HSSFName doesn't surface option flag so its not possible to tell what type of name record the HSSFName object represents This important because a name record is used to hold so many different type of name and it is helpful to be able to use it to classify names when reading a workbook. For example a name record with an option flag of 0x0E is a custom function name. Calling the getSheetName() method for a record of this type generates an exception because there there is no external sheet associated with this type. Bill Seddon
OK, I can see this is addressed in 3.0-dev via the "is..." methods.