if($y == 1 && $x == 1) { # In my test case only cell (1,1) causes a # problem my $t = "...Long string with the value I expect..."; if($val eq $t) { print "Equal\n"; } else { print "NOT EQUAL\n"; } if($fail_to_open) { $r = $sheet->write_string($y,$x, $val,$formats{$format_name}); } else { $r = $sheet->write_string($y,$x, $t,$formats{$format_name}); } } else { $r = $sheet->write_string($y,$x, $val,$formats{$format_name}); }