diff --git a/components/fpspreadsheet/examples/excel8demo/excel8write_format.lpi b/components/fpspreadsheet/examples/excel8demo/excel8write_format.lpi
index 381488aa5..e40d98a11 100644
--- a/components/fpspreadsheet/examples/excel8demo/excel8write_format.lpi
+++ b/components/fpspreadsheet/examples/excel8demo/excel8write_format.lpi
@@ -9,11 +9,11 @@
         <MainUnitHasTitleStatement Value="False"/>
         <UseDefaultCompilerOptions Value="True"/>
       </Flags>
+      <SessionStorage Value="InProjectDir"/>
       <MainUnit Value="0"/>
       <ResourceType Value="res"/>
       <UseXPManifest Value="True"/>
       <Icon Value="0"/>
-      <ActiveWindowIndexAtStart Value="0"/>
     </General>
     <i18n>
       <EnableI18N LFM="False"/>
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
     <VersionInfo>
       <StringTable ProductVersion=""/>
     </VersionInfo>
-    <BuildModes Count="1" Active="Default">
+    <BuildModes Count="1">
       <Item1 Name="Default" Default="True"/>
     </BuildModes>
     <PublishOptions>
@@ -39,124 +39,13 @@
         <PackageName Value="laz_fpspreadsheet"/>
       </Item1>
     </RequiredPackages>
-    <Units Count="4">
+    <Units Count="1">
       <Unit0>
         <Filename Value="excel8write_format.pas"/>
         <IsPartOfProject Value="True"/>
         <UnitName Value="excel8write_format"/>
-        <EditorIndex Value="0"/>
-        <WindowIndex Value="0"/>
-        <TopLine Value="31"/>
-        <CursorPos X="12" Y="44"/>
-        <UsageCount Value="20"/>
-        <Loaded Value="True"/>
       </Unit0>
-      <Unit1>
-        <Filename Value="..\..\fpspreadsheet.pas"/>
-        <UnitName Value="fpspreadsheet"/>
-        <EditorIndex Value="2"/>
-        <WindowIndex Value="0"/>
-        <TopLine Value="93"/>
-        <CursorPos X="1" Y="105"/>
-        <UsageCount Value="10"/>
-        <Loaded Value="True"/>
-      </Unit1>
-      <Unit2>
-        <Filename Value="..\..\..\..\..\lazarus29\fpc\2.4.3\source\packages\fcl-image\src\fpimage.pp"/>
-        <UnitName Value="FPimage"/>
-        <EditorIndex Value="3"/>
-        <WindowIndex Value="0"/>
-        <TopLine Value="10"/>
-        <CursorPos X="3" Y="30"/>
-        <UsageCount Value="10"/>
-        <Loaded Value="True"/>
-      </Unit2>
-      <Unit3>
-        <Filename Value="..\..\xlsbiff8.pas"/>
-        <UnitName Value="xlsbiff8"/>
-        <IsVisibleTab Value="True"/>
-        <EditorIndex Value="1"/>
-        <WindowIndex Value="0"/>
-        <TopLine Value="758"/>
-        <CursorPos X="61" Y="766"/>
-        <UsageCount Value="10"/>
-        <Loaded Value="True"/>
-      </Unit3>
     </Units>
-    <JumpHistory Count="18" HistoryIndex="17">
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-        <Filename Value="excel8write_format.pas"/>
-        <Caret Line="29" Column="1" TopLine="9"/>
-      </Position1>
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-        <Filename Value="excel8write_format.pas"/>
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-        <Caret Line="47" Column="25" TopLine="33"/>
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-      <Position13>
-        <Filename Value="..\..\xlsbiff8.pas"/>
-        <Caret Line="941" Column="11" TopLine="926"/>
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-        <Filename Value="..\..\xlsbiff8.pas"/>
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-        <Filename Value="..\..\xlsbiff8.pas"/>
-        <Caret Line="933" Column="61" TopLine="924"/>
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-      <Position16>
-        <Filename Value="excel8write_format.pas"/>
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-    </JumpHistory>
   </ProjectOptions>
   <CompilerOptions>
     <Version Value="10"/>
diff --git a/components/fpspreadsheet/fpspreadsheet.pas b/components/fpspreadsheet/fpspreadsheet.pas
index 2a118e9e5..a5a331f46 100755
--- a/components/fpspreadsheet/fpspreadsheet.pas
+++ b/components/fpspreadsheet/fpspreadsheet.pas
@@ -190,7 +190,8 @@ type
     destructor Destroy; override;
     function  CreateSpreadReader(AFormat: TsSpreadsheetFormat): TsCustomSpreadReader;
     function  CreateSpreadWriter(AFormat: TsSpreadsheetFormat): TsCustomSpreadWriter;
-    procedure ReadFromFile(AFileName: string; AFormat: TsSpreadsheetFormat);
+    procedure ReadFromFile(AFileName: string; AFormat: TsSpreadsheetFormat); overload;
+    procedure ReadFromFile(AFileName: string); overload;
     procedure ReadFromStream(AStream: TStream; AFormat: TsSpreadsheetFormat);
     procedure WriteToFile(const AFileName: string;
       const AFormat: TsSpreadsheetFormat;
@@ -777,6 +778,21 @@ begin
   end;
 end;
 
+{@@
+  Reads the document from a file. This method will try to guess the format from
+  the extension. In the case of the ambiguous xls extension, it will simply
+  assume that it is BIFF8. Note that it could be BIFF2, 3, 4 or 5 too.
+}
+procedure TsWorkbook.ReadFromFile(AFileName: string);
+var
+  Str: String;
+begin
+  Str := ExtractFileExt(AFileName);
+  if Str = STR_EXCEL_EXTENSION then ReadFromFile(AFileName, sfExcel8)
+  else if Str = STR_OOXML_EXCEL_EXTENSION then ReadFromFile(AFileName, sfOOXML)
+  else if Str = STR_OPENDOCUMENT_CALC_EXTENSION then ReadFromFile(AFileName, sfOpenDocument);
+end;
+
 {@@
   Reads the document from a seekable stream.
 }