my $excel_obj; if ($ext eq ".xls") { $excel_obj = Spreadsheet::ParseExcel->new(); } elsif ($ext eq ".xlsx") { $excel_obj = Spreadsheet::ParseXLSX->new(); } elsif ($ext eq ".ods") { $excel_obj = Spreadsheet::ReadSXC->new(); } else { die "Extension $ext not (yet) supported..."; } my $workbook = $excel_obj->Parse( ... );