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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 3.1.3
       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.
       -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 columns and align the out-
              put.
       -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
       -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).
       -stats Print memory stats before each finalize.
       -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  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 AT debian.org>, for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by
       others).      It   was   subsequently   revised   by   Bill   Bumgarner
       <bbum AT mac.com>.

                           Mon Apr 15 23:49:17 2002                 SQLITE3(1)