A few modules that might be helpful:

• SpreadSheet::ParseExcel
• DBI
• Text::CSV

The documentation for those should be enough to get you started.

----
I wanted to explore how Perl's closures can be manipulated, and ended up creating an object system by accident.
-- Schemer

Note: All code is untested, unless otherwise stated

HTH
Daeve

Further, Perl's database interface, DBI, isn't always (usually?) the best way to load large quantities of data into a DB. Most databases have their own bulk-loaders that are often much faster. For instance, MS-Access has an import function while Oracle has SQL/Loader.

Update: /me shame-facedly changes PERL to Perl. Thanks anony-brother!

Perl, not PERL!

Postgres has this too. There is a COPY command that you can find out more about through psql:

db=> \h COPY
Command:     COPY
Description: copy data between files and tables
Syntax:
COPY table [ ( column [, ...] ) ]
    FROM { 'filename' | stdin }
    [ [ WITH ] 
          [ BINARY ] 
          [ OIDS ]
          [ DELIMITER [ AS ] 'delimiter' ]
          [ NULL [ AS ] 'null string' ] ]
[download]

You can also copy a table to a file. This may not be available through DBI but you can always create the file and then system "psql < file_to_copy_in";.

--tidiness is the memory loss of environmental mnemonics