NAME

       sqldiff - sqlite3 database difference utility

SYNOPSIS

       sqldiff [options] database1.sqlite database2.sqlite

DESCRIPTION

       The sqldiff binary is a command-line utility program that displays the differences between
       SQLite databases.  The usual output is an SQL script that will transform  database1.sqlite
       (the "source" database) into database2.sqlite (the "destination" database).

       The  sqldiff  utility works by finding rows in the source and destination that are logical
       "pairs". The default behavior is to treat two rows as pairs if they are in tables with the
       same  name  and  they have the same rowid, or in the case of a WITHOUT ROWID table if they
       have the same PRIMARY KEY. Any differences in the content of paired  rows  are  output  as
       UPDATEs.  Rows in the source database that could not be paired are output as DELETEs. Rows
       in the destination database that could not be paired are output as INSERTs.

       The --primarykey flag changes the pairing algorithm slightly so that  the  schema-declared
       PRIMARY  KEY is always used for pairing, even on tables that have a rowid. This is often a
       better choice for finding differences, however it can lead to missed  differences  in  the
       case of rows that have one or more PRIMARY KEY columns set to NULL.

OPTIONS

       --changset FILE
              Do  not  write changes to standard output. Instead, write a (binary) changeset file
              into FILE.  The changeset can  be  interpreted  using  the  sessions  extension  to
              SQLite.

       --lib LIBRARY, -L LIBRARY
              Load  the  shared  library  or  DLL file LIBRARY into SQLite prior to computing the
              differences. This can be used to add application-defined collating  sequences  that
              are required by the schema.

       --primarykey
              Use  the schema-defined PRIMARY KEY instead of the rowid to pair rows in the source
              and destination database. (See additional explanation below.)

       --schema
              Show only differences in the schema not the table content

       --summary
              Show how many rows have changed on each table, but do not show the actual changes

       --table TABLE
              Show only the differences in content for TABLE, not for the entire database

       --transaction
              Wrap SQL output in a single large transaction

       --vtab Add support for handling FTS3,  FTS5  and  rtree  virtual  tables.  See  below  for
              details.

LIMITATIONS

       The  sqldiff utility is unable to compute differences for rowid tables for which the rowid
       is inaccessible. An example of a table with an inaccessible rowid is:

       CREATE TABLE inaccessible_rowid(
          "rowid" TEXT,
          "oid" TEXT,
          "_rowid_" TEXT
       );

       The sqldiff utility does not (currently) display differences in TRIGGERs or VIEWs.

       By default, differences in the schema or content of virtual tables are not reported on.

       However, if a virtual table implementation creates real tables (sometimes referred  to  as
       "shadow" tables) within the database to store its data in, then sqldiff.exe does calculate
       the difference between these. This can have surprising effects if the resulting SQL script
       is then run on a database that is not exactly the same as the source database. For several
       of SQLite's bundled virtual tables (FTS3, FTS5, rtree and others), the surprising  effects
       may include corruption of the virtual table content.

       If  the  --vtab  option is passed to sqldiff, then it ignores all underlying shadow tables
       belonging to an FTS3, FTS5 or rtree virtual table and instead includes the  virtual  table
       differences directly.

SEE ALSO

       sqlite3(1).

                                            2018-05-10                                 sqldiff(1)