private String getSerializationType(Configuration conf, Properties tbl,
      ColumnMapping colMap) throws Exception {
    String serType = null;

    if (colMap.qualifierName == null) {
      // only a column family

      if (colMap.qualifierPrefix != null) {
        serType = tbl.getProperty(colMap.familyName + "." + colMap.qualifierPrefix + "."
            + HBaseSerDe.SERIALIZATION_TYPE);
      } else {
        serType = tbl.getProperty(colMap.familyName + "." + HBaseSerDe.SERIALIZATION_TYPE);
      }
    } else if (!colMap.hbaseRowKey) {
      // not an hbase row key. This should either be a prefix or an individual qualifier
      String qualifierName = colMap.qualifierName;

      if (colMap.qualifierName.endsWith("*")) {
        qualifierName = colMap.qualifierName.substring(0, colMap.qualifierName.length() - 1);
      }

      serType =
          tbl.getProperty(colMap.familyName + "." + qualifierName + "."
              + HBaseSerDe.SERIALIZATION_TYPE);
    }

    return serType;
  }
Get the type for the given {@link ColumnMapping colMap}
hbase-handler/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/hbase/HBaseSerDeParameters.java