>>>Just another "ping" before I go down whatever solution path I find myself on (ha, ha).
>>>
>>>To reiterate, I want to manipulate xlsX and docX (word/excel 2007/2010) files on the server without having word/excel available.
>>>If I want to use VFP, I guess I can unzip the xlsx or docx file to a temp folder, manipulate the xml files and the re-zip. Sounds tough!
>>>
>>>Kevin
>>
>>I use this way for generate Excel reports for much data, but I generates microsoft html for excel.
>
>Though I may guess the answer, curiosity wins: how is microsoft (OFFICE) html different from just html?

A few ;-) . Microsoft office html has own namespace.