The Tcl interface to the SQLite library

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The Tcl interface to the SQLite library
Table Of Contents

# 1. Introduction

The SQLite library is designed to be very easy to use from a Tcl or Tcl/Tk script. SQLite began as a Tcl extension and the primary test suite for SQLite is written in Tcl and uses the SQLite extension for Tcl described by this document. SQLite can be used with any programming language, but its connections to Tcl run deep.

This document gives an overview of the Tcl programming interface for SQLite. For tips specific to processing JSON in Tcl, see this doc.

# 2. Building And Installing The SQLite Extension for Tcl

As of SQLite version 3.48.0 (2025-01-14), the preferred method for building the SQLite Extension for Tcl is to use the canonical SQLite source tree and run the makefile with the "tclextension-install" target. If you have multiple Tcl versions installed, you can specify a particular Tcl installation to install the SQLite extension on by using the --with-tclsh=PATH command-line option on unix. For example, if you have a custom Tcl 9.0 installation at $HOME/tcl you can install the SQLite for that installation by running:

>     ./configure --with-tclsh=$HOME/tcl/bin/tclsh9.0
>     make tclextension-install

On Windows, use the TCLDIR environment variable to specify the top-level directory of your Tcl installation. Again, if you have a custom Tcl installation at %HOME%/tcl, your command would be:

>     nmake /f Makefile.msc TCLDIR=%HOME%\tcl tclextension-install

In both cases, there are additional makefile targets that might be useful:

- tclextension → Build the SQLite extension but do not move the files into the installation directory.
- tclextension-list → Show all SQLite extensions available to the Tcl interpreter specified to ./configure or by TCLDIR.
- tclextension-uninstall → Uninstall the SQLite extension.
- tclextension-verify → Verify that the installed SQLite extension uses the same version of SQLite as source tree from which the command is run.

After you have the SQLite extension installed with your Tcl interpreter using the techniques above, you can start it up by running the following command from any tclsh or wish:

>     package require sqlite3

## 2.1. How the build process works

The SQLite adaptor for Tcl is implemented by a source-code file name src/tclsqlite.c. This one file is appended to the amalgamation ("sqlite3.c") that implements SQLite to create a new source file "tclsqlite3.c". Compile tclsqlite3.c into a shared library in order to make the run-time loadable Tcl extension that implements SQLite. The "tclextension-install" make target does that and then also constructs a suitable pkgIndex.tcl script and moves both the shared library and the pkgIndex.tcl script into the appropriate installation directory.

There is a makefile target to build tclsqlite3.c:

>     make tclsqlite3.c

The tclsqlite3.c file does not have to be compiled into a shared library. The tclsqlite3.c library can be statically linked into an application that also statically links the Tcl library, to construct a stand-alone executable. The "testfixture" executable used for testing SQLite works this way.

## 2.2. Additional build documentation

See the src/tcl-extension-testing.md document in the SQLite sources for step-by-step instructions on how the SQLite extension for TCL is tested. That document might provide further hints on how to build the SQLite extension for Tcl should you run into trouble.

# 3. The Tcl interface to the SQLite library

The SQLite extension for Tcl consists of a single new Tcl command named sqlite3. Because there is only this one command, the interface is not placed in a separate namespace.

The sqlite3 command is mostly used as follows to open or create a database:

> sqlite3 dbcmd ?database-name? ?options?

To get information only, the sqlite3 command may be given exactly one argument, either "-version", "-sourceid" or "-has-codec", which will return the specified datum with no other effect.

With other arguments, the sqlite3 command opens the database named in the second non-option argument, or named "" if there is no such. If the open succeeds, a new Tcl command named by the first argument is created and "" is returned. (This approach is similar to the way widgets are created in Tk.) If the open fails, an error is raised without creating a Tcl command and an error message string is returned.

If the database does not already exist, the default behavior is for it to be created automatically (though this can be changed by using the "-create false" option).

The name of the database is usually just the name of a disk file in which the database is stored. If the name of the database is the special name ":memory:", then a new database is created in memory. If the name of the database is an empty string, then the database is created in an empty file that is automatically deleted when the database connection closes. URI filenames can be used if the "-uri yes" option is supplied on the sqlite3 command.

Options understood by the sqlite3 command include:

> -create BOOLEAN

>   If true, then a new database is created if one does not already exist. If false, then an attempt to open a database file that does not previously exist raises an error. The default behavior is "true".

> -nomutex BOOLEAN

>   If true, then all mutexes for the database connection are disabled. This provides a small performance boost in single-threaded applications.

> -readonly BOOLEAN

>   If true, then open the database file read-only. If false, then the database is opened for both reading and writing if filesystem permissions allow, or for reading only if filesystem write permission is denied by the operating system. The default setting is "false". Note that if the previous process to have the database did not exit cleanly and left behind a hot journal, then the write permission is required to recover the database after opening, and the database cannot be opened read-only.

> -uri BOOLEAN

>   If true, then interpret the filename argument as a URI filename. If false, then the argument is a literal filename. The default value is "false".

> -vfs VFSNAME

>   Use an alternative VFS named by the argument.

> -fullmutex BOOLEAN

>   If true, multiple threads can safely attempt to use the database. If false, such attempts are unsafe. The default value depends upon how the extension is built.

> -nofollow BOOLEAN

>   If true, and the database name refers to a symbolic link, it will not be followed to open the true database file. If false, symbolic links will be followed. The default is "false".

Once an SQLite database is open, it can be controlled using methods of the dbcmd. There are currently 41 methods defined.

authorizer backup bind_fallback busy cache changes close collate collation_needed commit_hook complete config copy deserialize | enable_load_extension errorcode eval exists format function incrblob interrupt last_insert_rowid nullvalue onecolumn preupdate profile progress | restore rollback_hook serialize status timeout total_changes trace trace_v2 transaction unlock_notify update_hook version wal_hook

The use of each of these methods will be explained in the sequel, though not in the order shown above.

## 3.1. The eval method

The most useful dbcmd method is "eval". The eval method is used to execute SQL on the database. The syntax of the eval method looks like this:

> dbcmd eval ?-withoutnulls? ?-asdict? ? sql var-name? ?script?

The job of the eval method is to execute the SQL statement or statements given in the second argument. For example, to create a new table in a database, you can do this:

> sqlite3 db1 ./testdb
> db1 eval {CREATE TABLE t1(a int, b text)}

The above code creates a new table named t1 with columns a and b. What could be simpler?

Query results are returned as a list of column values. If a query requests 2 columns and there are 3 rows matching the query, then the returned list will contain 6 elements. For example:

> db1 eval {INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(1,'hello')}
> db1 eval {INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(2,'goodbye')}
> db1 eval {INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(3,'howdy!')}
> set x [db1 eval {SELECT * FROM t1 ORDER BY a}]

The variable $x is set by the above code to

> 1 hello 2 goodbye 3 howdy!

You can also process the results of a query one row at a time by specifying the name of an array or, with the `-asdict` flag, a dict variable and a script following the SQL code. For each row of the query result, the values of all columns will be inserted into the array resp. dict variable and the script will be executed. For instance:

> db1 eval {SELECT * FROM t1 ORDER BY a} values {
> parray values
> puts ""
> }

This last code will give the following output:

> values(*) = a b
> values(a) = 1
> values(b) = hello

> values(*) = a b
> values(a) = 2
> values(b) = goodbye

> values(*) = a b
> values(a) = 3
> values(b) = howdy!

For each column in a row of the result, the name of that column is used as an index into the array and the value of the column is stored in the corresponding array entry. (Caution: If two or more columns in the result set of a query have the same name, then the last column with that name will overwrite prior values and earlier columns with the same name will be inaccessible.) The special array index * is used to store a list of column names in the order that they appear.

Normally, NULL SQL results are stored in the array using the nullvalue setting. However, if the -withoutnulls option is used, then NULL SQL values cause the corresponding array element to be unset instead.

If the array variable name is omitted or is the empty string, then the value of each column is stored in a variable with the same name as the column itself. For example:

> db1 eval {SELECT * FROM t1 ORDER BY a} {
> puts "a=$a b=$b"
> }

From this we get the following output

> a=1 b=hello
> a=2 b=goodbye
> a=3 b=howdy!

Tcl variable names can appear in the SQL statement of the second argument in any position where it is legal to put a string or number literal. The value of the variable is substituted for the variable name. If the variable does not exist a NULL values is used. For example:

> db1 eval {INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(5,$bigstring)}

Note that it is not necessary to quote the $bigstring value. That happens automatically. If $bigstring is a large string or binary object, this technique is not only easier to write, it is also much more efficient since it avoids making a copy of the content of $bigstring.

If the $bigstring variable has both a string and a "bytearray" representation, then TCL inserts the value as a string. If it has only a "bytearray" representation, then the value is inserted as a BLOB. To force a value to be inserted as a BLOB even if it also has a text representation, use a "@" character to in place of the "$". Like this:

> db1 eval {INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(5,@bigstring)}

If the variable does not have a bytearray representation, then "@" works just like "$". Note that ":" works like "$" in all cases so the following is another way to express the same statement:

> db1 eval {INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(5,:bigstring)}

The use of ":" instead of "$" before the name of a variable can sometimes be useful if the SQL text is enclosed in double-quotes "..." instead of curly-braces {...}. When the SQL is contained within double-quotes "..." then TCL will do the substitution of $-variables, which can lead to SQL injection if extreme care is not used. But TCL will never substitute a :-variable regardless of whether double-quotes "..." or curly-braces {...} are used to enclose the SQL, so the use of :-variables adds an extra measure of defense against SQL injection.

## 3.2. The close method

As its name suggests, the "close" method to an SQLite database just closes the database. This has the side-effect of deleting the dbcmd Tcl command. Here is an example of opening and then immediately closing a database:

> sqlite3 db1 ./testdb
> db1 close

If you delete the dbcmd directly, that has the same effect as invoking the "close" method. So the following code is equivalent to the previous:

> sqlite3 db1 ./testdb
> rename db1 {}

## 3.3. The transaction method

The "transaction" method is used to execute a TCL script inside an SQLite database transaction. The transaction is committed when the script completes, or it rolls back if the script fails. If the transaction occurs within another transaction (even one that is started manually using BEGIN) it is a no-op.

The transaction command can be used to group together several SQLite commands in a safe way. You can always start transactions manually using BEGIN, of course. But if an error occurs so that the COMMIT or ROLLBACK are never run, then the database will remain locked indefinitely. Also, BEGIN does not nest, so you have to make sure no other transactions are active before starting a new one. The "transaction" method takes care of all of these details automatically.

The syntax looks like this:

> dbcmd transaction ?transaction-type? script

The transaction-type can be one of deferred, exclusive or immediate. The default is deferred.

## 3.4. The cache method

The "eval" method described above keeps a cache of prepared statements for recently evaluated SQL commands. The "cache" method is used to control this cache. The first form of this command is:

> dbcmd cache size N

This sets the maximum number of statements that can be cached. The upper limit is 100. The default is 10. If you set the cache size to 0, no caching is done.

The second form of the command is this:

> dbcmd cache flush

The cache-flush method finalizes all prepared statements currently in the cache.

## 3.5. The complete method

The "complete" method takes a string of supposed SQL as its only argument. It returns TRUE if the string is a complete statement of SQL and FALSE if there is more to be entered.

The "complete" method is useful when building interactive applications in order to know when the user has finished entering a line of SQL code. This is really just an interface to the sqlite3_complete() C function.

## 3.6. The config method

The "config" method queries or changes certain configuration settings for the database connection using the sqlite3_db_config() interface. Run this method with no arguments to get a TCL list of available configuration settings and their current values:

> dbcmd config

The above will return something like this:

> defensive 0 dqs_ddl 1 dqs_dml 1 enable_fkey 0 enable_qpsg 0 enable_trigger 1 enable_view 1 fts3_tokenizer 1 legacy_alter_table 0 legacy_file_format 0 load_extension 0 no_ckpt_on_close 0 reset_database 0 trigger_eqp 0 trusted_schema 1 writable_schema 0

Add the name of an individual configuration setting to query the current value of that setting. Optionally add a boolean value to change a setting.

The following four configuration changes are recommended for maximum application security. Turning off the trust_schema setting prevents virtual tables and dodgy SQL functions from being used inside of triggers, views, CHECK constraints, generated columns, and expression indexes. Turning off the dqs_dml and dqs_ddl settings prevents the use of double-quoted strings. Turning on defensive prevents direct writes to shadow tables.

>     db config trusted_schema 0
>     db config defensive 1
>     db config dqs_dml 0
>     db config dqs_ddl 0

## 3.7. The copy method

The "copy" method copies data from a file into a table. It returns the number of rows processed successfully from the file. The syntax of the copy method looks like this:

> dbcmd copy conflict-algorithm table-name file-name ?column-separator? ?null-indicator?

Conflict-algorithm must be one of the SQLite conflict algorithms for the INSERT statement: rollback, abort, fail, ignore, or replace. See the SQLite Language section for ON CONFLICT for more information. The conflict-algorithm must be specified in lower case.

Table-name must already exist as a table. File-name must exist, and each row must contain the same number of columns as defined in the table. If a line in the file contains more or less than the number of columns defined, the copy method rollbacks any inserts, and returns an error.

Column-separator is an optional column separator string. The default is the ASCII tab character \t.

Null-indicator is an optional string that indicates a column value is null. The default is an empty string. Note that column-separator and null-indicator are optional positional arguments; if null-indicator is specified, a column-separator argument must be specified and precede the null-indicator argument.

The copy method implements similar functionality to the .import SQLite shell command.

## 3.8. The timeout method

The "timeout" method is used to control how long the SQLite library will wait for locks to clear before giving up on a database transaction. The default timeout is 0 millisecond. (In other words, the default behavior is not to wait at all.)

The SQLite database allows multiple simultaneous readers or a single writer but not both. If any process is writing to the database no other process is allows to read or write. If any process is reading the database other processes are allowed to read but not write. The entire database shared a single lock.

When SQLite tries to open a database and finds that it is locked, it can optionally delay for a short while and try to open the file again. This process repeats until the query times out and SQLite returns a failure. The timeout is adjustable. It is set to 0 by default so that if the database is locked, the SQL statement fails immediately. But you can use the "timeout" method to change the timeout value to a positive number. For example:

> db1 timeout 2000

The argument to the timeout method is the maximum number of milliseconds to wait for the lock to clear. So in the example above, the maximum delay would be 2 seconds.

## 3.9. The busy method

The "busy" method, like "timeout", only comes into play when the database is locked. But the "busy" method gives the programmer much more control over what action to take. The "busy" method specifies a callback Tcl procedure that is invoked whenever SQLite tries to open a locked database. A single integer argument is appended to the callback before it is invoked. The argument is the number of prior calls to the busy callback for the current locking event. It is intended that the callback will do some other useful work for a short while (such as service GUI events) then return so that the lock can be tried again. The callback procedure should return "0" if it wants SQLite to try again to open the database and should return "1" if it wants SQLite to abandon the current operation.

If the busy method is invoked without an argument, the name of the callback procedure last set by the busy method is returned. If no callback procedure has been set, an empty string is returned.

## 3.10. The enable_load_extension method

The extension loading mechanism of SQLite (accessed using the load_extension() SQL function) is turned off by default. This is a security precaution. If an application wants to make use of the load_extension() function it must first turn the capability on using this method.

This method takes a single boolean argument which will turn the extension loading functionality on or off.

For best security, do not use this method unless truly needed, and run PRAGMA trusted_schema=OFF or the "db config trusted_schema 0" method before invoking this method.

This method maps to the sqlite3_enable_load_extension() C/C++ interface.

## 3.11. The exists method

The "exists" method is similar to "onecolumn" and "eval" in that it executes SQL statements. The difference is that the "exists" method always returns a boolean value which is TRUE if a query in the SQL statement it executes returns one or more rows and FALSE if the SQL returns an empty set.

The "exists" method is often used to test for the existence of rows in a table. For example:

> if {[db exists {SELECT 1 FROM table1 WHERE user=$user}]} {
> # Processing if $user exists
> } else {
> # Processing if $user does not exist
> }

## 3.12. The last_insert_rowid method

The "last_insert_rowid" method returns an integer which is the ROWID of the most recently inserted database row.

## 3.13. The function method

The "function" method registers new SQL functions with the SQLite engine. The arguments are the name of the new SQL function and a TCL command that implements that function. Arguments to the function are appended to the TCL command before it is invoked.

For security reasons, it is recommended that applications first set PRAGMA trusted_schema=OFF or run the "db config trusted_schema 0" method before using this method.

The syntax looks like this:

> dbcmd function sql-name ?options? script

The following example creates a new SQL function named "hex" that converts its numeric argument into a hexadecimal encoded string:

> db function hex {format 0x%X}

The "function" method accepts the following options:

> -argcount INTEGER

>   Specify the number of arguments that the SQL function accepts. The default value of -1 means any number of arguments.

> -deterministic

>   This option indicates that the function will always return the same answer given the same argument values. The SQLite query optimizer uses this information to cache answers from function calls with constant inputs and reuse the result rather than invoke the function repeatedly.

> -directonly

>   This option restricts the function to only be usable by direct top-level SQL statements. The function will not be accessible to triggers, views, CHECK constraints, generated columns, or index expressions. This option is recommended for all application-defined SQL functions, and is highly recommended for any SQL function that has side effects or that reveals internal state of the application.

>   Security Warning: Without this switch, an attacker might be able to change the schema of a database file to include the new function inside a trigger or view or CHECK constraint and thereby trick the application into running the function with parameters of the attacker's choosing. Hence, if the new function has side effects or reveals internal state about the application and the -directonly option is not used, that is a potential security vulnerability.

> -innocuous

>   This option indicates that the function has no side effects and does not leak any information that cannot be computed directly from its input parameters. When this option is specified, the function may be used in triggers, views, CHECK constraints, generated columns, and/or index expressions even if PRAGMA trusted_schema=OFF. The use of this option is discouraged unless it is truly needed.

> -returntype integer|real|text|blob|any

>   This option is used to configure the type of the result returned by the function. If this option is set to "any" (the default), SQLite attempts to determine the type of each value returned by the function implementation based on the Tcl value's internal type. Or, if it is set to "text" or "blob", the returned value is always a text or blob value, respectively. If this option is set to "integer", SQLite attempts to coerce the value returned by the function to an integer. If this is not possible without data loss, it attempts to coerce it to a real value, and finally falls back to text. If this option is set to "real", an attempt is made to return a real value, falling back to text if this is not possible.
>   As of version 3.51, a `break` propagating from an SQL function will be interpreted as an SQL NULL, as distinct from an empty string.

## 3.14. The nullvalue method

The "nullvalue" method changes the representation for NULL returned as result of the "eval" method.

> db1 nullvalue NULL

The "nullvalue" method is useful to differ between NULL and empty column values as Tcl lacks a NULL representation. The default representation for NULL values is an empty string.

## 3.15. The onecolumn method

The "onecolumn" method works like "eval" in that it evaluates the SQL query statement given as its argument. The difference is that "onecolumn" returns a single element which is the first column of the first row of the query result.

This is a convenience method. It saves the user from having to do a "`[lindex ... 0]`" on the results of an "eval" in order to extract a single column result.

Because method names can be shortened to any unique prefix, this method is usually written as "one" instead of its full name "onecolumn".

## 3.16. The changes method

The "changes" method returns an integer which is the number of rows in the database that were inserted, deleted, and/or modified by the most recent "eval" method.

## 3.17. The total_changes method

The "total_changes" method returns an integer which is the number of rows in the database that were inserted, deleted, and/or modified since the current database connection was first opened.

## 3.18. The authorizer method

The "authorizer" method provides access to the sqlite3_set_authorizer C/C++ interface. The argument to authorizer is the name of a procedure that is called when SQL statements are being compiled in order to authorize certain operations. The callback procedure takes 5 arguments which describe the operation being coded. If the callback returns the text string "SQLITE_OK", then the operation is allowed. If it returns "SQLITE_IGNORE", then the operation is silently disabled. If the return is "SQLITE_DENY" then the compilation fails with an error.

If the argument is an empty string then the authorizer is disabled. If the argument is omitted, then the current authorizer is returned.

## 3.19. The bind_fallback method

The "bind_fallback" method gives the application control over how to handle parameter binding when no TCL variable matches the parameter name.

When the eval method sees a named SQL parameter such as "$abc" or ":def" or "@ghi" in an SQL statement, it tries to look up a TCL variable with the same name, and it binds the value of that TCL variable to the SQL parameter. If no such TCL variable exists, the default behavior is to bind an SQL NULL value to the parameter. However, if a bind_fallback proc is specified, then that proc is invoked with the name of the SQL parameter and the return value from the proc is bound to the SQL parameter. Or if the proc returns an error, then the SQL statement aborts with that error. If the proc returns with some code other than TCL_OK or TCL_ERROR, then the SQL parameter is bound to NULL, as it would be by default.

The "bind_fallback" method has a single optional argument. If the argument is an empty string, then the bind_fallback is cancelled and the default behavior is restored. If the argument is a non-empty string, then the argument is a TCL command (usually the name of a proc) to invoke whenever an SQL parameter is seen that does not match any TCL variable. If the "bind_fallback" method is given no arguments, then the current bind_fallback command is returned.

As an example, the following setup causes TCL to throw an error if an SQL statement contains an parameter that does not match any global TCL variable:

>     proc bind_error {nm} {
>       error "no such variable: $nm"
>     }
>     db bind_fallback bind_error

## 3.20. The progress method

This method registers a callback that is invoked periodically during query processing. There are two arguments: the number of SQLite virtual machine opcodes between invocations, and the TCL command to invoke. Setting the progress callback to an empty string disables it.

The progress callback can be used to display the status of a lengthy query or to process GUI events during a lengthy query.

## 3.21. The collate method

This method registers new text collating sequences. There are two arguments: the name of the collating sequence and the name of a TCL procedure that implements a comparison function for the collating sequence.

For example, the following code implements a collating sequence called "NOCASE" that sorts in text order without regard to case:

>     proc nocase_compare {a b} {
>       return [string compare [string tolower $a] [string tolower $b]]
>     }
>     db collate NOCASE nocase_compare

## 3.22. The collation_needed method

This method registers a callback routine that is invoked when the SQLite engine needs a particular collating sequence but does not have that collating sequence registered. The callback can register the collating sequence. The callback is invoked with a single parameter which is the name of the needed collating sequence.

## 3.23. The commit_hook method

This method registers a callback routine that is invoked just before SQLite tries to commit changes to a database. If the callback throws an exception or returns a non-zero result, then the transaction rolls back rather than commit.

## 3.24. The rollback_hook method

This method registers a callback routine that is invoked just before SQLite tries to do a rollback. The script argument is run without change.

## 3.25. The status method

This method returns status information from the most recently evaluated SQL statement. The status method takes a single argument which should be either "steps" or "sorts". If the argument is "steps", then the method returns the number of full table scan steps that the previous SQL statement evaluated. If the argument is "sorts", the method returns the number of sort operations. This information can be used to detect queries that are not using indices to speed search or sorting.

The status method is basically a wrapper on the sqlite3_stmt_status() C-language interface.

## 3.26. The update_hook method

This method registers a callback routine that is invoked just after each row is modified by an UPDATE, INSERT, or DELETE statement. Four arguments are appended to the callback before it is invoked:

- The keyword "INSERT", "UPDATE", or "DELETE", as appropriate
- The name of the database which is being changed
- The table that is being changed
- The rowid of the row in the table being changed

The callback must not do anything that will modify the database connection that invoked the update hook such as running queries.

## 3.27. The preupdate method

This method either registers a callback routine that is invoked just before each row is modified by an UPDATE, INSERT, or DELETE statement, or may perform certain operations related to the impending update.

To register or remove a preupdate callback, use this syntax:

> dbcmd preupdate hook ?SCRIPT?

When a preupdate callback is registered, then prior to each row modification, the callback is run with these arguments:

- The keyword "INSERT", "UPDATE", or "DELETE", as appropriate
- The name of the database which is being changed
- The table that is being changed
- The original rowid of the row in the table being changed
- The new rowid (if any) of the row in the table being changed

The callback must not do anything that will modify the database connection that invoked the preupdate hook such as running queries.

When the callback is executing, and only then, these preupdate operations may be performed by use of the indicated syntax:

> dbcmd preupdate count
> dbcmd preupdate depth
> dbcmd preupdate new INDEX
> dbcmd preupdate old INDEX

The count submethod returns the number of columns in the row that is being inserted, updated, or deleted.

The depth submethod returns the update nesting depth. This will be 0 for a direct insert, update, or delete operation; 1 for inserts, updates, or deletes invoked by top-level triggers; or higher values for changes resulting from trigger-invoked triggers.

The old and new submethods return the selected original or changed column value respectively of the row being updated.

Note that the Tcl interface (and underlying SQLite library) must have been built with the preprocessor symbol SQLITE_ENABLE_PREUPDATE_HOOK defined for the preupdate method to be available.

## 3.28. The wal_hook method

This method registers a callback routine that is invoked after transaction commit when the database is in WAL mode. Two arguments are appended to the callback command before it is invoked:

- The name of the database on which the transaction was committed
- The number of entries in the write-ahead log (WAL) file for that database

This method might decide to run a checkpoint either itself or as a subsequent idle callback. Note that SQLite only allows a single WAL hook. By default this single WAL hook is used for the auto-checkpointing. If you set up an explicit WAL hook, then that one WAL hook must ensure that checkpoints are occurring since the auto-checkpointing mechanism will be disabled.

This method should return an integer value that is equivalent to an SQLite error code (usually 0 for SQLITE_OK in the case of success or 1 for SQLITE_ERROR if some error occurs). As in sqlite3_wal_hook(), the results of returning an integer that does not correspond to an SQLite error code are undefined. If the value returned by the script cannot be interpreted as an integer value, or if the script throws a Tcl exception, no error is returned to SQLite but a Tcl background-error is raised.

## 3.29. The incrblob method

This method opens a TCL channel that can be used to read or write into a preexisting BLOB in the database. The syntax is like this:

> dbcmd incrblob ?-readonly? ?DB? TABLE COLUMN ROWID

The command returns a new TCL channel for reading or writing to the BLOB. The channel is opened using the underlying sqlite3_blob_open() C-language interface. Close the channel using the close command of TCL.

## 3.30. The errorcode method

This method returns the numeric error code that resulted from the most recent SQLite operation.

## 3.31. The trace method

The "trace" method registers a callback that is invoked as each SQL statement is compiled. The text of the SQL is appended as a single string to the command before it is invoked. This can be used (for example) to keep a log of all SQL operations that an application performs.

## 3.32. The trace_v2 method

The "trace_v2" method registers a callback that is invoked as each SQL statement is compiled. The syntax is as follows:

> dbcmd trace_v2 ?callback? ?mask?

This command causes the "callback" script to be invoked whenever certain conditions occurs. The conditions are determined by the mask argument, which should be a TCL-list of zero or more of the following keywords:

- statement
- profile
- row
- close

Traces for statement invoke the callback with two arguments whenever a new SQL statement is run. The first argument is an integer which is the value of the pointer to the underlying sqlite3_stmt object. This integer can be used to correlate SQL statement text with the result of a profile or row callback. The second argument is the unexpanded text of the SQL statement being run. By "unexpanded", we mean that variable substitutions in the text are not expanded into the variable values. This is different from the behavior of the "trace" method which does expand variable substitutions.

Traces for profile invoke the callback with two arguments as each SQL statement finishes. The first argument is an integer which is the value of the underlying sqlite3_stmt object. The second argument is the approximate run-time for the statement in nanoseconds. The run-time is the best estimate available depending on the capabilities of the platform on which the application is running.

Traces for row invoke the callback with a single argument whenever a new result row is available from an SQL statement. The argument is an integer which is the value of the underlying sqlite3_stmt object pointer.

Traces for close invoke the callback with a single argument as the database connection is closing. The argument is an integer which is the value of a pointer to the underlying sqlite3 object that is closing.

There can only be a single trace callback registered on a database connection. Each use of "trace" or "trace_v2" cancels all prior trace callback.

## 3.33. The backup method

The "backup" method makes a backup copy of a live database. The command syntax is like this:

> dbcmd backup ?source-database? backup-filename

The optional source-database argument tells which database in the current connection should be backed up. The default value is main (or, in other words, the primary database file). To back up TEMP tables use temp. To backup an auxiliary database added to the connection using the ATTACH command, use the name of that database as it was assigned in the ATTACH command.

The backup-filename is the name of a file into which the backup is written. Backup-filename does not have to exist ahead of time, but if it does, it must be a well-formed SQLite database.

## 3.34. The restore method

The "restore" method copies the content from a separate database file into the current database connection, overwriting any preexisting content. The command syntax is like this:

> dbcmd restore ?target-database? source-filename

The optional target-database argument tells which database in the current connection should be overwritten with new content. The default value is main (or, in other words, the primary database file). To repopulate the TEMP tables use temp. To overwrite an auxiliary database added to the connection using the ATTACH command, use the name of that database as it was assigned in the ATTACH command.

The source-filename is the name of an existing well-formed SQLite database file from which the content is extracted.

## 3.35. The serialize method

The "serialize" method creates a BLOB which is a complete copy of an underlying database. The syntax is like this:

> dbcmd serialize ?database?

The optional argument is the name of the schema or database to be serialized. The default value is "main".

This routine returns a TCL byte-array that is the complete content of the identified database. This byte-array can be written into a file and then used as an ordinary SQLite database, or it can be sent over a TCP/IP connection to some other application, or passed to the "deserialize" method of another database connection.

## 3.36. The deserialize method

The "deserialize" method takes a TCL byte-array that contains an SQLite database file and adds it to the database connection. The syntax is:

> dbcmd deserialize ?database? value

The option database argument identifies which attached database should receive the deserialization. The default is "main".

This command causes SQLite to disconnect from the previous database and reattach to an in-memory database with the content in value. If value is not a byte-array containing a well-defined SQLite database, then subsequent commands will likely return SQLITE_CORRUPT errors.

## 3.37. The interrupt method

The "interrupt" method invokes the sqlite3_interrupt() interface, causing any pending queries to halt.

## 3.38. The version method

Return the current library version. For example, "3.23.0".

## 3.39. The profile method

This method is used to profile the execution of SQL statements run by the application. The syntax is as follows:

> dbcmd profile ?script?

Unless script is an empty string, this method arranges for the script to be evaluated after the execution of each SQL statement. Two arguments are appended to script before it is invoked: the text of the SQL statement executed and the time elapsed while executing the statement, in nanoseconds.

A database handle may only have a single profile script registered at any time. If there is already a script registered when the profile method is invoked, the previous profile script is replaced by the new one. If the script argument is an empty string, any previously registered profile callback is canceled but no new profile script is registered.

## 3.40. The unlock_notify method

The unlock_notify method is used to access the sqlite3_unlock_notify() interface to the SQLite core library for testing purposes. The use of this method by applications is discouraged.

## 3.41. The format method

The format method was introduced with SQLite version 3.52.0 (2026-03-06). The format method provides an interface into the Query Result Formatter (QRF) subsystem.

> dbcmd format?options?SQL

The format method executes the SQL given as an argument, formats the output in accordance with options, and returns the formatted result as a string. The QRF is a complex subsystem, and so there are a lot of options. Each option corresponds to a field in the sqlite3_qrf_spec object The TCL names for the various options, their allowed arguments, and the sqlite3_qrf_spec fields those options control are listed below. Refer to the QRF documentation for specifies on the meaning of each option.

Unspecified options default to "auto" or 0 or an empty string, as appropriate.

> -style STYLE

>   STYLE can be one of "auto", "box", "column", "count", "csv", "eqp", "explain", "html", "insert", "json", "jobject", "line", "list", "markdown", "off", "quote", "stats", "statsest", "statsvm", or "table". This option determines the eStyle value of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -esc ESC

>   ESC can be one of "auto", "off", "ascii", or "symbol". This option determines the eEsc value of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -text ENCODING

>   ENCODING can be one of "auto", "csv", "html", "json", "plain", "relaxed", "sql", or "tcl". This option determines the eText value of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -title ENCODING

>   ENCODING can be one of "on", "off", "auto", "csv", "html", "json", "plain", "relaxed", "sql", or "tcl". This option determines the eTitle and bTitles values of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -blob ENCODING

>   ENCODING can be one of "auto", "hex", "json", "tcl", "text", or "size". This option determines the eBlob value of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -border auto|off|on

>   This option controls whether or not the outer border is drawn around the entire result when the --style is "box" or "table". The default is that the border is drawn. But if this setting is "off", then the border is omitted. This option controls the bBorder value of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -wordwrap auto|off|on

>   This option controls the bWordWrap value of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -textjsonb auto|off|on

>   This option controls the bTextJsonb value of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -splitcolumn auto|off|on

>   This option controls the bSplitColumn value of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -defaultalign ALIGNMENT

>   ALIGNMENT can be one of "auto", "bottom", "c", "center", "e", "left", "middle", "n", "ne", "nw", "right", "s", "se", "sw", "top", or "w". This option controls the eDfltAlign value of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -titlealign ALIGNMENT

>   ALIGNMENT can be one of "auto", "bottom", "c", "center", "e", "left", "middle", "n", "ne", "nw", "right", "s", "se", "sw", "top", or "w". This option controls the eTitleAlign value of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -align ALIGNMENT-LIST

>   ALIGNMENT-LIST is a TCL list containing zero or more tokens where each token is one of: "auto", "bottom", "c", "center", "e", "left", "middle", "n", "ne", "nw", "right", "s", "se", "sw", "top", or "w". This option determines the nAlign and aAlign values of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -wrap INTEGER

>   This option determines the nWrap values of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -screenwidth INTEGER

>   This option determines the nScreenWidth values of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -linelimit INTEGER

>   This option determines the nLineLimit values of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -charlimit INTEGER

>   This option determines the nCharLimit values of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -titlelimit INTEGER

>   This option determines the nTitleLimit values of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -multiinsert INTEGER

>   This option determines the nMultiInsert values of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -widths INTEGER-LIST

>   INTEGER-LIST is a TCL list of integer. This option determines the nWidth and aWidth values of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -columnsep STRING/i>

>   This option set the zColumnSep value of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -rowsep STRING/i>

>   This option set the zRowSep value of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -tablename STRING/i>

>   This option set the zTableName value of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

> -null STRING/i>

>   This option set the zNull value of sqlite3_qrf_spec.

This page was last updated on 2026-03-21 20:08:30Z