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 dis‐
play the results in multiple formats. sqlite3 can also be used within shell scripts and other applications to
provide batch processing features.
DESCRIPTION
To start a sqlite3 interactive session, invoke the sqlite3 command and optionally provide the name of a data‐
base 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 data‐
base files. ATTACH can also be used to attach to multiple databases within the same interactive session.
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 state‐
ments 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, exam‐
ine the currently attached database files, or perform administrative operations upon the attached databases
(such as rebuilding indices). Meta-commands are always prefixed with a dot (.).
A list of available meta-commands can be viewed at any time by issuing the '.help' command. For example:
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.
-bail Stop after hitting an error.
-interactive
Force interactive I/O.
-batch Force batch I/O.
-column
Query results will be displayed in a table like form, using whitespace characters to separate the col‐
umns and align the output.
-cmd command
Run command before reading stdin.
-csv Set output mode to CSV (comma separated values).
-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
-version
Show SQLite version.
-vfs name
Use name as the default VFS.
-help Show help on options and exit.
INIT FILE
sqlite3 reads an initialization file to set the configuration of the interactive environment. Throughout ini‐
tialization, any previously specified setting can be overridden. The sequence of initialization is as fol‐
lows:
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 generally 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 <[email protected]>, for the Debian GNU/Linux sys‐
tem (but may be used by others). It was subsequently revised by Bill Bumgarner <[email protected]>.
Mon Apr 15 23:49:17 2002 SQLITE3(1)
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