Here is a short example which assumes that there is formatted data in cell A1 of the first worksheet:

    #!/usr/bin/perl -w

    use strict;
    use Spreadsheet::ParseExcel;
    use Spreadsheet::ParseExcel::FmtDefault;

    my $file     = Spreadsheet::ParseExcel->new();
    my $format   = Spreadsheet::ParseExcel::FmtDefault->new();
    my $workbook = $file->Parse('test.xls');


    my ($row, $col) = (0, 0);
    my $worksheet   = $workbook->{Worksheet}[0];
    my $cell        = $worksheet->{Cells}[$row][$col];

    print $format->FmtString($cell, $workbook), "\n";
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You could also consider the Spreadsheet::ParseExcel::SaveParser part of Spreadsheet::ParseExcel which can be used to update an existing Excel file. The following is an example from the pod of the newer simplified interface.

    use strict;
    use Spreadsheet::ParseExcel::SaveParser;
    $oBook = 
        Spreadsheet::ParseExcel::SaveParser::Workbook->Parse('Test97.x
+ls');
    my $oWs = $oBook->AddWorksheet('TEST1');
    $oWs->AddCell(10, 1, 'New Cell');
    $oBook->SaveAs('iftest.xls');
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--
John.

Thanks John!

I have been reading through the documentation for Spreadsheet::WriteExcel (You've written a great module and the docs are excellent, btw) for the last two days now and Spreadsheet::ParseExcel for most of the afternoon today. I guess I have been reading too long. :)

Spreadsheet::ParseExcel::FmtDefault is just perfect for this project. I'll keep Spreadsheet::ParseExcel::SaveParser in mind for future needs though as it looks interesting.

Hi All, I want to get format of one xls and its cells and copy it to other xls and correcponding cells. But I am not able to do it. I have used my %format = $cells{Format}; but I get error saying uninitialized hash. Please let me know if I need to do something else before using it. If possible please use code for explaining. Thanxs, Puneet