The file extension ODS usually indicates an OpenDocument spreadsheet file, which you can create and open using OpenOffice.org Calc or other spreadsheet programs. Programmers created the ODS format to work around the problems with proprietary spreadsheet formats. Rarely, an ODS file may be an Outlook Express 5 mailbox file.
Spreadsheets
- A spreadsheet is a document formatted in rows and columns. The rows run horizontally and are labeled using numbers, while the columns run vertically and are labeled using letters. This format creates a grid of cells where you can organize pieces of data. For example, you might use a spreadsheet to create a monthly budget by labeling the columns by month, labeling the rows by parts of your budget (such as food or clothing), and typing the amount of money you have to spend in each individual cell. Aside from the ODS format, the most common types of spreadsheet file are XLS and XLSX, used with Microsoft Excel.
OpenDocument Format
- Most commercial office suites, such as Microsoft Office, save their files in a proprietary format created specifically for that program. This means you may run into problems when you try to open a file with a program that's not part of the same office suite. There are ways to transfer a file from one program to another -- for example, you can use Microsoft Excel to save an XLS spreadsheet file in CSV format. However, this strips the file of much of its formatting. OpenDocument file formats, which include the ODS spreadsheet format and the ODT text document format, were created as a non-proprietary format to make it easier to open files in different programs and across different platforms.
Opening
- You can open ODS files in OpenOffice.org Calc and other free spreadsheet programs, such as LibreOffice. If you already have Microsoft Office and don't want to download another office suite, you can install Sun ODF Plugin for Microsoft Office, a free plugin that allows you to open ODS files and other OpenDocument files in Microsoft Office. Alternatively, you can convert an ODS spreadsheet to another file format using an online converter, such as Zamzar.
Outlook Express File
- If you have trouble opening the ODS file in a spreadsheet program, it might be an Outlook Express 5 mailbox file. This is an older, much less common file type, as newer versions of Outlook Express use the DBX file extension for mailbox files. This type of ODS file stores emails created or saved in Outlook Express, an email client included in older versions of Windows.
