sqlite3

SQLITE3(1)                  General Commands Manual                 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 3.8.8
       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
       .backup ?DB? FILE      Backup DB (default "main") to FILE
       .bail on|off           Stop after hitting an error.  Default OFF
       .clone NEWDB           Clone data into NEWDB from the existing database
       .databases             List names and files of attached databases
       .dump ?TABLE? ...      Dump the database in an SQL text format
                                If TABLE specified, only dump tables matching
                                LIKE pattern TABLE.
       .echo on|off           Turn command echo on or off
       .eqp on|off            Enable or disable automatic EXPLAIN QUERY PLAN
       .exit                  Exit this program
       .explain ?on|off?      Turn output mode suitable for EXPLAIN on or off.
                                With no args, it turns EXPLAIN on.
       .fullschema            Show schema and the content of sqlite_stat tables
       .headers 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
                                If TABLE specified, only show indices for tables
                                matching LIKE pattern TABLE.
       .load FILE ?ENTRY?     Load an extension library
       .log FILE|off          Turn logging on or off.  FILE can be stderr/stdout
       .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      Use STRING in place of NULL values
       .once FILENAME         Output for the next SQL command only to FILENAME
       .open ?FILENAME?       Close existing database and reopen FILENAME
       .output ?FILENAME?     Send output to FILENAME or stdout
       .print STRING...       Print literal STRING
       .prompt MAIN CONTINUE  Replace the standard prompts
       .quit                  Exit this program
       .read FILENAME         Execute SQL in FILENAME
       .restore ?DB? FILE     Restore content of DB (default "main") from FILE
       .save FILE             Write in-memory database into FILE
       .schema ?TABLE?        Show the CREATE statements
                                If TABLE specified, only show tables matching
                                LIKE pattern TABLE.
       .separator STRING ?NL? Change separator used by output mode and .import
                                NL is the end-of-line mark for CSV
       .shell CMD ARGS...     Run CMD ARGS... in a system shell
       .show                  Show the current values for various settings
       .stats on|off          Turn stats on or off
       .system CMD ARGS...    Run CMD ARGS... in a system shell
       .tables ?TABLE?        List names of tables
                                If TABLE specified, only list tables matching
                                LIKE pattern TABLE.
       .timeout MS            Try opening locked tables for MS milliseconds
       .timer on|off          Turn SQL timer on or off
       .trace FILE|off        Output each SQL statement as it is run
       .vfsname ?AUX?         Print the name of the VFS stack
       .width NUM1 NUM2 ...   Set column widths for "column" mode
                                Negative values right-justify
       sqlite>

OPTIONS
       sqlite3 has the following options:

       -bail  Stop after hitting an error.

       -batch Force batch I/O.

       -column
              Query  results  will  be  displayed  in a table like form, using
              whitespace characters to separate the columns and align the out-
              put.

       -cmd command
              run command before reading stdin

       -csv   Set output mode to CSV (comma separated values).

       -echo  Print commands before execution.

       -init file
              Read and execute commands from file , which can contain a mix of
              SQL statements and meta-commands.

       -[no]header
              Turn headers on or off.

       -help  Show help on options and exit.

       -html  Query results will be output as simple HTML tables.

       -interactive
              Force interactive I/O.

       -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  de-
              fault) character between each field value.  The default.

       -mmap N
              Set default mmap size to N

       -nullvalue string
              Set  string used to represent NULL values.  Default is '' (empty
              string).

       -separator separator
              Set output field separator.  Default is '|'.

       -stats Print memory stats before each finalize.

       -version
              Show SQLite version.

       -vfs name
              Use name as the default VFS.

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/cli.html
       The sqlite3-doc package.

AUTHOR
       This  manual page was originally written by Andreas Rottmann <rotty@de-
       bian.org>, for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by others).
       It  was  subsequently revised by Bill Bumgarner <bbum@mac.com> and fur-
       ther updated by Laszlo Boszormenyi <gcs@debian.hu> .

                         Fri Oct 31 10:41:31 EDT 2014               SQLITE3(1)