use Win32::OLE;

        # use existing instance if Excel is already running
        eval {$ex = Win32::OLE->GetActiveObject('Excel.Application')};
        die "Excel not installed" if $@;
        unless (defined $ex) {
            $ex = Win32::OLE->new('Excel.Application', sub {$_[0]->Quit;})
                    or die "Oops, cannot start Excel";
        }
        
        
        # write to a particular cell
        $sheet = $book->Worksheets(1);
        $sheet->Cells(1,1)->{Value} = "foo";
        
        # save and exit
        $book->SaveAs( 'test.xls' );
        undef $book;
        undef $ex;