my $sql = "select * from $table LIMIT 0,1"; my $tnames = $dbh->prepare($sql); $tnames->execute(); my $names = $tnames->{NAME}; my $prime = $tnames->{'mysql_is_pri_key'}; my $count = @{$names}; foreach my $pos (0...($count-1)){ print "Looking at column $names->[$pos] "; if($prime->[$pos] eq 1){ print "this column is part of the PRIMARY KEY\n"; }else{ print "it is just a regular column\n"; } }