490 lines
18 KiB
Tcl
490 lines
18 KiB
Tcl
#
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# Run this Tcl script to generate the sqlite.html file.
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#
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set rcsid {$Id: c_interface.tcl,v 1.10 2000/10/09 12:57:01 drh Exp $}
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puts {<html>
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<head>
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<title>The C language interface to the SQLite library</title>
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</head>
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<body bgcolor=white>
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<h1 align=center>
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The C language interface to the SQLite library
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</h1>}
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puts "<p align=center>
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(This page was last modified on [lrange $rcsid 3 4] GMT)
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</p>"
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puts {
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<p>The SQLite library is designed to be very easy to use from
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a C or C++ program. This document gives an overview of the C/C++
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programming interface.</p>
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<h2>The API</h2>
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<p>The interface to the SQLite library consists of three core functions,
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one opaque data structure, and some constants used as return values.
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The core interface is as follows:</p>
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<blockquote><pre>
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typedef struct sqlite sqlite;
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sqlite *sqlite_open(const char *filename, int mode, char **errmsg);
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void sqlite_close(sqlite*);
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int sqlite_exec(
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sqlite*,
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char *sql,
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int (*)(void*,int,char**,char**),
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void*,
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char **errmsg
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);
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#define SQLITE_OK 0 /* Successful result */
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#define SQLITE_INTERNAL 1 /* An internal logic error in SQLite */
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#define SQLITE_ERROR 2 /* SQL error or missing database */
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#define SQLITE_PERM 3 /* Access permission denied */
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#define SQLITE_ABORT 4 /* Callback routine requested an abort */
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#define SQLITE_BUSY 5 /* One or more database files are locked */
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#define SQLITE_NOMEM 6 /* A malloc() failed */
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#define SQLITE_READONLY 7 /* Attempt to write a readonly database */
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</pre></blockquote>
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<p>Only the three core routines shown above are required to use
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SQLite. But there are many other functions that provide
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useful interfaces. These extended routines are as follows:
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</p>
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<blockquote><pre>
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int sqlite_get_table(
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sqlite*,
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char *sql,
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char ***result,
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int *nrow,
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int *ncolumn,
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char **errmsg
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);
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void sqlite_free_table(char**);
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int sqlite_complete(const char *sql);
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void sqlite_busy_handler(sqlite*, int (*)(void*,const char*,int), void*);
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void sqlite_busy_timeout(sqlite*, int ms);
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const char sqlite_version[];
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int sqlite_exec_printf(
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sqlite*,
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char *sql,
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int (*)(void*,int,char**,char**),
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void*,
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char **errmsg,
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...
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);
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int sqlite_exec_vprintf(
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sqlite*,
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char *sql,
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int (*)(void*,int,char**,char**),
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void*,
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char **errmsg,
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va_list
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);
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int sqlite_get_table_printf(
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sqlite*,
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char *sql,
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char ***result,
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int *nrow,
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int *ncolumn,
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char **errmsg,
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...
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);
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int sqlite_get_table_vprintf(
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sqlite*,
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char *sql,
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char ***result,
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int *nrow,
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int *ncolumn,
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char **errmsg,
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va_list
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);
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</pre></blockquote>
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<p>All of the above definitions are included in the "sqlite.h"
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header file that comes in the source tree.</p>
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<h2>Opening a database</h2>
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<p>Use the <b>sqlite_open()</b> function to open an existing SQLite
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database or to create a new SQLite database. The first argument
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is the database name. The second argument is a constant 0666 to
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open the database for reading and writing and 0444 to open the
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database read only. The third argument is a pointer to a string
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pointer. If the third argument is not NULL and an error occurs
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while trying to open the database, then an error message will be
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written to memory obtained from malloc() and *errmsg will be made
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to point to this error message. The calling function is responsible
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for freeing the memory when it has finished with it.</p>
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<p>An SQLite database is just a directory containing a collection of
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GDBM files. There is one GDBM file for each table and index in the
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database. All GDBM files end with the ".tbl" suffix. Every SQLite
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database also contains a special database table named <b>sqlite_master</b>
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stored in its own GDBM file. This special table records the database
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schema.</p>
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<p>To create a new SQLite database, all you have to do is call
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<b>sqlite_open()</b> with the first parameter set to the name of
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an empty directory and the second parameter set to 0666.</p>
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<p>The return value of the <b>sqlite_open()</b> function is a
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pointer to an opaque <b>sqlite</b> structure. This pointer will
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be the first argument to all subsequent SQLite function calls that
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deal with the same database. NULL is returned if the open fails
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for any reason.</p>
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<h2>Closing the database</h2>
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<p>To close an SQLite database, call the <b>sqlite_close()</b>
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function passing it the sqlite structure pointer that was obtained
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from a prior call to <b>sqlite_open</b>.
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<h2>Executing SQL statements</h2>
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<p>The <b>sqlite_exec()</b> function is used to process SQL statements
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and queries. This function requires 5 parameters as follows:</p>
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<ol>
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<li><p>A pointer to the sqlite structure obtained from a prior call
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to <b>sqlite_open()</b>.</p></li>
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<li><p>A null-terminated string containing the text of one or more
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SQL statements and/or queries to be processed.</p></li>
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<li><p>A pointer to a callback function which is invoked once for each
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row in the result of a query. This argument may be NULL, in which
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case no callbacks will ever be invoked.</p></li>
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<li><p>A pointer that is forwarded to become the first argument
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to the callback function.</p></li>
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<li><p>A pointer to an error string. Error messages are written to space
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obtained from malloc() and the error string is made to point to
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the malloced space. The calling function is responsible for freeing
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this space when it has finished with it.
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This argument may be NULL, in which case error messages are not
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reported back to the calling function.</p></li>
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</ol>
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<p>
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The callback function is used to receive the results of a query. A
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prototype for the callback function is as follows:</p>
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<blockquote><pre>
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int Callback(void *pArg, int argc, char **argv, char **columnNames){
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return 0;
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}
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</pre></blockquote>
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<p>The first argument to the callback is just a copy of the fourth argument
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to <b>sqlite_exec()</b> This parameter can be used to pass arbitrary
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information through to the callback function from client code.
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The second argument is the number columns in the query result.
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The third argument is an array of pointers to strings where each string
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is a single column of the result for that record. Note that the
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callback function reports a NULL value in the database as a NULL pointer,
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which is very different from an empty string. If the i-th parameter
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is an empty string, we will get:</p>
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<blockquote><pre>
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argv[i][0] == 0
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</pre></blockquote>
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<p>But if the i-th parameter is NULL we will get:</p>
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<blockquote><pre>
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argv[i] == 0
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</pre></blockquote>
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<p>The names of the columns are contained in the fourth argument.</p>
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<p>The callback function should normally return 0. If the callback
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function returns non-zero, the query is immediately aborted and
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<b>sqlite_exec()</b> will return SQLITE_ABORT.</p>
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<p>The <b>sqlite_exec()</b> function returns an integer to indicate
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success or failure of the operation. The following are possible
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return values:</p>
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<blockquote>
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<dl>
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<dt>SQLITE_OK</dt>
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<dd><p>This value is returned if everything worked and there were no errors.
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</p></dd>
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<dt>SQLITE_INTERNAL</dt>
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<dd><p>This value indicates that an internal consistency check within
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the SQLite library failed. This can only happen if there is a bug in
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the SQLite library. If you ever get an SQLITE_INTERNAL reply from
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an <b>sqlite_exec()</b> call, please report the problem on the SQLite
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mailing list.
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</p></dd>
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<dt>SQLITE_ERROR</dt>
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<dd><p>This return value indicates that there was an error in the SQL
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that was passed into the <b>sqlite_exec()</b>.
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</p></dd>
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<dt>SQLITE_PERM</dt>
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<dd><p>This return value says that the access permissions on one of the
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GDBM files is such that the file cannot be opened.
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</p></dd>
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<dt>SQLITE_ABORT</dt>
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<dd><p>This value is returned if the callback function returns non-zero.
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</p></dd>
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<dt>SQLITE_BUSY</dt>
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<dd><p>This return code indicates that one of the underlying GDBM files
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is locked because it is currently being accessed by another thread or
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process. GDBM allows mutiple readers of the same file, but only one
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writer. So multiple processes can query an SQLite database at once.
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But only a single process can write to an SQLite database at one time.
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If an attempt is made to write to an SQLite database that another
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process is currently reading, the write is not performed and
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<b>sqlite_exec()</b> returns SQLITE_BUSY. Similarly, an attempt to read
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an SQLite database that is currently being written by another process
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will return SQLITE_BUSY. In both cases, the write or query attempt
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can be retried after the other process finishes.</p>
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<p>Note that locking is done at the file level. One process can
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write to table ABC (for example) while another process simultaneously
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reads from a different table XYZ. But you cannot have two processes reading
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and writing table ABC at the same time.
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</p></dd>
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<dt>SQLITE_NOMEM</dt>
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<dd><p>This value is returned if a call to <b>malloc()</b> fails.
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</p></dd>
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<dt>SQLITE_READONLY</dt>
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<dd><p>This return code indicates that an attempt was made to write to
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a database file that was originally opened for reading only. This can
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happen if the callback from a query attempts to update the table
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being queried.
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</p></dd>
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</dl>
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</blockquote>
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<h2>Querying without using a callback function</h2>
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<p>The <b>sqlite_get_table()</b> function is a wrapper around
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<b>sqlite_exec()</b> that collects all the information from successive
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callbacks and write it into memory obtained from malloc(). This
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is a convenience function that allows the application to get the
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entire result of a database query with a single function call.</p>
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<p>The main result from <b>sqlite_get_table()</b> is an array of pointers
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to strings. There is one element in this array for each column of
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each row in the result. NULL results are represented by a NULL
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pointer. In addition to the regular data, there is an added row at the
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beginning of the array that contains the names of each column of the
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result.</p>
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<p>As an example, consider the following query:</p>
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<blockquote>
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SELECT employee_name, login, host FROM users WHERE logic LIKE 'd%';
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</blockquote>
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<p>This query will return the name, login and host computer name
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for every employee whose login begins with the letter "d". If this
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query is submitted to <b>sqlite_get_table()</b> the result might
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look like this:</p>
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<blockquote>
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nrow = 2<br>
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ncolumn = 3<br>
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result[0] = "employee_name"<br>
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result[1] = "login"<br>
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result[2] = "host"<br>
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result[3] = "dummy"<br>
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result[4] = "No such user"<br>
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result[5] = 0<br>
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result[6] = "D. Richard Hipp"<br>
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result[7] = "drh"<br>
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result[8] = "zadok"
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</blockquote>
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<p>Notice that the "host" value for the "dummy" record is NULL so
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the result[] array contains a NULL pointer at that slot.</p>
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<p>Memory to hold the information returned by <b>sqlite_get_table()</b>
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is obtained from malloc(). But the calling function should not try
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to free this information directly. Instead, pass the complete table
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to <b>sqlite_free_table()</b> when the table is no longer needed.</p>
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<p>The <b>sqlite_get_table()</b> routine returns the same integer
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result code as <b>sqlite_exec()</b>.</p>
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<h2>Testing for a complete SQL statement</h2>
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<p>The next interface routine to SQLite is a convenience function used
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to test whether or not a string forms a complete SQL statement.
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If the <b>sqlite_complete()</b> function returns true when its input
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is a string, then the argument forms a complete SQL statement.
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There are no guarantees that the syntax of that statement is correct,
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but we at least know the statement is complete. If <b>sqlite_complete()</b>
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returns false, then more text is required to complete the SQL statement.</p>
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<p>For the purpose of the <b>sqlite_complete()</b> function, an SQL
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statement is complete if it ends in a semicolon.</p>
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<p>The <b>sqlite</b> command-line utility uses the <b>sqlite_complete()</b>
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function to know when it needs to call <b>sqlite_exec()</b>. After each
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line of input is received, <b>sqlite</b> calls <b>sqlite_complete()</b>
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on all input in its buffer. If <b>sqlite_complete()</b> returns true,
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then <b>sqlite_exec()</b> is called and the input buffer is reset. If
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<b>sqlite_complete()</b> returns false, then the prompt is changed to
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the continuation prompt and another line of text is read and added to
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the input buffer.</p>
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<h2>Library version string</h2>
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<p>The SQLite library exports the string constant named
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<b>sqlite_version</b> which contains the version number of the
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library. The header file contains a macro SQLITE_VERSION
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with the same information. If desired, a program can compare
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the SQLITE_VERSION macro against the <b>sqlite_version</b>
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string constant to verify that the version number of the
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header file and the library match.</p>
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<h2>Changing the libraries response to locked files</h2>
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<p>The GDBM library supports database locks at the file level.
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If a GDBM database file is opened for reading, then that same
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file cannot be reopened for writing until all readers have closed
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the file. If a GDBM file is open for writing, then the file cannot
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be reopened for reading or writing until it is closed.</p>
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<p>If the SQLite library attempts to open a GDBM file and finds that
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the file is locked, the default action is to abort the current
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operation and return SQLITE_BUSY. But this is not always the most
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convenient behavior, so a mechanism exists to change it.</p>
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<p>The <b>sqlite_busy_handler()</b> procedure can be used to register
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a busy callback with an open SQLite database. The busy callback will
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be invoked whenever SQLite tries to open a GDBM file that is locked.
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The callback will typically do some other useful work, or perhaps sleep,
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in order to give the lock a chance to clear. If the callback returns
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non-zero, then SQLite tries again to open the GDBM file and the cycle
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repeats. If the callback returns zero, then SQLite aborts the current
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operation and returns SQLITE_BUSY.</p>
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<p>The arguments to <b>sqlite_busy_handler()</b> are the opaque
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structure returned from <b>sqlite_open()</b>, a pointer to the busy
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callback function, and a generic pointer that will be passed as
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the first argument to the busy callback. When SQLite invokes the
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busy callback, it sends it three arguments: the generic pointer
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that was passed in as the third argument to <b>sqlite_busy_handler</b>,
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the name of the database table or index that the library is trying
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to open, and the number of times that the library has attempted to
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open the database table or index.</p>
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<p>For the common case where we want the busy callback to sleep,
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the SQLite library provides a convenience routine <b>sqlite_busy_timeout()</b>.
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The first argument to <b>sqlite_busy_timeout()</b> is a pointer to
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an open SQLite database and the second argument is a number of milliseconds.
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After <b>sqlite_busy_timeout()</b> has been executed, the SQLite library
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will wait for the lock to clear for at least the number of milliseconds
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specified before it returns SQLITE_BUSY. Specifying zero milliseconds for
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the timeout restores the default behavior.</p>
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<h2>Using the <tt>_printf()</tt> wrapper functions</h2>
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<p>The four utility functions</p>
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<p>
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<ul>
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<li><b>sqlite_exec_printf()</b></li>
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<li><b>sqlite_exec_vprintf()</b></li>
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<li><b>sqlite_get_table_printf()</b></li>
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<li><b>sqlite_get_table_vprintf()</b></li>
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</ul>
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</p>
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<p>implement the same query functionality as <b>sqlite_exec()</b>
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and <b>sqlite_get_table()</b>. But instead of taking a complete
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SQL statement as their second argument, the four <b>_printf</b>
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routines take a printf-style format string. The SQL statement to
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be executed is generated from this format string and from whatever
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additional arguments are attached to the end of the function call.</p>
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<p>There are two advantages to using the SQLite printf
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functions instead of <b>sprintf()</b>. First of all, with the
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SQLite printf routines, there is never a danger of overflowing a
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static buffer as there is with <b>sprintf()</b>. The SQLite
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printf routines automatically allocate (and later free)
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as much memory as is
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necessary to hold the SQL statements generated.</p>
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<p>The second advantage the SQLite printf routines have over
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<b>sprintf()</b> is a new formatting option specifically designed
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to support string literals in SQL. Within the format string,
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the %q formatting option works very much like %s in that it
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reads a null-terminated string from the argument list and inserts
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it into the result. But %q translates the inserted string by
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making two copies of every single-quote (') character in the
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substituted string. This has the effect of escaping the end-of-string
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meaning of single-quote within a string literal.
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</p>
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<p>Consider an example. Suppose you are trying to insert a string
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values into a database table where the string value was obtained from
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user input. Suppose the string to be inserted is stored in a variable
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named zString. The code to do the insertion might look like this:</p>
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<blockquote><pre>
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sqlite_exec_printf(db,
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"INSERT INTO table1 VALUES('%s')",
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0, 0, 0, zString);
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</pre></blockquote>
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<p>If the zString variable holds text like "Hello", then this statement
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will work just fine. But suppose the user enters a string like
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"Hi y'all!". The SQL statement generated reads as follows:
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<blockquote><pre>
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INSERT INTO table1 VALUES('Hi y'all')
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</pre></blockquote>
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<p>This is not valid SQL because of the apostrophy in the word "y'all".
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But if the %q formatting option is used instead of %s, like this:</p>
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<blockquote><pre>
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sqlite_exec_printf(db,
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"INSERT INTO table1 VALUES('%q')",
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0, 0, 0, zString);
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</pre></blockquote>
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<p>Then the generated SQL will look like the following:</p>
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<blockquote><pre>
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INSERT INTO table1 VALUES('Hi y''all')
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</pre></blockquote>
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<p>Here the apostrophy has been escaped and the SQL statement is well-formed.
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When generating SQL on-the-fly from data that might contain a
|
|
single-quote character ('), it is always a good idea to use the
|
|
SQLite printf routines and the %q formatting option instead of <b>sprintf</b>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2>Usage Examples</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>For examples of how the SQLite C/C++ interface can be used,
|
|
refer to the source code for the <b>sqlite</b> program in the
|
|
file <b>src/shell.c</b> of the source tree.
|
|
Additional information about sqlite is available at
|
|
<a href="sqlite.html">sqlite.html</a>.
|
|
See also the sources to the Tcl interface for SQLite in
|
|
the source file <b>src/tclsqlite.c</b>.</p>
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
puts {
|
|
<p><hr /></p>
|
|
<p><a href="index.html"><img src="/goback.jpg" border=0 />
|
|
Back to the SQLite Home Page</a>
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
</body></html>}
|