SQLITE3(1)SQLITE3(1)NAME
sqlite3 - A command line interface for SQLite version 3
SYNOPSIS
sqlite3 [options] [databasefile] [SQL]
SUMMARY
sqlite3 is a terminal-based front-end to the SQLite library that can
evaluate queries interactively and display the results in multiple for‐
mats. sqlite3 can also be used within shell scripts and other applica‐
tions to provide batch processing features.
DESCRIPTION
To start a sqlite3 interactive session, invoke the sqlite3 command and
optionally provide the name of a database file. If the database file
does not exist, it will be created. If the database file does exist,
it will be opened.
For example, to create a new database file named "mydata.db", create a
table named "memos" and insert a couple of records into that table:
$ sqlite3 mydata.db
SQLite version 3.1.3
Enter ".help" for instructions
sqlite> create table memos(text, priority INTEGER);
sqlite> insert into memos values('deliver project description', 10);
sqlite> insert into memos values('lunch with Christine', 100);
sqlite> select * from memos;
deliver project description|10
lunch with Christine|100
sqlite>
If no database name is supplied, the ATTACH sql command can be used to
attach to existing or create new database files. ATTACH can also be
used to attach to multiple databases within the same interactive ses‐
sion. This is useful for migrating data between databases, possibly
changing the schema along the way.
Optionally, a SQL statement or set of SQL statements can be supplied as
a single argument. Multiple statements should be separated by semi-
colons.
For example:
$ sqlite3 -line mydata.db 'select * from memos where priority > 20;'
text = lunch with Christine
priority = 100
SQLITE META-COMMANDS
The interactive interpreter offers a set of meta-commands that can be
used to control the output format, examine the currently attached data‐
base files, or perform administrative operations upon the attached
databases (such as rebuilding indices). Meta-commands are always pre‐
fixed with a dot (.).
A list of available meta-commands can be viewed at any time by issuing
the '.help' command. For example:
sqlite> .help
.databases List names and files of attached databases
.dump ?TABLE? ... Dump the database in an SQL text format
.echo ON|OFF Turn command echo on or off
.exit Exit this program
.explain ON|OFF Turn output mode suitable for EXPLAIN on or off.
.header(s) ON|OFF Turn display of headers on or off
.help Show this message
.import FILE TABLE Import data from FILE into TABLE
.indices TABLE Show names of all indices on TABLE
.mode MODE ?TABLE? Set output mode where MODE is one of:
csv Comma-separated values
column Left-aligned columns. (See .width)
html HTML <table> code
insert SQL insert statements for TABLE
line One value per line
list Values delimited by .separator string
tabs Tab-separated values
tcl TCL list elements
.nullvalue STRING Print STRING in place of NULL values
.output FILENAME Send output to FILENAME
.output stdout Send output to the screen
.prompt MAIN CONTINUE Replace the standard prompts
.quit Exit this program
.read FILENAME Execute SQL in FILENAME
.schema ?TABLE? Show the CREATE statements
.separator STRING Change separator used by output mode and .import
.show Show the current values for various settings
.tables ?PATTERN? List names of tables matching a LIKE pattern
.timeout MS Try opening locked tables for MS milliseconds
.width NUM NUM ... Set column widths for "column" mode
sqlite>
OPTIONS
sqlite3 has the following options:
-init file
Read and execute commands from file , which can contain a mix of
SQL statements and meta-commands.
-echo Print commands before execution.
-[no]header
Turn headers on or off.
-column
Query results will be displayed in a table like form, using
whitespace characters to separate the columns and align the out‐
put.
-html Query results will be output as simple HTML tables.
-line Query results will be displayed with one value per line, rows
separated by a blank line. Designed to be easily parsed by
scripts or other programs
-list Query results will be displayed with the separator (|, by
default) character between each field value. The default.
-separator separator
Set output field separator. Default is '|'.
-nullvalue string
Set string used to represent NULL values. Default is '' (empty
string).
-version
Show SQLite version.
-help Show help on options and exit.
INIT FILE
sqlite3 reads an initialization file to set the configuration of the
interactive environment. Throughout initialization, any previously
specified setting can be overridden. The sequence of initialization is
as follows:
o The default configuration is established as follows:
mode = LIST
separator = "|"
main prompt = "sqlite> "
continue prompt = " ...> "
o If the file ~/.sqliterc exists, it is processed first. can be found
in the user's home directory, it is read and processed. It should gen‐
erally only contain meta-commands.
o If the -init option is present, the specified file is processed.
o All other command line options are processed.
SEE ALSO
http://www.sqlite.org/
The sqlite-doc package
AUTHOR
This manual page was originally written by Andreas Rottmann
<rotty@debian.org>, for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by
others). It was subsequently revised by Bill Bumgarner
<bbum@mac.com>.
Mon Apr 15 23:49:17 2002 SQLITE3(1)
