I think in some cases it's better to use: select * from sys.all_tab_columns where table_name = '<TABLE_NAME>' and owner = '<SCHEMA_NAME>';
user_tab_columns will only show the tables of the current user. If your perl script will connect as a user who is not the owner of the table under consideration, then user_tab_columns won't show that table. Tim Helck -----Original Message----- From: PerlDiscuss - Perl Newsgroups and mailing lists [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 5:16 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Describe table Hi You cannot use the DESCRIBE statement as it is. Try it in the following way select * from sys.user_tab_columns where table_name = '<TABLE_NAME>'; Cheers Prabu Jimmy Jauhal wrote: > Hi All, > I am trying to execute a DESCRIBE table statement from my perl script that > connects to an oracle DB. For some reason the execute fails saying that > "describe table" is not a valid SQL statement. When I try SELECT > statements they work fine and fetch data properly. > DBI version 1.30 > DBD::Oracle version 1.12 > Any help would be appreciated. > Thanks, > -Jimmy