diff --git a/src/data/automake.mk b/src/data/automake.mk
index f7ee43f..92e2f55 100644
--- a/src/data/automake.mk
+++ b/src/data/automake.mk
@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@ src_data_libdata_la_SOURCES = \
 	src/data/format.def \
 	src/data/gnumeric-reader.c \
 	src/data/gnumeric-reader.h \
+	src/data/xls-reader.c \
+	src/data/xls-reader.h \
 	src/data/identifier.c \
 	src/data/identifier2.c \
 	src/data/identifier.h \
diff --git a/src/language/data-io/get-data.c b/src/language/data-io/get-data.c
index dd55752..6e6fe9b 100644
--- a/src/language/data-io/get-data.c
+++ b/src/language/data-io/get-data.c
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include "data/dictionary.h"
 #include "data/format.h"
 #include "data/gnumeric-reader.h"
+#include "data/xls-reader.h"
 #include "data/psql-reader.h"
 #include "data/settings.h"
 #include "language/command.h"
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@
 static int parse_get_gnm (struct lexer *lexer, struct dataset *);
 static int parse_get_txt (struct lexer *lexer, struct dataset *);
 static int parse_get_psql (struct lexer *lexer, struct dataset *);
+static int parse_get_xls (struct lexer *lexer, struct dataset *);
 
 int
 cmd_get_data (struct lexer *lexer, struct dataset *ds)
@@ -60,6 +62,8 @@ cmd_get_data (struct lexer *lexer, struct dataset *ds)
     return parse_get_txt (lexer, ds);
   else if (lex_match_id (lexer, "PSQL"))
     return parse_get_psql (lexer, ds);
+  else if (lex_match_id (lexer, "XLS"))
+    return parse_get_xls (lexer, ds);
 
   msg (SE, _("Unsupported TYPE %s."), lex_tokcstr (lexer));
   return CMD_FAILURE;
@@ -569,3 +573,117 @@ parse_get_txt (struct lexer *lexer, struct dataset *ds)
   free (name);
   return CMD_CASCADING_FAILURE;
 }
+
+static int
+parse_get_xls (struct lexer *lexer, struct dataset *ds)
+{
+  struct xls_read_info xls  = {NULL, NULL, NULL, 1, true, -1};
+
+  lex_force_match (lexer, T_SLASH);
+
+  if (!lex_force_match_id (lexer, "FILE"))
+    goto error;
+
+  lex_force_match (lexer, T_EQUALS);
+
+  if (!lex_force_string (lexer))
+    goto error;
+
+  xls.file_name = utf8_to_filename (lex_tokcstr (lexer));
+
+  lex_get (lexer);
+
+  while (lex_match (lexer, T_SLASH) )
+    {
+      if ( lex_match_id (lexer, "ASSUMEDSTRWIDTH"))
+	{
+	  lex_match (lexer, T_EQUALS);
+	  xls.asw = lex_integer (lexer);
+	  lex_get (lexer);
+	}
+      else if (lex_match_id (lexer, "SHEET"))
+	{
+	  lex_match (lexer, T_EQUALS);
+	  if (lex_match_id (lexer, "NAME"))
+	    {
+	      if ( ! lex_force_string (lexer) )
+		goto error;
+
+	      xls.sheet_name = ss_xstrdup (lex_tokss (lexer));
+	      xls.sheet_index = -1; //TODO why?
+
+	      lex_get (lexer);
+	    }
+	  else if (lex_match_id (lexer, "INDEX"))
+	    {
+	      xls.sheet_index = lex_integer (lexer);
+	      lex_get (lexer);
+	    }
+	  else
+	    goto error;
+	}
+      else if (lex_match_id (lexer, "CELLRANGE"))
+	{
+	  lex_match (lexer, T_EQUALS);
+
+	  if (lex_match_id (lexer, "FULL"))
+	    {
+	      xls.cell_range = NULL;
+	    }
+	  else if (lex_match_id (lexer, "RANGE"))
+	    {
+	      if ( ! lex_force_string (lexer) )
+		goto error;
+
+	      xls.cell_range = ss_xstrdup (lex_tokss (lexer));
+	      lex_get (lexer);
+	    }
+	  else
+	    goto error;
+	}
+      else if (lex_match_id (lexer, "READNAMES"))
+	{
+	  lex_match (lexer, T_EQUALS);
+
+	  if ( lex_match_id (lexer, "ON"))
+	    {
+	      xls.read_names = true;
+	    }
+	  else if (lex_match_id (lexer, "OFF"))
+	    {
+	      xls.read_names = false;
+	    }
+	  else
+	    goto error;
+	}
+      else
+	{
+	  lex_error (lexer, NULL);
+	  goto error;
+	}
+    }
+
+  {
+    struct dictionary *dict = NULL;
+    struct casereader *reader = xls_open_reader (&xls, &dict);
+
+    if ( reader )
+      {
+        dataset_set_dict (ds, dict);
+        dataset_set_source (ds, reader);
+      }
+  }
+
+  free (xls.file_name);
+  free (xls.sheet_name);
+  free (xls.cell_range);
+  return CMD_SUCCESS;
+
+ error:
+
+  free (xls.file_name);
+  free (xls.sheet_name);
+  free (xls.cell_range);
+  return CMD_FAILURE;
+}
+