use strict;
use warnings;
use DBI;

my $dbh = DBI->connect("DBI:mysql:foo;mysql_read_default_file=~/.my.cnf",
                       undef,
                       undef,
                       { AutoCommit => 1,
                         RaiseError => 1, }
                      );

my @color = qw( red blue green puce majenta lavender lake teal );

my $sth_color_exists = $dbh->prepare("SELECT 1 FROM color WHERE color = ?");

# uncomment to get lots of info about what's going on.
# DBI->trace(2);

for my $color ( @color )
{
    $color =~ s/^\s+|\s+$//g;
    my $rv = $sth_color_exists->execute($color);
    printf(qq{There %s %d row%s found for color = "%s"\n},
           $rv == 1 ? "was" : "were",
           $rv,
           $rv == 1 ? "" : "s",
           $color
           );
}
$sth_color_exists->finish();