Spreadsheet::WriteExcel and ODBC

[Mike Schienle]

Hi all -

I need to write some Excel files with ODBC access to a MySQL database. 
I've used Spreadsheet::WriteExcel in the past for writing formulas, 
formatting, etc., with no problems, but the ODBC connection is new to 
me. I tried it manually (just opening a blank spreadsheet and connecting 
to a remote MySQL server) last night using Actual's ODBC client demo and 
that worked fine. The WriteExcel docs are a bit vague [to me] on 
connecting to an ODBC source, though.

Has anyone done this via Spreadsheet::WriteExcel? Do you mind passing 
along a couple hints? Would this require any customer/client to have an 
ODBC client on their system for this to work? If so, I may just go with 
static data and have the customer pick up a new spreadsheet each time.

Also, as mentioned above I'm using Actual's ODBC client. Is there a 
better client out there? Or an Open Source one that's competitive?

Thanks.

--
Mike Schienle