... my $SQL = <{LongReadLen} = 65500; my $sth = $dbh->prepare($SQL) || die $dbh->errstr; $sth->execute(); my $colNames = $sth->{'NAME'}; my $nColumns = $sth->{'NUM_OF_FIELDS'}; my $colString; for my $colName ( @$colNames ) { $colString .= "\n\t$colName,"; } chop($colString); print <fetchrow_array ) { print join ( '|', map ( $_ , trim( @r )) ); print "\n"; } $sth->finish || die; $dbh->disconnect; ... #### # can't use select * so ... if ( $table eq "MY_FIRST_TABLE" ) { $SQL = "select blah_1, blah_2 from MY_FIRST_TABLE"; } elsif ( $table eq "MY_2ND_TABLE" ) { $SQL = "select another_col, dob from MY_2ND_TABLE"; } ...