getData{
$sql = shift;


my ($total_cols) = $dbh->selectrow_array($sql) or die($dbh->errstr);

...

##</code><code>##

getData{
$sql = shift;
$sql = "SELECT COUNT(*) etc blah blah";

my ($total_cols) = $dbh->selectrow_array($sql) or die($dbh->errstr);

...