<s>
Data	B-Protocol
Interchange	I-Protocol
Format	I-Protocol
(	O
.dif	B-Protocol
)	O
is	O
a	O
text	B-General_Concept
file	I-General_Concept
format	I-General_Concept
used	O
to	O
import/export	O
single	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
between	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
programs	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Applications	O
that	O
still	O
support	O
the	O
DIF	O
format	O
are	O
Collabora	B-General_Concept
Online	I-General_Concept
,	O
Excel	B-Application
,	O
Gnumeric	B-Language
,	O
and	O
LibreOffice	B-Operating_System
Calc	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Historical	O
applications	O
that	O
used	O
to	O
support	O
it	O
until	O
they	O
became	O
end	O
of	O
life	O
or	O
no	O
longer	O
acknowledge	O
support	O
of	O
the	O
format	O
are	O
dBase	B-Application
,	O
FileMaker	B-Application
,	O
Framework	B-Application
,	O
Lotus	B-Application
1-2-3	I-Application
,	O
Multiplan	B-Device
,	O
OpenOffice.org	B-Application
Calc	I-Application
and	O
StarCalc	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
limitation	O
with	O
DIF	O
format	O
is	O
that	O
it	O
cannot	O
handle	O
multiple	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
in	O
a	O
single	O
workbook	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
the	O
similarity	O
in	O
abbreviation	O
and	O
in	O
age	O
(	O
both	O
date	O
to	O
the	O
early	O
1980s	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
DIF	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
format	O
it	O
is	O
often	O
confused	O
with	O
Navy	B-Protocol
DIF	I-Protocol
;	O
Navy	B-Protocol
DIF	I-Protocol
,	O
however	O
,	O
is	O
an	O
unrelated	O
"	O
document	O
interchange	O
format	O
"	O
for	O
word	O
processors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DIF	O
was	O
developed	O
by	O
Software	O
Arts	O
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
(	O
the	O
developers	O
of	O
the	O
VisiCalc	B-Application
program	O
)	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
1980s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
specification	O
was	O
included	O
in	O
many	O
copies	O
of	O
VisiCalc	B-Application
,	O
and	O
published	O
in	O
Byte	O
Magazine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
Kapor	O
later	O
went	O
on	O
to	O
found	O
Lotus	O
and	O
make	O
Lotus	B-Application
1-2-3	I-Application
happen	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
DIF	O
stores	O
everything	O
in	O
an	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
text	I-Protocol
file	I-Protocol
to	O
mitigate	O
many	O
cross-platform	O
issues	O
back	O
in	O
the	O
days	O
of	O
its	O
creation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
modern	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
software	I-Application
,	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
OpenOffice.org	B-Application
Calc	I-Application
and	O
Gnumeric	B-Language
,	O
offer	O
more	O
character	B-General_Concept
encoding	I-General_Concept
to	O
export/import	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
.dif	B-Protocol
file	O
,	O
this	O
would	O
be	O
(	O
→	O
indicates	O
comments	O
)	O
:	O
</s>
