Ubuntu Manpage: sqlite3 - A command line interface for SQLite version 3

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  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 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 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 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 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:

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 output.

-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 default) 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 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.

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> and further updated by Laszlo Boszormenyi <gcs@debian.hu> .

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