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 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 3.28.0 2019-04-15 14:49:49
Enter ".help" for usage hints.
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
.auth ON|OFF             Show authorizer callbacks
.backup ?DB? FILE        Backup DB (default "main") to FILE
.bail on|off             Stop after hitting an error.  Default OFF
.binary on|off           Turn binary output on or off.  Default OFF
.cd DIRECTORY            Change the working directory to DIRECTORY
.changes on|off          Show number of rows changed by SQL
.check GLOB              Fail if output since .testcase does not match
.clone NEWDB             Clone data into NEWDB from the existing database
.databases               List names and files of attached databases
.dbconfig ?op? ?val?     List or change sqlite3_db_config() options
.dbinfo ?DB?             Show status information about the database
.dump ?TABLE? ...        Render all database content as SQL
.echo on|off             Turn command echo on or off
.eqp on|off|full|...     Enable or disable automatic EXPLAIN QUERY PLAN
.excel                   Display the output of next command in a spreadsheet
.exit ?CODE?             Exit this program with return-code CODE
.expert                  EXPERIMENTAL. Suggest indexes for specified queries
.fullschema ?--indent?   Show schema and the content of sqlite_stat tables
.headers on|off          Turn display of headers on or off
.help ?-all? ?PATTERN?   Show help text for PATTERN
.import FILE TABLE       Import data from FILE into TABLE
.imposter INDEX TABLE    Create imposter table TABLE on index INDEX
.indexes ?TABLE?         Show names of indexes
.limit ?LIMIT? ?VAL?     Display or change the value of an SQLITE_LIMIT
.lint OPTIONS            Report potential schema issues.
.log FILE|off            Turn logging on or off.  FILE can be stderr/stdout
.mode MODE ?TABLE?       Set output mode
.nullvalue STRING        Use STRING in place of NULL values
.once (-e|-x|FILE)       Output for the next SQL command only to FILE
.open ?OPTIONS? ?FILE?   Close existing database and reopen FILE
.output ?FILE?           Send output to FILE or stdout if FILE is omitted
.parameter CMD ...       Manage SQL parameter bindings
.print STRING...         Print literal STRING
.progress N              Invoke progress handler after every N opcodes
.prompt MAIN CONTINUE    Replace the standard prompts
.quit                    Exit this program
.read FILE               Read input from FILE
.restore ?DB? FILE       Restore content of DB (default "main") from FILE
.save FILE               Write in-memory database into FILE
.scanstats on|off        Turn sqlite3_stmt_scanstatus() metrics on or off
.schema ?PATTERN?        Show the CREATE statements matching PATTERN
.selftest ?OPTIONS?      Run tests defined in the SELFTEST table
.separator COL ?ROW?     Change the column and row separators
.session ?NAME? CMD ...  Create or control sessions
.sha3sum ...             Compute a SHA3 hash of database content
.shell CMD ARGS...       Run CMD ARGS... in a system shell
.show                    Show the current values for various settings
.stats ?on|off?          Show stats or turn stats on or off
.system CMD ARGS...      Run CMD ARGS... in a system shell
.tables ?TABLE?          List names of tables matching LIKE pattern TABLE
.testcase NAME           Begin redirecting output to 'testcase-out.txt'
.timeout MS              Try opening locked tables for MS milliseconds
.timer on|off            Turn SQL timer on or off
.trace ?OPTIONS?         Output each SQL statement as it is run
.vfsinfo ?AUX?           Information about the top-level VFS
.vfslist                 List all available VFSes
.vfsname ?AUX?           Print the name of the VFS stack
.width NUM1 NUM2 ...     Set column widths for "column" mode
sqlite>

OPTIONS
sqlite3 has the following options:

-ascii
    Set output mode to 'ascii'.

-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).

-deserialize
    Open the database using sqlite3_deserialize()

-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.

-lookaside size n
    Use n entries of size bytes for lookaside memory

-maxsize N
    Limits size of a -deserialize database to N bytes

-mmap N
    Set default mmap size to N .

-newline sep
    Set output row separator. Default is '.

-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 = "   ...> "
|cc .

o If the file ~/.sqliterc exists, it is processed first. 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/cli.html
The sqlite3-doc package.

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>, Laszlo Boszormenyi <gcs@debian.hu>, and Scott Perry <sqlite@numist.net>.