I've made some progress figuring out the SPO file format (the format used for SPSS 15 and earlier output files). As a first step, I added code that can parse TLO files, a simpler but closely related format that SPSS 15 and earlier use for TableLooks: https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/pspp.git/commit/?id=24e84c14af8ac6dc897344104e756c8820f9a031
I didn't report it here at the time, but a few weeks ago I added support for the STT files that SPSS 16 and later use for TableLooks. For now, you can use them on the new --table-look option to pspp-output. I intend to add support for them in PSPP itself with SET TLOOK. Probably should support them in PSPPIRE too.