#get everything from the table
my $statement = "select * from $ref";
my $sth = $dbh->prepare($statement) or die "Couldn't prepare statement: $dbh->errstr";
$sth->execute or die print "Couldn't execute statement: $dbh->errstr";

while ($ref = $sth->fetchrow_hashref){

    # must be the first row
    # print headers
    if ($count == 1){
        print "\t<tr>\n";

        # get column names
        foreach $col (keys %{$ref}){

            # do not list id field
            if ($col eq "id") {
                next;
            }

            # save column names for later
            push @cols, $col;
            $col = ucfirst $col;
            print "\t\t<th>$col</th>\n";
        }
        print "\t</tr>\n";
    }
    print "\t<tr>\n";

    #using column names (key) print hash value
    foreach $col (@cols){
        print "\t\t<td>";
        print $ref->{$col};
        print "</td>\n";
    }
    $count++;
    print "\t</tr>\n";
}
print "</table>\n";