There seems to be no simple way to get a list of just columns in a MySQL table through the standard DBD::mysql module, so this snippet of code uses DBI's table_info method to do just that.

Given an existing database handle and a string matching a table name, it returns a simple array of column names. No muss, no fuss.

Of course, if someone knows a Better Way™, or sees an optimization for this code, by all means fire away!

EDIT: added use of map, cred to jhourcle
EDIT2: replaced use of column_info with a query which is about 40% more efficient. props to jZed for coming up with that.

# SYNTAX: getColumnList($dbh, "TestTable")
sub getColumnList
{
  # grab aliases to a DB handle and a table name
  my($dbh,$table) = @_;
  
  my $sth = $dbh->prepare("SELECT * FROM $table WHERE 1=0;");
  $sth->execute;
  my @cols = @{$sth->{NAME}}; # or NAME_lc if needed
  $sth->finish;

  # return now complete list of columns for the given table
  return @cols;
}
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