Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
SQLite databases
SQLite is an open source, in-process library that implements a self-contained, zero config-
uration, and transactional SQL database engine. It's a complete database with multiple
tables, triggers, and views that are contained in a single cross-platform file. As SQLite is
portable, reliable, and small, it is a popular database format that appears in many mobile
platforms.
Apple iOS devices, like other smartphones, make heavy use of SQLite databases for data
storage. Many of the built-in applications such as Phone, Messages, Mail, Calendar, and
Notes store data in SQLite databases. Apart from that, third-party applications installed on
the device also leverage SQLite databases for data storage.
SQLite databases are created with or without a file extension. They typically have
.sql-
itedb
or
.db
file extensions, but some databases are given other extensions as well. Data
in SQLite files is broken up into tables that contain the actual data. To access the data
stored in these files, you need a tool that can read them. Some good free tools are:
• SQLite Browser, which can be downloaded from
https://github.com/rp-/sql-
• SQLite command-line client, which you can download from
http://www.sqlite.org/
.
• SQLite Professional (
https://www.sqlitepro.com/
)
, a free
graphical user interface
(
GUI
) from Hankinsoft Development for Mac OS X users. You can download it
from Mac's App Store.
• SQLite Spy, a free GUI tool for Windows. You can download it from
ht-
Mac OS X includes the SQLite command-line utility (
sqlite3
) by default. This command-
line utility can easily access individual files and issue SQL queries against a database. So,
in the following sections we will use the
sqlite3
command-line utility to retrieve data
from various SQLite databases. Before retrieving the data, the basic commands you will
need to learn are explained in the following sections:
