def get_col_names_and_indices(sqlite_description, ignore_gt_cols=False):
    """Return a list of column namanes and a list of the row indices.
       Optionally exclude gt_* columns.
    """
    col_indices = []
    col_names = []
    for idx, col_tup in enumerate(sqlite_description):
        # e.g., each col in sqlite desc is a tuple like:
        # ('variant_id', None, None, None, None, None, None)
        col_name = col_tup[0]
        if ((not ignore_gt_cols) or
           (ignore_gt_cols and not col_name.startswith('gt'))):
            col_indices.append(idx)
            col_names.append(col_name)
    return col_names, col_indices