# # either # my $names_ref = $dbh->selectcol_arrayref($query1); # # or # my @names = @{$dbh->selectcol_arrayref($query1)}; __END__ $names_ref = ['Fred', 'Joshua', 'Kim', 'Dave', 'Sal']; @names = ('Fred', 'Joshua', 'Kim', 'Dave', 'Sal');