Can you get the column names from a SqlDataReader?

You sure can.

protected void GetColumNames_DataReader()
{
  System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection SqlCon = new System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection("server=localhost;database=northwind;trusted_connection=true");
  System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand SqlCmd = new System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand("SELECT * FROM Products", SqlCon);

  SqlCon.Open();

  System.Data.SqlClient.SqlDataReader SqlReader = SqlCmd.ExecuteReader();
  System.Int32 _columncount = SqlReader.FieldCount;

  System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Write("SqlDataReader Columns");
  System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Write(" ");

  for ( System.Int32 iCol = 0; iCol < _columncount; iCol ++ )
  {
    System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Write("Column " + iCol.ToString() + ": ");
    System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Write(SqlReader.GetName( iCol ).ToString());
    System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Write(" ");
  }

}

This is originally from: http://www.dotnetjunkies.ddj.com/Article/B82A22D1-8437-4C7A-B6AA-C6C9BE9DB8A6.dcik