my $dbh = DBI->connect( ... )
           || die "Error connecting: $DBI::errstr";
 $dbh->{RaiseError} = 1;
 my $sql = "SELECT * FROM $table where 1 = 0";
 my ( $sth );
 eval {
     $sth = $dbh->prepare( $sql );
     $sth->execute;
 };
 if ( $@ ) { die "Cannot fetch column info: $@" }
 my @column_names = @{ $sth->{NAME} };
 my @column_types = @{ $sth->{TYPE} };