$lastname = "Smith ";
  $qs = "select * from table where lastname = ? "
  $sth = $dbh->prepare($qs) or die "db_error";
  $sth->execute($lastname)
        or die "db error " . DBI->errstr;
  @data = $sth->fetchrow_array;
  print "@data";

##</code><code>##


#!/usr/local/bin/perl
###########################################

my $lastname = "AVCO Financial Services India ";

print qq/Trying:  "$lastname"\n/;

use DBI;
use Data::Dumper;
use strict;
my $name        =       "*****";
my $pw          =       "*****";
my $dbname      =       "gonzodb";
my $dbh = DBI->connect( $dbname, $name, $pw,'Oracle')
            or die DBI->errstr ;
my ( $qs, $sth);

   $qs = "select * from CTemp where lastname like ? ";
   $sth = $dbh->prepare($qs) or die "db_error";
   $sth->execute($lastname)
        or die "db error " . DBI->errstr;
   my @data = $sth->fetchrow_array;
   print "like result:  @data \n";

########

   $qs = "select * from CTemp where lastname = ? ";
   $sth = $dbh->prepare($qs) or die "db_error";
   $sth->execute($lastname)
        or die "db error " . DBI->errstr;
   my @data = $sth->fetchrow_array;
   print "equal result: @data \n";

# Clean up
$sth->finish;
$dbh->commit;
$dbh->disconnect;