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diff --git a/www/aff_short.html b/www/aff_short.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f66cce0 --- /dev/null +++ b/www/aff_short.html @@ -0,0 +1,215 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html><head> +<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> +<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> +<link href="sqlite.css" rel="stylesheet"> +<title>Benefits of SQLite As A File Format</title> +<!-- path= --> +</head> +<body> +<div class=nosearch> +<a href="index.html"> +<img class="logo" src="images/sqlite370_banner.gif" alt="SQLite" border="0"> +</a> +<div><!-- IE hack to prevent disappearing logo --></div> +<div class="tagline desktoponly"> +Small. Fast. 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The topic is considered at greater +detail in a <a href="appfileformat.html">separate technical note</a>.)</i></p> + +<p> +SQLite has been used with great success as the on-disk file format +for desktop applications such as version control systems, +financial analysis tools, media cataloging and editing suites, CAD +packages, record keeping programs, and so forth. The traditional +File/Open operation calls sqlite3_open() to attach to the database +file. Updates happen automatically as application content is revised +so the File/Save menu option becomes superfluous. The File/Save_As +menu option can be implemented using the <a href="backup.html">backup API</a>. +</p> + +<p> +There are many advantages to using SQLite as an application file format, +including: +</p> + +<ol type="1"> +<li><b>Better performance</b> +<ul> +<li> Reading and writing from an SQLite database + is often faster than reading and writing individual files from disk. + See <a href="fasterthanfs.html">35% Faster Than The Filesystem</a> + and <a href="intern-v-extern-blob.html">Internal Versus External BLOBs</a>. +<li> The application only has to load the data it needs, rather + than reading the entire file and holding a complete parse + in memory. +<li> Small edits only overwrite the parts of the file that change, + reducing write time and wear on SSD drives. +</ul> +<li><b>Reduced application cost and complexity</b> +<ul> +<li> No application file I/O code to write and debug. +<li> Content can be accessed and updated using concise SQL queries instead + of lengthy and error-prone procedural routines. +<li> The file format can be extended in future releases simply + by adding new tables and/or column, preserving backwards compatibility. +<li> Applications can leverage the + <a href="fts3.html">full-text search</a> and <a href="rtree.html">RTREE</a> indexes and use triggers to implement + an <a href="undoredo.html">automated undo/redo stack</a>. +<li> Performance problems can often be resolved, even late in the + development cycle, using <a href="lang_createindex.html">CREATE INDEX</a>, avoiding costly + redesign, rewrite, and retest efforts. +</ul> +<li><b>Portability</b> +<ul> +<li> The application file is portable across all operating systems, + 32-bit and 64-bit and big- and little-endian architectures. +<li> A federation of programs, perhaps all written in different programming + languages, can access the same application file with no + compatibility concerns. +<li> Multiple processes can attach to the same application + file and can read and write without interfering with each another. +<li> Diverse content which might otherwise be stored as a "pile-of-files" + is encapsulated into a single disk file for simpler transport + via scp/ftp, USB stick, and/or email attachment. +</ul> +<li><b>Reliability</b> +<ul> +<li> Content can be updated continuously and atomically so + that little or no work is lost in a power failure or crash. +<li> Bugs are far less likely in SQLite than in custom-written file I/O code. +<li> SQL queries are many times smaller than the equivalent procedural + code, and since the number of bugs per line of code is roughly + constant, this means fewer bugs overall. +</ul> +<li><b>Accessibility</b> +<ul> +<li> SQLite database content can be viewed using a wide variety + third-party tools. +<li> Content stored in an SQLite database is more likely to be + recoverable decades in the future, long after all traces of + the original application have been lost. Data lives longer than code. +<li> SQLite database files are <a href="locrsf.html">recommended by the US Library of Congress</a> + as a storage format for long-term preservation of digital content. +</ul> +</ol> + +<p> +SQLite allows database files to have any desired filename extension, so +an application can choose a custom filename extension for its own use, if +desired. The <a href="pragma.html#pragma_application_id">application_id pragma</a> can be used to set an "Application ID" +integer in the database file so that tools like +<a href="http://www.darwinsys.com/file/">file(1)</a> can determine that the file +is associated with your application and is not just a generic +SQL database.</p> +<p align="center"><small><i>This page last modified on <a href="https://sqlite.org/docsrc/honeypot" id="mtimelink" data-href="https://sqlite.org/docsrc/finfo/pages/aff_short.in?m=e10af018ad82cdfc9">2018-05-29 18:35:58</a> UTC </small></i></p> + |