Documentation Source Text

<p>Starting with version 3.3.0, SQLite includes a special "shared-cache"
mode (disabled by default) intended for use in embedded servers. If
shared-cache mode is enabled and a thread establishes multiple connections
to the same database, the connections share a single data and schema cache.
This can significantly reduce the quantity of memory and IO required by
the system.</p>

<p>In version 3.5.0, shared-cache mode was modified so that the same
cache can be shared across an entire process rather than just within
a single thread.  Prior to this change, there were restrictions on
passing database connections between threads.  Those restrictions were
dropped in 3.5.0 update.  This document describes shared-cache mode
as of version 3.5.0.</p>

<p>Shared-cache mode changes the semantics
of the locking model in some cases. The details are described by
this document. A basic understanding of the normal SQLite locking model (see
<a href="lockingv3.html">File Locking And Concurrency In SQLite Version 3</a>
for details) is assumed.</p>

<tcl>HEADING 1 {Shared-Cache Locking Model}</tcl>

<p>Externally, from the point of view of another process or thread, two
or more [sqlite3|database connections] using a shared-cache appear as a single 
connection. The locking protocol used to arbitrate between multiple 
shared-caches or regular database users is described elsewhere.
</p>

<table style="margin:auto">
<tr><td>
<img src="images/shared.gif">

          +----------------+
</pre> -->
</table>
<p style="font-style:italic;text-align:center">Figure 1</p>

<p>Figure 1 depicts an example runtime configuration where three 
database connections have been established. Connection 1 is a normal
SQLite database connection. Connections 2 and 3 share a cache 
The normal locking
protocol is used to serialize database access between connection 1 and
the shared cache. The internal protocol used to serialize (or not, see
"Read-Uncommitted Isolation Mode" below) access to the shared-cache by
connections 2 and 3 is described in the remainder of this section.
</p>

<p>There are three levels to the shared-cache locking model, 

<p>Once a connection obtains a table lock, it is not released until the
current transaction (read or write) is concluded.
</p>

<tcl>HEADING 3 {Read-Uncommitted Isolation Mode}</tcl>

<p>The behaviour described above may be modified slightly by using the 
[read_uncommitted] pragma to change the isolation level from serialized 
(the default), to read-uncommitted.</p>

<p> A database connection in read-uncommitted mode does not attempt 
to obtain read-locks before reading from database tables as described 
above. This can lead to inconsistent query results if another database
connection modifies a table while it is being read, but it also means that
a read-transaction opened by a connection in read-uncommitted mode can
neither block nor be blocked by any other connection.</p>

<p>Read-uncommitted mode has no effect on the locks required to write to
database tables (i.e. read-uncommitted connections must still obtain 
write-locks and hence database writes may still block or be blocked). 
Also, read-uncommitted mode has no effect on the <i>sqlite_master</i> 
locks required by the rules enumerated below (see section 
"Schema (sqlite_master) Level Locking").
</p>

<blockquote><pre>
  /* Set the value of the read-uncommitted flag:
  **
  **   True  -> Set the connection to read-uncommitted mode.
  **   False -> Set the connectino to serialized (the default) mode.
  */
  PRAGMA read_uncommitted = &lt;boolean&gt;;

  /* Retrieve the current value of the read-uncommitted flag */
  PRAGMA read_uncommitted;
</pre></blockquote>

<tcl>HEADING 2 {Schema (sqlite_master) Level Locking}</tcl>

<p>The <i>sqlite_master</i> table supports shared-cache read and write 
locks in the same way as all other database tables (see description 
above). The following special rules also apply:
</p>

is holding a write-lock on the <i>sqlite_master</i> table of any attached
database (including the default database, "main"). 
</li>
</ul>

<tcl>HEADING 1 {Thread Related Issues}</tcl>

<p>In SQLite versions 3.3.0 through 3.4.2 when shared-cache mode is enabled, 
a database connection may only be
used by the thread that called [sqlite3_open()] to create it.
And a connection could only share cache with another connection in the


same thread.
These restrictions were dropped beginning with SQLite version
</p>

<tcl>HEADING 1 {Shared Cache And Virtual Tables}</tcl>

<p>Shared cache mode cannot be used together with virtual tables.
The reason for this is that virtual tables often make a copy of
the ["sqlite3*"] database handle that was used to originally open
the virtual table.  The virtual table might use this handle to 
prepare statements for recursive access to the database.  But
a prepared statement only works for the database connection on
which it was originally created.  If a virtual table is part of
a shared cache, it might be invoked by multiple database connections
but its prepared statements will only work on one of those 
connections.  To avoid problems sorting all of this out, and to
simplify the implementation of virtual tables, SQLite includes
checks that prohibit shared cache and virtual tables from being
used at the same time.</p>

<tcl>HEADING 1 {Enabling Shared-Cache Mode}</tcl>

<p>Shared-cache mode is enabled on a per-process basis. Using the C 
interface, the following API can be used to enable or disable shared-cache
mode for the calling thread:
</p>

<blockquote><pre>
int sqlite3_enable_shared_cache(int);
</pre></blockquote>

<p>Each call [sqlite3_enable_shared_cache()] effects subsequent database
connections created using [sqlite3_open()], [sqlite3_open16()], or



[sqlite3_open_v2()].  Database connections that already exist are
uneffected.  Each call to [sqlite3_enable_shared_cache()] overrides
all previous calls within the same process.
</p>