Convert XLS to JSON

XLS files are Excel files that use the Binary Interchange File Format (BIFF). This was the default format for Excel versions 97-2003.

XLS files can have multiple sheets, and each sheet can contain multiple rows and columns of data. They support various data types, including text, numbers, dates, and formulas.

Key features of XLS files include:

• Works with older versions of Excel and other spreadsheet software
• Can store formatting information, charts, and macros
• Smaller file size compared to newer formats like XLSX
• Limited to 65,536 rows and 256 columns per sheet

While XLS files are still widely used, they're gradually being replaced by the more modern XLSX format.

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data format that uses human-readable text to store and transmit data objects. It's widely used for data exchange between web applications and servers, API responses, configuration files, and data storage.

Technical Details

JSON represents data with key-value pairs in a nested structure. It supports strings, numbers, booleans, arrays, objects, and null values, making it flexible for various data types. JSON is language-independent but derived from JavaScript syntax, making it particularly popular in web development. JSON files use the .json extension and have a MIME type of application/json.

Advantages

• Supports complex, nested data structures
• Native support in JavaScript and most modern programming languages
• Self-describing and human-readable
• Compact compared to XML and other structured formats
• Language-independent and widely adopted as a standard
• Perfect for API responses and data transfer
• No special parsing tools needed - standard in most programming languages

Limitations

• Not ideal for tabular data analysis
• No support for comments or metadata
• Can be verbose for large datasets
• No schema validation built into the format itself
• Nested structures can be difficult to analyze in spreadsheet tools
• Converting to tabular formats requires flattening of nested objects