What do the ODS samples contain?

One sheet of fictional orders with a bold header row. Each row has text, a date, numbers and a formula that multiplies quantity by unit price.

Do the ODS samples hold the same data as the XLSX samples?

They use the same order records and the same nine columns, so the two formats can be compared directly. A file of a given size holds a different number of rows in each format.

What is the MIME type of an ODS file?

The MIME type is application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet. The file extension is .ods.

Is a sample ODS file the same as a dummy or example ODS file?

Yes. Sample, test, dummy and example ODS files are different names for the same thing: an ODS file with known contents that stands in for a real one. Any file on this page will do wherever a tutorial or a test plan asks for a dummy ODS file.

Free ODS sample files

The spreadsheet format of LibreOffice Calc and the OpenDocument standard, with typed cells and formulas. Download valid ODS test files in 3 exact sizes, from 10 KB to 1 MB, each with a checksum.

Extension: .ods
MIME type: application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet
Kind: Binary
Category: Spreadsheets

ODS files by size

Every file below is a valid OpenDocument Spreadsheet file of exactly the stated size. Open a file's page for its checksum and contents. ODS files cannot be displayed by a browser, so their pages show the file's details instead of a preview.

ODS sample files by size
File	Size	Contents	Download
10 KB ODS samplesample-ods-10kb.ods	10 KB10,240 bytes	Data rows: 121	Download ODS
100 KB ODS samplesample-ods-100kb.ods	100 KB102,400 bytes	Data rows: 1,612	Download ODS
1 MB ODS samplesample-ods-1mb.ods	1 MB1,048,576 bytes	Data rows: 16,862	Download ODS

What is an ODS file?

ODS is the spreadsheet member of the OpenDocument family. It is the native format of LibreOffice Calc, and Excel and Google Sheets read and write it. A file is a ZIP package in which content.xml holds every sheet as rows of table cells.

Each cell states its type. A number carries its value as an attribute, and a date carries an ISO 8601 date rather than the serial number Excel uses. Formulas are written in OpenFormula, a standardised syntax in which a cell reference looks like [.G2].

How to recognise an ODS file

Software recognises an ODS file by its file signature: fixed bytes at the start of the file, also called magic bytes or a magic number.

50P4BK03.04.

The first bytes of every file. An ODS file is a ZIP package. Its first entry is named "mimetype" and is stored uncompressed, so the media type can be read as plain text from byte 38 onwards.

Extension	.ods
MIME type	application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet
Standard	OASIS OpenDocument 1.3; ISO/IEC 26300
Container	ZIP, with an uncompressed "mimetype" entry first
Formula language	OpenFormula (OpenDocument part 4)
Dates	Stored as ISO 8601 values, not serial numbers

What to test for

These are the behaviours that most often go wrong when software handles ODS files.

Rows and cells can be run-length encoded with a "repeated" attribute. A sheet that looks empty may declare a million repeated rows, and a reader that expands them literally runs out of memory.
Every formula cell also stores its last calculated value. A reader that takes the cached value and a reader that recalculates can disagree.
Dates are real dates in ODS and serial numbers in XLSX, so code written for one format mishandles the other.

Strengths of ODS

An open standard with typed cells: numbers, dates, text and formulas stay distinct.
Dates are stored as real dates, not as serial numbers that need converting.

Limitations of ODS

Needs a library to read; it cannot be processed line by line.
Less widely supported by import features than XLSX or CSV.

Typical uses of ODS test files

Testing spreadsheet import alongside XLSX and CSV
Checking date and number conversion
Verifying formula evaluation and cached results
Testing ZIP-based type detection

Software that opens ODS

LibreOffice Calc and Apache OpenOffice
Microsoft Excel
Google Sheets
pandas (with odfpy) and the ODF Toolkit
Gnumeric

Specifications

OASIS OpenDocument 1.3 specification

ODS sample files: questions

What do the ODS samples contain?: One sheet of fictional orders with a bold header row. Each row has text, a date, numbers and a formula that multiplies quantity by unit price.
Do the ODS samples hold the same data as the XLSX samples?: They use the same order records and the same nine columns, so the two formats can be compared directly. A file of a given size holds a different number of rows in each format.
What is the MIME type of an ODS file?: The MIME type is application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet. The file extension is .ods.
Is a sample ODS file the same as a dummy or example ODS file?: Yes. Sample, test, dummy and example ODS files are different names for the same thing: an ODS file with known contents that stands in for a real one. Any file on this page will do wherever a tutorial or a test plan asks for a dummy ODS file.