SQLite Syntax

SQLite follows a set of unique rules and guidelines called syntax. This tutorial lists all the basic SQLite syntax to provide you with a quick start to SQLite.

Case Sensitivity

It's important to note that SQLite is case-insensitive, but some commands are case-sensitive, such as GLOB and glob, which have different meanings in SQLite statements.

Comments

SQLite comments are additional notes that can be added to SQLite code to enhance readability. They can appear in any blank space, including within expressions and other SQL statements, but they cannot be nested.

SQL comments begin with two consecutive "-" characters (ASCII 0x2d) and extend to the next newline character (ASCII 0x0a) or until the end of input, whichever comes first.

You can also use C-style comments, starting with "/" and extending to the next "/" character pair or until the end of input, whichever comes first. SQLite comments can span multiple lines.

sqlite>.help -- This is a simple comment

SQLite Statements

All SQLite statements can start with any keyword such as SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, ALTER, DROP, etc., and all statements end with a semicolon ;.

SQLite ANALYZE Statement:

ANALYZE;
or
ANALYZE database_name;
or
ANALYZE database_name.table_name;

SQLite AND/OR Clause:

SELECT column1, column2....columnN
FROM   table_name
WHERE  CONDITION-1 {AND|OR} CONDITION-2;

SQLite ALTER TABLE Statement:

ALTER TABLE table_name ADD COLUMN column_def...;

SQLite ALTER TABLE Statement (Rename):

ALTER TABLE table_name RENAME TO new_table_name;

SQLite ATTACH DATABASE Statement:

ATTACH DATABASE 'DatabaseName' As 'Alias-Name';

SQLite BEGIN TRANSACTION Statement:

BEGIN;
or
BEGIN EXCLUSIVE TRANSACTION;

SQLite BETWEEN Clause:

SELECT column1, column2....columnN
FROM   table_name
WHERE  column_name BETWEEN val-1 AND val-2;

SQLite COMMIT Statement:

COMMIT;

SQLite CREATE INDEX Statement:

CREATE INDEX index_name
ON table_name ( column_name COLLATE NOCASE );

SQLite CREATE UNIQUE INDEX Statement:

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX index_name
ON table_name ( column1, column2,...columnN);

SQLite CREATE TABLE Statement:

CREATE TABLE table_name(
   column1 datatype,
   column2 datatype,
   column3 datatype,
   .....
   columnN datatype,
   PRIMARY KEY( one or more columns )
);

SQLite CREATE TRIGGER Statement:

CREATE TRIGGER database_name.trigger_name 
BEFORE INSERT ON table_name FOR EACH ROW
BEGIN 
   stmt1; 
   stmt2;
   ....
END;

SQLite CREATE VIEW Statement:

CREATE VIEW database_name.view_name  AS
SELECT statement....;

SQLite CREATE VIRTUAL TABLE Statement:

CREATE VIRTUAL TABLE database_name.table_name USING weblog( access.log );
or

CREATE VIRTUAL TABLE database_name.table_name USING fts3();

## SQLite COMMIT TRANSACTION Statement:

COMMIT;

## SQLite COUNT Clause:

SELECT COUNT(column_name) FROM table_name WHERE CONDITION;

## SQLite DELETE Statement:

DELETE FROM table_name WHERE {CONDITION};

## SQLite DETACH DATABASE Statement:

DETACH DATABASE 'Alias-Name';

## SQLite DISTINCT Clause:

SELECT DISTINCT column1, column2....columnN FROM table_name;

## SQLite DROP INDEX Statement:

DROP INDEX database_name.index_name;

## SQLite DROP TABLE Statement:

DROP TABLE database_name.table_name;

## SQLite DROP VIEW Statement:

DROP VIEW view_name;

## SQLite DROP TRIGGER Statement:

DROP TRIGGER trigger_name

## SQLite EXISTS Clause:

SELECT column1, column2....columnN FROM table_name WHERE column_name EXISTS (SELECT * FROM table_name );

## SQLite EXPLAIN Statement:

EXPLAIN INSERT statement...; or EXPLAIN QUERY PLAN SELECT statement...;

## SQLite GLOB Clause:

SELECT column1, column2....columnN FROM table_name WHERE column_name GLOB { PATTERN };

## SQLite GROUP BY Clause:

SELECT SUM(column_name) FROM table_name WHERE CONDITION GROUP BY column_name;

## SQLite HAVING Clause:

SELECT SUM(column_name) FROM table_name WHERE CONDITION GROUP BY column_name HAVING (arithematic function condition);

## SQLite INSERT INTO Statement:

INSERT INTO table_name( column1, column2....columnN) VALUES ( value1, value2....valueN);

## SQLite IN Clause:

SELECT column1, column2....columnN FROM table_name WHERE column_name IN (val-1, val-2,...val-N);

## SQLite Like Clause:

SELECT column1, column2....columnN FROM table_name WHERE column_name LIKE { PATTERN };

## SQLite NOT IN Clause:

SELECT column1, column2....columnN FROM table_name WHERE column_name NOT IN (val-1, val-2,...val-N);

## SQLite ORDER BY Clause:

SELECT column1, column2....columnN FROM table_name WHERE CONDITION ORDER BY column_name {ASC|DESC};

## SQLite PRAGMA Statement:

PRAGMA pragma_name;

For example:

PRAGMA page_size; PRAGMA cache_size = 1024; PRAGMA table_info(table_name);

## SQLite RELEASE SAVEPOINT Statement:

RELEASE SAVEPOINT savepoint_name;

RELEASE savepoint_name;

## SQLite REINDEX Statement:

REINDEX collation_name; REINDEX database_name.index_name; REINDEX database_name.table_name;

## SQLite ROLLBACK Statement:

ROLLBACK; or ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT savepoint_name;

## SQLite SAVEPOINT Statement:

SAVEPOINT savepoint_name;

## SQLite SELECT Statement:

SELECT column1, column2....columnN FROM table_name;

## SQLite UPDATE Statement:

UPDATE table_name SET column1 = value1, column2 = value2....columnN=valueN [ WHERE CONDITION ];

## SQLite VACUUM Statement:

VACUUM;

## SQLite WHERE Clause:

SELECT column1, column2....columnN FROM table_name WHERE CONDITION; ```