perl -e "$lf = @ARGV;$sql= 'insert into BLAH (' . eval{join ',',@ARGV } . ') VALUES (' . eval{join ',', split//,'?' x $lf} . ')'; print $sql;" DOGS CATS FISH ANIMALS TRIKES KITES insert into BLAH (DOGS,CATS,FISH,ANIMALS,TRIKES,KITES) VALUES (?,?,?,?,?,?)