Hi:
When you use TAGSETS.EXCELXP to create a multi-worksheet file, you are creating a Microsoft Excel XML file that conforms to the Office 2003 specification for Spreadsheet Markup Language XML. So, you are not creating a "true binary .XLS file" -- you are creating an XML file that Excel 2003 knows how to open.
The issue with STYLE=NORMAL is interesting. On my machine, I can run a job using STYLE=NORMAL with TAGSETS.EXCELXP version SAS 9.1.3, v1.75, 07/26/07 and have no issues at all on opening the file. Can you examine the SAS log from your server job? I wonder whether you are getting a message like this in the log:
[pre]
WARNING: Style NORMAL not found; Default style will be used instead.
[/pre]
I don't understand what you mean by not being able to "run the Tagsets" -- the NORMAL style is a STYLE template, not a TAGSET template. You would not necessarily have to do anything with a TAGSET template in order to switch to a different style template. If STYLE=NORMAL isn't on the server machine, it may be that you will have to use EGDEFAULT or one of the other styles that is available on the server. One thing that you can do is submit a PROC TEMPLATE job -- to run on the server machine -- to see what the list of available style templates is.
Can you post the code you are running -- perhaps using SASHELP.CLASS or a simple PROC PRINT if you don't want to show your whole program? Are you submitting the code via the EG interface or as a stored process or through the SAS Add-in for Microsoft Office???
cynthia