If you are using the DBI interface, there is the $sth->fetchrow_hashref function which returns a hash reference with the field names as keys, and the appropriate db values as the hash values. But this is very s l o w.

You should always try to get a subselection of the fields from the table if you can (e.g. don't use SELECT *). If you know what fields you want in array @fields, then you can set up your select statement as

$sth->prepare( 'SELECT ' . join( ',', @fields ) . ' FROM database ETC 
+ETC ETC' );
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...then use fetchrow_array as follows...

%rowhash{ @fields } = $sth->fetchrow_array();
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(whereby you are using an hash slice to make everything neat and tidy without too much extra work). However, be aware that even this way will probably be faster than fetchrow_hashref, but still on the slow side if you have lots of data. Note that if you MUST use SELECT *, or at least, you are trying to grab all the fields, you can query via DBI all the fields for a given table, put those into @fields, and use that for further SELECTS.

Also take a look at node Tricks with DBI, which tell you other things to avoid in this case.

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Dr. Michael K. Neylon - mneylon-pm@masemware.com || "You've left the lens cap of your mind on again, Pinky" - The Brain