Documentation Source Text

  <p><a href="http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/2006/EECS-2006-1.pdf">
  Threads are evil</a>.  Avoid them.

  <p>SQLite is threadsafe.  We make this concession since many users choose
  to ignore the advice given in the previous paragraph.
  But in order to be thread-safe, SQLite must be compiled
  with the SQLITE_THREADSAFE preprocessor macro set to 1.  Both the Windows
  and Linux precompiled binaries in the distribution are compiled this way.
  If you are unsure if the SQLite library you are linking against is compiled
  to be threadsafe you can call the [sqlite3_threadsafe()]
  interface to find out.
  </p>

  <p>Prior to [version 3.3.1],
  an <b>sqlite3</b> structure could only be used in the same thread

}

faq {
  Case-insensitive matching of Unicode characters does not work.
} {
  The default configuration of SQLite only supports case-insensitive
  comparisons of ASCII characters.  The reason for this is that doing
  full Unicode case-insensitive comparisons and case conversions 
  requires tables and logic that would nearly double the size of
  the SQLite library.  The
  SQLite developers reason that any application that needs full
  Unicode case support probably already has the necessary tables and
  functions and so SQLite should not take up space to 
  duplicate this ability.</p>

  <p>Instead of providing full Unicode case support by default, 
  SQLite provides the ability to link against external
  Unicode comparison and conversion routines.
  The application can overload the built-in [NOCASE] collating
  sequence (using [sqlite3_create_collation()]) and the built-in
  [like()], [upper()], and [lower()] functions
  (using [sqlite3_create_function()]).  
  The SQLite source code includes an "ICU" extension that does 
  these overloads.  Or, developers can write their own overloads
  based on their own Unicode-aware comparison routines already
  contained within their project.
}

faq {
  INSERT is really slow - I can only do few dozen INSERTs per second
} {
  Actually, SQLite will easily do 50,000 or more [INSERT] statements per second

  <p>Another option is to run [PRAGMA synchronous=OFF].  This command will
  cause SQLite to not wait on data to reach the disk surface, which will make
  write operations appear to be much faster.  But if you lose power in the
  middle of a transaction, your database file might go corrupt.
}

faq {
  I accidentally deleted some important information from my SQLite database.
  How can I recover it?
} {
  If you have a backup copy of your database file, recover the information
  from your backup.

  <p>If you do not have a backup, recovery is very difficult.  You might
  be able to find partial string data in a binary dump of the raw database
  file.  Recovering numeric data might also be possible given special tools,
  though to our knowledge no such tools exist.  SQLite is sometimes compiled
  with the [SQLITE_SECURE_DELETE] option which overwrites all deleted content
  with zeros.  If that is the case then recovery is clearly impossible.
  Recovery is also impossible if you have run [VACUUM] since the data was
  deleted.  If SQLITE_SECURE_DELETE is not used and VACUUM has not been run,
  then some of the deleted content might still be in the database file, in
  areas marked for reuse.  But, again, there exist no procedures or tools
  that we know of to help you recover that data.
}

faq {
  What is an SQLITE_CORRUPT error?  What does it mean for the database
  to be "malformed"? Why am I getting this error?
} {
  <p>An [SQLITE_CORRUPT] error is returned when SQLite detects an error
  in the structure, format, or other control elements of the
  database file.</p>

  <p>SQLite does not corrupt database files, except in the case of very
  rare bugs (see 
  <a href="http://www.sqlite.org/cvstrac/wiki?p=DatabaseCorruption">DatabaseCorruption</a>) 
  and even then the bugs are normally difficult to
  reproduce.  Even if your application crashes in the middle of an
  update, your database is safe.  The database is safe even if your OS
  crashes or takes a power loss.  The crash-resistance of SQLite has
  been extensively studied and tested and is attested by years of real-world 
  experience by millions of users."</p>

  <p>That said, there are a number of things that external programs or bugs
  in your hardware or OS can do to corrupt a database file.  Details
  can be found in the discussions on the 
  <a href="atomiccommit.html">atomic commit</a> and 
  <a href="lockingv3.html">locking</a> support in SQLite
  as well as in the mailing list archives.</p>

  <p>Your can use <a href="pragma.html#pragma_integrity_check">PRAGMA integrity_check</a> 
  to do a thorough but time intensive test of the database integrity.</p>

  <p>Your can use <a href="pragma.html#pragma_quick_check">PRAGMA quick_check</a> to do a faster 
  but less thorough test of the database integrity.</p>

  <p>Depending how badly your database is corrupted, you may be able to 
  recover some of the data by using the CLI to dump the schema and contents
  to a file and then recreate.  Unfortunately, once humpty-dumpty falls off 
  the wall, it is generally not possible to put him back together again.</p>
}

faq {
  Does SQLite support foreign keys?
} {
  <p>FOREIGN KEY constraints are parsed but are not enforced.
  However, the equivalent constraint enforcement can be
  achieved using
  <a href="http://www.sqlite.org/lang_createtrigger.html">triggers</a>.
  The SQLite source tree contains
  source code and documentation for a C program (genfkey) that will
  read an SQLite database, analyze the foreign key constraints,
  and generate appropriate triggers automatically.</p>

  <p>The <a href="http://www.sqlite.org/cvstrac/fileview?f=sqlite/tool/genfkey.README">readme</a>
  for the genfkey utility contains more information.</p>

  <p>As of [Version 3.6.12] this feature is incorporated into the CLI.</p>
  
  <p>You can read about other possible solutions for foreign key
  support in the
  <a href="http://www.sqlite.org/cvstrac/wiki?p=ForeignKeyTriggers">SQLite Wiki</a>.</p>
}

# End of questions and answers.
#############

hd_puts {<h2>Frequently Asked Questions</h2>}
hd_puts {<p>See also <a href="http://www.sqlite.org/cvstrac/wiki?p=SqliteWikiFaq">SqliteWikiFaq</a>.</p>}

    hd_puts {<oL>}
for {set i 1} {$i<$cnt} {incr i} {
  hd_puts "<li><a href=\"#q$i\">[lindex $faq($i) 0]</a></li>"
}
hd_puts {</ol>}

for {set i 1} {$i<$cnt} {incr i} {
  hd_fragment q$i
  hd_puts "<p><b>($i) [lindex $faq($i) 0]</b></p>\n"
  hd_resolve "<blockquote>[lindex $faq($i) 1]</blockquote></li>\n"
}
hd_puts {</ol>}
</tcl>