Hi:
Here's what I don't understand about what you're trying to do. You said:
Once the client selects the required parameters via the web the SAS is called which will then extract the required data from the corresponding datasets and SAS outputs the result in the form of xls spreadsheet.
I added the word "SAS" before the word "outputs", because that's how I read the sentence. What I don't understand is that IF SAS is creating the XLS spreadsheet -- how is it making the spreadsheet -- using ODS HTML, using PROC EXPORT, using CSV, using TAGSETS.EXCELXP?????? If you are using SAS to create the XML that you now want to turn around and edit, why not just change the SAS step to only contain the rows or turn off the borders???
Generally speaking SAS does not create an XLT file or populate an Excel template, it creates an ASCII text file that Excel can open (if you use ODS CSV, ODS HTML or ODS TAGSETS.EXCELXP). When SAS uses ODS, it does not ADD or REMOVE rows from a table or a spreadsheet -- it recreates the file -- so you should be able to recreate the file. If you use PROC EXPORT, SAS might add a sheet to a workbook and then you might use an Excel template with the data in that workbook.
This is why I recommend that you contact Tech Support I think that altering the XML file might be above and beyond what you really need to do. And without seeing all of the code and the involved files, it's hard to make that determination or offer a meaningful suggestion here. I wouldn't recommend editing the XML until after you've investigated other options, especially if SAS is creating the XML file in the first place (the one you now want to edit).
cynthia