my $rval = '';
        my $sth2 = $dbh->prepare("SHOW COLUMNS FROM $table");
        $sth2->execute() or die 'execute failed';
        if ( $sth2->err )
            { $rval = 'error: [' . $sth2->errstr . ']'; }
        else
            {
            # the "while" line is #151 from the error message...
            while ( my @arr = $sth2->fetchrow_arrayref() )
                { $rval .= '[' . join('|', @arr ) . ']'; }
            }