It does assume, however, that you are running on Win32.

C-.

See here and here for some examples.

Spreadsheet::WriteExcel allows you to create new Excel files on a variety of platforms but you cannot use it to extend an existing file or to create graphs.

--
John.

Also, ParseExcel and WriteExcel have complementary issues with formulas. ParseExcel will only read the value and WriteExcel will only write the formula. Excel itself can support either. Just don't be surprised if you use Excel as an intermediate format and get burned.

------
We are the carpenters and bricklayers of the Information Age.

Don't go borrowing trouble. For programmers, this means Worry only about what you need to implement.

#!perl -w
use strict;
use Win32::OLE;
use Win32::OLE::Const 'Microsoft Excel';
$| = 1; 

# get actual path of script
use FindBin qw($Bin);
my $actualPath = $Bin;
$actualPath =~ s|/|\\|g;

# where shell excel file be saved to?
my $file = "$actualPath\\test.xls"; 

# names of the sheets in ListReference
my $sheets = ['Sheet1', 'Sheet2', 'Sheet3', 'Sheet4' ]; 

print "Creating new Excel-file: $file\n";
my ($excel, $book) = &ConnectToExcel();
$book->CreateSheets($sheets);
$book->SaveAsFile($file);
$book->Close;

# ------------------------------------------------------------
sub ConnectToExcel {
    # get already open excel or open new
    my $excel = Win32::OLE->GetActiveObject('Excel.Application')
    || Win32::OLE->new('Excel.Application', 'Quit');
    
    my $book = $excel->Workbooks->Add; # get new workbook
    $excel->{Visible} = 1; # to be able to see something; 
                           # set to 0 in production

    return ($excel, $book); # excel and the current workbook
} # ConnectToExcel
# ------------------------------------------------------------

package Win32::OLE; # additional methods for OLE...
# ------------------------------------------------------------
sub CreateSheets {
    my ($book, $sheets) = @_;
    my @sheets = @$sheets;

    # how many worksheets are already available ?
    my $sheetsCount = $book->Worksheets->{Count};
    print "$sheetsCount sheets available\n";

    # Add some worksheets ( $#sheets - $sheetsCount )
    for (0..($#sheets - $sheetsCount)){
    print "Add new worksheet: $_\n";
    $book->Worksheets->Add();
    sleep(1);
    }
    
    # count again
    $sheetsCount = $book->Worksheets->{Count};
    print "Now $sheetsCount Worksheets available\n";

    foreach (0..$sheetsCount-1){ 
    my $sheet = $book->Worksheets($_ + 1); 
    my $oldName = $sheet->{Name};
    print "Renaming worksheet from $oldName to $sheets[$_]\n";
    $sheet->{Name} = $sheets[$_]; # rename it
    $sheet->Select(); # display it
    sleep(1); # pause
    }

    # write some values to somewhere ...
    print "write some stuff to Sheet 2\n";
    $book->Worksheets(2)->Select; sleep(1);
    $book->Worksheets(2)->Range("A1")->{'Value'} = 'Hello';
    sleep(1);
    $book->Worksheets(2)->Range("A2:D2")->{'Value'} 
       = [ qw(I am a test) ];
    sleep(1);

    print "write some stuff to sheet 1\n";
    $book->Worksheets(1)->Select;
    $book->Worksheets(1)->Range("B2")->{'Value'} = 'Hallo'; sleep 1;
    $book->Worksheets(1)->Range("B2")->{'Font'}->{'Bold'} = 1; #bold

    sleep(3); # pause bevore saving

} # CreateSheets
# ------------------------------------------------------------
sub SaveAsFile {
    my ($book, $file) = @_;
    unlink ($file);
    $book->SaveAs($file);
    print "Saved as $file\n";
} # SaveAsFile
# ------------------------------------------------------------
[download]

Best regards,
perl -e "print a|r,p|d=>b|p=>chr 3**2 .7=>t and t"

Best regards,
perl -e "print a|r,p|d=>b|p=>chr 3**2 .7=>t and t"

Thank you all very much for the pointers and (especially) the examples. I promise to reexamine my CPAN search procedures in light of them.

Should've specified: I and my audience have Excel installed, on Windows boxes. However, the data originates on a Unix system. Given that something, either raw data or spreadsheet, has to cross that interface, I'm leaning toward a Win32::OLE approach, running perl on the Windows side. From a quick read of the docs, that module will have a larger learning curve than Spreadsheet::WriteExcel, but will more flexible in the long run.

Wish me luck and, again, thanks!

--Dinosaur

You can build the spreadsheets and move them to your Windows environment (via FTP or whatever.) I don't think that there is a difference in writing. If it is excel format then excel should be able to read it no matter where it originated.

Sparky