Email Message 97-2003
• Microsoft Visio (generic)
• Microsoft Visio Drawing 2003-2010
• Microsoft Word Document (Password Protected) 97-2003
• Microsoft Word Document Template (Password Protected) 97-2003
• Roxio Label Creator Project File 4-5
• Roxio Label Creator Project File 6-7

Is supertype of

• Microsoft Powerpoint Presentation 95
• Microsoft Powerpoint Presentation 97-2003
• Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 Workbook (xls) 5/95
• Excel 95 Workbook (xls) 7
• Microsoft Excel 97 Workbook (xls) 8 & 8X
• Microsoft Excel 2000-2003 Workbook (xls) 8X
• Microsoft Word Document 6.0/95
• Microsoft Word Document 97-2003
• Revit Family File
• Revit Family Template
• Revit Template
• Revit External Group
• Revit Project
• Microsoft Word Document (Password Protected) 97-2003
• Microsoft Word Document Template (Password Protected) 97-2003

Internal signatures