Derek Developer wrote: > (2nd attempt... bounced back for some reason...) > > In testing a my code I came across this example. > Could someone help me understand what this syntax is doing please > (from the Seinfeld demo database examples) > > ...m col > ...h on > ...w 20 17 6 23 6 > ...e on > > Is this some form of typecasting?
Someone already figured out that these are sqlite3 shell commands, abbreviated as much as possible. The shell can be downloaded from http://www.sqlite.org/download.html by clicking on the appropriate link (i.e. sqlite-3_5_7.zip for Windows). These shell commands are described by the .help command as shown below. SQLite version 3.5.7 Enter ".help" for instructions sqlite> .help .bail ON|OFF Stop after hitting an error. Default OFF .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 .load FILE ?ENTRY? Load an extension library .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 I'm not sure where all the extra periods you show are coming from. Each sqlite3 shell command begins with a single period. The commands you showed can be expanded for better readability as: .mode column .headers on .width 20 17 6 23 6 .explain on This puts the sqlite3 shell in column output mode with headers turned on for each column. The width command sets the column widths explicitly. These commands determine how the shell displays the results of SQL queries. The explain command also changes the output mode to a column mode with headers and predetermined widths that are suitable for the output of "explain statement" queries. It would override the previous commands if entered as shown. HTH Dennis Cote _______________________________________________ sqlite-users mailing list sqlite-users@sqlite.org http://sqlite.org:8080/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sqlite-users
