in reply to open excel file..?

Short answer - Yes, you will probably want to install a module or two...

I interact with Excel using Win32::OLE

Take a look at: Win32::OLE - Examples

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Re^2: open excel file..?
by dasgar (Priest) on Nov 12, 2013 at 06:33 UTC

    Although I personally would prefer to use Win32:OLE, that might not be an option for the OP based on the first line of code (#!/usr/bin/perl), which would seem to indicate that he/she is on a *nix like OS instead of Windows. If that's true, then Win32::OLE can't be used.