Hi, I have been using Spreadsheet::ParseExcel for a number of years and have recently come across 2 issues: First, Val vs Value: In view of this change in the new interface , I would like to say: If version is greater than 32, use new syntax, else use old syntax. Is there a version method? Second, I have an excel file with -nonenglish characters -dates of the format 16/11/2007 Ultimately after doing somethings with the data, I want to rewrite this using Spreadsheet:WriteExcel Is it possible to read the dates as strings and also how do I go about handling the non-english characters? Can I read them as utf?