$sql = qq|
  select 'First' = first_name, 'Last' = last_name
  from table
|;
# I pull the info from the select clause like this...
$sql =~ /select(.*?)from/i;

# Then split on comma.
@select = split (/,/, $1);

##</code><code>##

$sql = qq|
  select 'First' = coalesce(first_name, ''),
    'Last' = coalesce(last_name, '')
  from table
|;