The predefined ones are the ones that was pre defined in the original excel spec (to avoid having to include the info for each one in each file which saves a few k in space).
Look in the java api for HSSFWorkbook and look for createDataFormat which returns a HSSFDataFormat which will have a method (getFormat) that returns the mask, given an index. Shawn -----Original Message----- From: Paul Lee [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2004 2:48 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: General questions about HSSFDataFormat Hi all, I am still new at POI, so please forgive me if my questions sound obvious. I am writing a class to extract all style information from a spreadsheet. My steps are as follows: (1) use HSSFWorkbook.getNumCellStyles() to get total # of styles (2) cycle through each style. For each style, I get the alignment, borders etc. My problems came when I am extracting the DataFormat using HSSFCellStyle.getDataFormat(). My specific questions are: - there are only 40 or so predefined style formats in HSSFDataFormat (http://jakarta.apache.org/poi/apidocs/org/apache/poi/hssf/usermodel/HSSFDat aFormat.html). With the endless combination of Excel format mask (e.g. I want Negative Red Parenteses, 4 decimal with Euro sign), it is impossible to predefine style format. Is there a way to just get the format mask string back, or am I missing something? - if I just create a blank spreadsheet using Excel 2002, my little loop program already picked up four undefined HSSFDataFormat indexes (43, 41, 44, 42). Just curious as to what those are. I (think) have made an honest effort to dig up more info but came to a dead end. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. Paul --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
