Tip #2 from the Basic debugging checklist: print 
use Spreadsheet::ParseExcel;

my $filename = shift || "C:\Earthlink.xls";

print "$filename\n";
my $parser   = Spreadsheet::ParseExcel->new();

my $workbook = $parser->parse("$filename");


if ( !defined $workbook ) {
    die $parser->error(), ".\n";
}

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This prints: 

C:arthlink.xls
File not found.

[download]

Use single quotes to prevent interpolation of \E: 

my $filename = shift || 'C:\Earthlink.xls';

[download]

A good text editor with syntax highlighting is also helpful in distinguishing literal strings from escape sequences.

In reply to Re: Doubt regarding parsing by toolic
in thread Doubt regarding parsing by pavanpvss

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