| SQLITE3(1) | General Commands Manual | SQLITE3(1) | 
| sqlite3 | [options] [databasefile] [SQL] | 
To start a sqlite3 interactive session, invoke the sqlite3 command and optionally provide the name of a database file. If the database file does not exist, it will be created. If the database file does exist, it will be opened.
For example, to create a new database file named "mydata.db", create a table named "memos" and insert a couple of records into that table:
$ sqlite3 mydata.db 
SQLite version 3.1.3 
Enter ".help" for instructions 
sqlite> create table memos(text, priority INTEGER); 
sqlite> insert into memos values('deliver project description', 10); 
sqlite> insert into memos values('lunch with Christine', 100); 
sqlite> select * from memos; 
deliver project description|10 
lunch with Christine|100 
sqlite>
If no database name is supplied, the ATTACH sql command can be used to attach to existing or create new database files. ATTACH can also be used to attach to multiple databases within the same interactive session. This is useful for migrating data between databases, possibly changing the schema along the way.
Optionally, a SQL statement or set of SQL statements can be supplied as a single argument. Multiple statements should be separated by semi-colons.
For example:
$ sqlite3 -line mydata.db 'select * from memos where priority > 20;' 
    text = lunch with Christine 
    priority = 100
A list of available meta-commands can be viewed at any time by issuing the '.help' command. For example:
sqlite> .help 
.databases             List names and files of attached databases 
.dump ?TABLE? ...      Dump the database in an SQL text format 
.echo ON|OFF           Turn command echo on or off 
.exit                  Exit this program 
.explain ON|OFF        Turn output mode suitable for EXPLAIN on or off. 
.header(s) ON|OFF      Turn display of headers on or off 
.help                  Show this message 
.import FILE TABLE     Import data from FILE into TABLE 
.indices TABLE         Show names of all indices on TABLE 
.mode MODE ?TABLE?     Set output mode where MODE is one of: 
                         csv      Comma-separated values 
                         column   Left-aligned columns.  (See .width) 
                         html     HTML <table> code 
                         insert   SQL insert statements for TABLE 
                         line     One value per line 
                         list     Values delimited by .separator string 
                         tabs     Tab-separated values 
                         tcl      TCL list elements 
.nullvalue STRING      Print STRING in place of NULL values 
.output FILENAME       Send output to FILENAME 
.output stdout         Send output to the screen 
.prompt MAIN CONTINUE  Replace the standard prompts 
.quit                  Exit this program 
.read FILENAME         Execute SQL in FILENAME 
.schema ?TABLE?        Show the CREATE statements 
.separator STRING      Change separator used by output mode and .import 
.show                  Show the current values for various settings 
.tables ?PATTERN?      List names of tables matching a LIKE pattern 
.timeout MS            Try opening locked tables for MS milliseconds 
.width NUM NUM ...     Set column widths for "column" mode 
sqlite>
mode = LIST separator = "|" main prompt = "sqlite> " continue prompt = " ...> "
| December 16, 2012 | NetBSD 7.1 |