There is a CPAN module by John McNamara called SpreadSheet::Excel. It only allows inserting text and numbers into cells (i.e. no formatting, no formulas, etc, etc).

I have a large database on a Linux box that has to be able to download Excel spreadsheets containing the data. I'm lucky in that I don't have to do anything other than just numbers and text with this. However, I'd love to have a full-blown module that would allow cell formatting, fomulas, the works.

I've thought about writing one, but everyting I think about starting I get put off by the fact that it's a Microsoft product, and the docs for the Excel format are ambigious.

Maybe John's module will do all you need, however...

--Chris