P O I

                               @version@


  What is it?
  -----------

  The POI project consists of APIs for manipulating various file formats 
  based upon Microsoft's OLE 2 Compound Document format using pure Java.
  
  A common misconception is that POI writes Excel files. POI is the name 
  of the project. 
  POI contains several components, one of which, HSSF, writes Excel files. 
  The following are components of the entire POI project.
  
    POIFS 
    -----
    The oldest and most stable part of the project. 
    It is our port of the OLE 2 Compound Document Format to pure Java. 
    It supports both read and write functionality. 
    All of our components ultimately rely on it by definition. 
  
    HSSF
    ----- 
    It's our port of the Microsoft Excel 97(-2002) file format (BIFF8) 
    to pure Java. It supports read and write capability. 
  
    HDF 
    ---
    It's our port of the Microsoft Word 97 file format to pure Java. 
    It supports read and write capability. 
    This component is in the early stages of design. 
    Jump in! 
   
  Where is it?
  ------------

  The home page for the POI project can be found in the POI 
  Project web site (http://jakarta.apache.org/poi/). There you also find 
  information on how to download the latest release as well as all the other 
  information you might need regarding this project.


  Requirements
  ------------

 The following requirements exist for installing it:

   o  A Java 1.2 or later compatible virtual machine for your operating system.

  Installation Instructions and Documentation
  -------------------------------------------

  The documentation available as of the date of this release is
  included in the "docs/" directory.

  Look for the most updated documentation on the POI web site.


  Licensing and legal issues
  --------------------------

  For legal and licensing issues, please read the LICENSE files
  in the /legal directory.


  Thanks for using POI.

                                           The POI Project
                                           http://jakarta.apache.org/poi/