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Cordova/PhoneGap sqlite storage - premium enterprise version with legacy support for internal memory improvements and other enhancements

Native interface to sqlite in a Cordova/PhoneGap plugin for Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows 8.1(+)/Windows Phone 8.1(+) with API similar to HTML5/Web SQL API.

This version is available under GPL v3 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt) or premium commercial license.

TBD: no Circle CI or Travis CI working in this version branch.

NOTE: Commercial licenses for Cordova-sqlite-enterprise-free purchased before July 2016 are valid for this version. Commercial licenses for Cordova-sqlite-evcore versions are not valid for this version.

This version is in legacy maintenance status. Only security and extremely critical bug fixes will be considered.

BREAKING CHANGE: Database location parameter is now mandatory

The location or iosDatabaseLocation must be specified in the openDatabase and deleteDatabase calls, as documented below.

IMPORTANT: iCloud backup of SQLite database is NOT allowed

As documented in the "A User’s iCloud Storage Is Limited" section of iCloudFundamentals in Mac Developer Library iCloud Design Guide (near the beginning):

<blockquote> <ul> <li><b>DO</b> store the following in iCloud: <ul> <li>[<i>other items omitted</i>]</li> <li>Change log files for a SQLite database (a SQLite database’s store file must never be stored in iCloud)</li> </ul> </li> <li><b>DO NOT</b> store the following in iCloud: <ul> <li>[<i>items omitted</i>]</li> </ul> </li> </ul> - <cite><a href="https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/General/Conceptual/iCloudDesignGuide/Chapters/iCloudFundametals.html">iCloudFundamentals in Mac Developer Library iCloud Design Guide</a> </blockquote>

How to disable iCloud backup

Use the location or iosDatabaseLocation option in sqlitePlugin.openDatabase() to store the database in a subdirectory that is NOT backed up to iCloud, as described in the section below.

NOTE: Changing BackupWebStorage in config.xml has no effect on a database created by this plugin. BackupWebStorage applies only to local storage and/or Web SQL storage created in the WebView (not using this plugin). For reference: phonegap/build#338 (comment)

Status

Announcements

Highlights

Some apps using this plugin

TBD your app here

Some known deviations from the Web SQL database standard

Known issues

Other limitations

Further testing needed

Some tips and tricks

Common pitfall(s)

Weird pitfall(s)

Angular/ngCordova/Ionic-related pitfalls

Major TODOs

Alternatives

Other versions

Other SQLite adapter projects

Alternative solutions

Usage

General

The idea is to emulate the HTML5/Web SQL API as closely as possible. The only major change is to use window.sqlitePlugin.openDatabase() (or sqlitePlugin.openDatabase()) with parameters as documented below instead of window.openDatabase(). If you see any other major change please report it, it is probably a bug.

NOTE: If a sqlite statement in a transaction fails with an error, the error handler must return false in order to recover the transaction. This is correct according to the HTML5/Web SQL API standard. This is different from the WebKit implementation of Web SQL in Android and iOS which recovers the transaction if a sql error hander returns a non-true value.

Opening a database

To open a database access handle object (in the new default location):

var db = window.sqlitePlugin.openDatabase({name: 'my.db', location: 'default'}, successcb, errorcb);

WARNING: The new "default" location value is NOT the same as the old default location and would break an upgrade for an app that was using the old default value (0) on iOS.

To specify a different location (affects iOS/macOS only):

var db = window.sqlitePlugin.openDatabase({name: 'my.db', iosDatabaseLocation: 'Library'}, successcb, errorcb);

where the iosDatabaseLocation option may be set to one of the following choices:

WARNING: Again, the new "default" iosDatabaseLocation value is NOT the same as the old default location and would break an upgrade for an app using the old default value (0) on iOS.

ALTERNATIVE (deprecated):

with the location option set to one the following choices (affects iOS/macOS only):

No longer supported (see tip below to overwrite window.openDatabase): var db = window.sqlitePlugin.openDatabase("myDatabase.db", "1.0", "Demo", -1);

IMPORTANT: Please wait for the 'deviceready' event, as in the following example:

// Wait for Cordova to load
document.addEventListener('deviceready', onDeviceReady, false);

// Cordova is ready
function onDeviceReady() {
  var db = window.sqlitePlugin.openDatabase({name: 'my.db', location: 'default'});
  // ...
}

The successcb and errorcb callback parameters are optional but can be extremely helpful in case anything goes wrong. For example:

window.sqlitePlugin.openDatabase({name: 'my.db', location: 'default'}, function(db) {
  db.transaction(function(tx) {
    // ...
  }, function(err) {
    console.log('Open database ERROR: ' + JSON.stringify(err));
  });
});

If any sql statements or transactions are attempted on a database object before the openDatabase result is known, they will be queued and will be aborted in case the database cannot be opened.

OTHER NOTES:

TIP:

To overwrite window.openDatabase:

window.openDatabase = function(dbname, ignored1, ignored2, ignored3) {
  return window.sqlitePlugin.openDatabase({name: dbname, location: 'default'});
};

Pre-populated database(s)

Put the database file in the www directory and open the database like (both database location and createFromLocation items are required):

var db = window.sqlitePlugin.openDatabase({name: "my.db", location: 'default', createFromLocation: 1});

IMPORTANT NOTES:

TIP: If you don't see the data from the pre-populated database file, completely remove your app and try it again!

Alternative: You can also use an-rahulpandey / cordova-plugin-dbcopy to install a pre-populated database

Samples and tutorials:

SQL transactions

The following types of SQL transactions are supported by this version:

Single-statement transactions

Sample (with both success and error callbacks):

db.executeSql("SELECT LENGTH('tenletters') AS stringlength", [], function (res) {
  console.log('got stringlength: ' + res.rows.item(0).stringlength);
}, function(error) {
  console.log('SELECT error: ' + error.message);
});

Standard asynchronous transactions

Standard asynchronous transactions follow the HTML5/Web SQL API which is very well documented and uses BEGIN and COMMIT or ROLLBACK to keep the transactions failure-safe. Here is a very simple example from the test suite (with success and error callbacks):

db.transaction(function(tx) {
  tx.executeSql("SELECT UPPER('Some US-ASCII text') AS uppertext", [], function(tx, res) {
    console.log("res.rows.item(0).uppertext: " + res.rows.item(0).uppertext);
  }, function(tx, error) {
    console.log('SELECT error: ' + error.message);
  });
}, function(error) {
  console.log('transaction error: ' + error.message);
}, function() {
  console.log('transaction ok');
});

In case of a read-only transaction, it is possible to use readTransaction which will not use BEGIN, COMMIT, or ROLLBACK:

db.readTransaction(function(tx) {
  tx.executeSql("SELECT UPPER('Some US-ASCII text') AS uppertext", [], function(tx, res) {
    console.log("res.rows.item(0).uppertext: " + res.rows.item(0).uppertext);
  }, function(tx, error) {
    console.log('SELECT error: ' + error.message);
  });
}, function(error) {
  console.log('transaction error: ' + error.message);
}, function() {
  console.log('transaction ok');
});

NOTICE: The tx.executeSql success and error callbacks should take two parameters (first parameter for the transaction object). This is different from the single-statement success and error callbacks described above.

WARNING: It is NOT allowed to execute sql statements on a transaction after it has finished. Here is an example from my Populating Cordova SQLite storage with the JQuery API post:

  // BROKEN SAMPLE:
  db.executeSql("DROP TABLE IF EXISTS tt");
  db.executeSql("CREATE TABLE tt (data)");

  db.transaction(function(tx) {
    $.ajax({
      url: 'https://api.github.com/users/litehelpers/repos',
      dataType: 'json',
      success: function(res) {
        console.log('Got AJAX response: ' + JSON.stringify(res));
        $.each(res, function(i, item) {
          console.log('REPO NAME: ' + item.name);
          tx.executeSql("INSERT INTO tt values (?)", JSON.stringify(item.name));
        });
      }
    });
  }, function(e) {
    console.log('Transaction error: ' + e.message);
  }, function() {
    // Check results:
    db.executeSql('SELECT COUNT(*) FROM tt', [], function(res) {
      console.log('Check SELECT result: ' + JSON.stringify(res.rows.item(0)));
    });
  });

You can find more details and a step-by-step description how to do this right in the Populating Cordova SQLite storage with the JQuery API post:

Multi-part transactions

Sample (with success and error callbacks):

var tx = db.beginTransaction();
tx.executeSql("DROP TABLE IF EXISTS mytable");
tx.executeSql("CREATE TABLE mytable (myfield)");

tx.executeSql("INSERT INTO mytable values(?)", ['test value']);
tx.executeSql("SELECT * from mytable", [], function(tx, res) {
  console.log("Got value: " + res.rows.item(0).myfield);
}, function(tx, e) {
  console.log("Ignore unexpected error callback with message: " + e.message);
  return false;
});

tx.end(function() {
  console.log('Optional success callback fired');
}, function(e) {
  console.log("Optional error callback fired with message: " + e.message);
});

Sample with abort:

var tx = db.beginTransaction();
tx.executeSql("INSERT INTO mytable values(?)", ['wrong data']);
tx.abort(function() {
  console.log('Optional callback');
});

IMPORTANT NOTES:

Background processing

The threading model depends on which version is used:

Sample with PRAGMA feature

First we create a table and add a single entry, then query the count to check if the item was inserted as expected. Note that a new transaction is created in the middle of the first callback.

// Wait for Cordova to load
document.addEventListener('deviceready', onDeviceReady, false);

// Cordova is ready
function onDeviceReady() {
  var db = window.sqlitePlugin.openDatabase({name: "my.db"});

  db.transaction(function(tx) {
    tx.executeSql('DROP TABLE IF EXISTS test_table');
    tx.executeSql('CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS test_table (id integer primary key, data text, data_num integer)');

    // demonstrate PRAGMA:
    db.executeSql("pragma table_info (test_table);", [], function(res) {
      console.log("PRAGMA res: " + JSON.stringify(res));
    });

    tx.executeSql("INSERT INTO test_table (data, data_num) VALUES (?,?)", ["test", 100], function(tx, res) {
      console.log("insertId: " + res.insertId + " -- probably 1");
      console.log("rowsAffected: " + res.rowsAffected + " -- should be 1");

      db.transaction(function(tx) {
        tx.executeSql("select count(id) as cnt from test_table;", [], function(tx, res) {
          console.log("res.rows.length: " + res.rows.length + " -- should be 1");
          console.log("res.rows.item(0).cnt: " + res.rows.item(0).cnt + " -- should be 1");
        });
      });

    }, function(e) {
      console.log("ERROR: " + e.message);
    });
  });
}

NOTE: PRAGMA statements must be executed in executeSql() on the database object (i.e. db.executeSql()) and NOT within a transaction.

Sample with transaction-level nesting

In this case, the same transaction in the first executeSql() callback is being reused to run executeSql() again.

// Wait for Cordova to load
document.addEventListener('deviceready', onDeviceReady, false);

// Cordova is ready
function onDeviceReady() {
  var db = window.sqlitePlugin.openDatabase("Database", "1.0", "Demo", -1);

  db.transaction(function(tx) {
    tx.executeSql('DROP TABLE IF EXISTS test_table');
    tx.executeSql('CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS test_table (id integer primary key, data text, data_num integer)');

    tx.executeSql("INSERT INTO test_table (data, data_num) VALUES (?,?)", ["test", 100], function(tx, res) {
      console.log("insertId: " + res.insertId + " -- probably 1");
      console.log("rowsAffected: " + res.rowsAffected + " -- should be 1");

      tx.executeSql("select count(id) as cnt from test_table;", [], function(tx, res) {
        console.log("res.rows.length: " + res.rows.length + " -- should be 1");
        console.log("res.rows.item(0).cnt: " + res.rows.item(0).cnt + " -- should be 1");
      });

    }, function(e) {
      console.log("ERROR: " + e.message);
    });
  });
}

This case will also works with Safari (WebKit), assuming you replace window.sqlitePlugin.openDatabase with window.openDatabase.

Close a database object

db.close(successcb, errorcb);

It is OK to close the database within a transaction callback but NOT within a statement callback. The following example is OK:

db.transaction(function(tx) {
  tx.executeSql("SELECT LENGTH('tenletters') AS stringlength", [], function(tx, res) {
    console.log('got stringlength: ' + res.rows.item(0).stringlength);
  });
}, function(error) {
  // OK to close here:
  console.log('transaction error: ' + error.message);
  db.close();
}, function() {
  // OK to close here:
  console.log('transaction ok');
  db.close(function() {
    console.log('database is closed ok');
  });
});

The following example is NOT OK:

// BROKEN:
db.transaction(function(tx) {
  tx.executeSql("SELECT LENGTH('tenletters') AS stringlength", [], function(tx, res) {
    console.log('got stringlength: ' + res.rows.item(0).stringlength);
    // BROKEN - this will trigger the error callback:
    db.close(function() {
      console.log('database is closed ok');
    }, function(error) {
      console.log('ERROR closing database');
    });
  });
});

BUG 1: It is currently NOT possible to close a database in a db.executeSql callback. For example:

// BROKEN DUE TO BUG:
db.executeSql("SELECT LENGTH('tenletters') AS stringlength", [], function (res) {
  var stringlength = res.rows.item(0).stringlength;
  console.log('got stringlength: ' + res.rows.item(0).stringlength);

  // BROKEN - this will trigger the error callback DUE TO BUG:
  db.close(function() {
    console.log('database is closed ok');
  }, function(error) {
    console.log('ERROR closing database');
  });
});

BUG 2: If multiple database access objects are opened for the same database and one database access object is closed, the database is no longer available for the other database access objects. Possible workarounds:

Delete a database

window.sqlitePlugin.deleteDatabase({name: "my.db", location: 1}, successcb, errorcb);

location as described above for openDatabase (iOS/macOS only)

Schema versions

The transactional nature of the API makes it relatively straightforward to manage a database schema that may be upgraded over time (adding new columns or new tables, for example). Here is the recommended procedure to follow upon app startup:

IMPORTANT: Since we cannot be certain when the users will actually update their apps, old schema versions will have to be supported for a very long time.

Use with Ionic/ngCordova/Angular

It is recommended to follow the tutorial at: https://blog.nraboy.com/2014/11/use-sqlite-instead-local-storage-ionic-framework/

Documentation at: http://ngcordova.com/docs/plugins/sqlite/

Installing

Windows "Universal" target platform

IMPORTANT: There are issues supporing certain Windows target platforms due to CB-8866:

Old workaround: As an alternative, which will support the ("Mixed Platforms") target, you can use plugman instead with litehelpers / cordova-windows-nufix, as described here.

Old workaround - Using plugman to support "Mixed Platforms"

Then your project in CordovaApp.sln should work with "Mixed Platforms" on both Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1.

Easy install with Cordova CLI tool

npm install -g cordova # if you don't have cordova
cordova create MyProjectFolder com.my.project MyProject && cd MyProjectFolder # if you are just starting
cordova plugin add https://github.com/litehelpers/Cordova-sqlite-evplus-legacy-free

You can find more details at this writeup.

WARNING: for Windows target platform please read the section below.

IMPORTANT: sometimes you have to update the version for a platform before you can build, like: cordova prepare ios

NOTE: If you cannot build for a platform after cordova prepare, you may have to remove the platform and add it again, such as:

cordova platform rm ios
cordova platform add ios

Easy install with plugman tool

plugman install --platform MYPLATFORM --project path.to.my.project.folder --plugin https://github.com/litehelpers/Cordova-sqlite-evplus-legacy-free

where MYPLATFORM is android, ios, or windows.

A posting how to get started developing on Windows host without the Cordova CLI tool (for Android target only) is available here.

Source tree

Manual installation - Android version

These installation instructions are based on the Android example project from Cordova/PhoneGap 2.7.0, using the lib/android/example subdirectory from the PhoneGap 2.7 zipball.

Sample change to res/xml/config.xml for Cordova/PhoneGap 2.x:

--- config.xml.orig	2015-04-14 14:03:05.000000000 +0200
+++ res/xml/config.xml	2015-04-14 14:08:08.000000000 +0200
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
     <preference name="useBrowserHistory" value="true" />
     <preference name="exit-on-suspend" value="false" />
 <plugins>
+    <plugin name="SQLitePlugin" value="io.liteglue.SQLitePlugin"/>
     <plugin name="App" value="org.apache.cordova.App"/>
     <plugin name="Geolocation" value="org.apache.cordova.GeoBroker"/>
     <plugin name="Device" value="org.apache.cordova.Device"/>

Before building for the first time, you have to update the project with the desired version of the Android SDK with a command like:

android update project --path $(pwd) --target android-19

(assuming Android SDK 19, use the correct desired Android SDK number here)

NOTE: using this plugin on Cordova pre-3.0 requires the following changes to SQLitePlugin.java:

diff -u Cordova-sqlite-storage/src/android/io/liteglue/SQLitePlugin.java src/io/liteglue/SQLitePlugin.java
--- Cordova-sqlite-storage/src/android/io/liteglue/SQLitePlugin.java	2015-04-14 14:05:01.000000000 +0200
+++ src/io/liteglue/SQLitePlugin.java	2015-04-14 14:10:44.000000000 +0200
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@
 import java.util.regex.Matcher;
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
-import org.apache.cordova.CallbackContext;
-import org.apache.cordova.CordovaPlugin;
+import org.apache.cordova.api.CallbackContext;
+import org.apache.cordova.api.CordovaPlugin;
 
 import org.json.JSONArray;
 import org.json.JSONException;

Manual installation - iOS version

SQLite library

In the Project "Build Phases" tab, select the first "Link Binary with Libraries" dropdown menu and add the library libsqlite3.dylib or libsqlite3.0.dylib.

NOTE: In the "Build Phases" there can be multiple "Link Binary with Libraries" dropdown menus. Please select the first one otherwise it will not work.

SQLite Plugin

Sample change to config.xml for Cordova/PhoneGap 2.x:

--- config.xml.old	2013-05-17 13:18:39.000000000 +0200
+++ config.xml	2013-05-17 13:18:49.000000000 +0200
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
     <content src="index.html" />
 
     <plugins>
+        <plugin name="SQLitePlugin" value="SQLitePlugin" />
         <plugin name="Device" value="CDVDevice" />
         <plugin name="Logger" value="CDVLogger" />
         <plugin name="Compass" value="CDVLocation" />

Manual installation - Windows "Universal" (8.1) version

Described above.

Quick installation test

Assuming your app has a recent template as used by the Cordova create script, add the following code to the onDeviceReady function, after app.receivedEvent('deviceready');:

  window.sqlitePlugin.openDatabase({ name: 'hello-world.db' }, function (db) {
    db.executeSql("select length('tenletters') as stringlength", [], function (res) {
      var stringlength = res.rows.item(0).stringlength;
      console.log('got stringlength: ' + stringlength);
      document.getElementById('deviceready').querySelector('.received').innerHTML = 'stringlength: ' + stringlength;
   });
  });

Old installation test

Make a change like this to index.html (or use the sample code) verify proper installation:

--- index.html.old	2012-08-04 14:40:07.000000000 +0200
+++ assets/www/index.html	2012-08-04 14:36:05.000000000 +0200
@@ -24,7 +24,35 @@
     <title>PhoneGap</title>
       <link rel="stylesheet" href="master.css" type="text/css" media="screen" title="no title">
       <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="cordova-2.0.0.js"></script>
-      <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="main.js"></script>
+      <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="SQLitePlugin.js"></script>
+
+
+      <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">
+      document.addEventListener("deviceready", onDeviceReady, false);
+      function onDeviceReady() {
+        var db = window.sqlitePlugin.openDatabase("Database", "1.0", "Demo", -1);
+
+        db.transaction(function(tx) {
+          tx.executeSql('DROP TABLE IF EXISTS test_table');
+          tx.executeSql('CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS test_table (id integer primary key, data text, data_num integer)');
+
+          tx.executeSql("INSERT INTO test_table (data, data_num) VALUES (?,?)", ["test", 100], function(tx, res) {
+          console.log("insertId: " + res.insertId + " -- probably 1"); // check #18/#38 is fixed
+          alert("insertId: " + res.insertId + " -- should be valid");
+
+            db.transaction(function(tx) {
+              tx.executeSql("SELECT data_num from test_table;", [], function(tx, res) {
+                console.log("res.rows.length: " + res.rows.length + " -- should be 1");
+                alert("res.rows.item(0).data_num: " + res.rows.item(0).data_num + " -- should be 100");
+              });
+            });
+
+          }, function(e) {
+            console.log("ERROR: " + e.message);
+          });
+        });
+      }
+      </script>
 
   </head>
   <body onload="init();" id="stage" class="theme">

Support

Reporting issues

If you have an issue with the plugin please check the following first:

If you still cannot get something to work, please create a fresh, clean Cordova project, add this plugin according to the instructions above, and try a simple test program.

If you continue to see the issue in a new, clean Cordova project:

Then you can raise the new issue.

Commercial support

You may contact info@litehelpers.net

Unit tests

Unit testing is done in spec.

running tests from shell

To run the tests from *nix shell, simply do either:

./bin/test.sh ios

or for Android:

./bin/test.sh android

To run from a windows powershell (here is a sample for android target):

.\bin\test.ps1 android

Adapters

Lawnchair Adapter

BROKEN: The Lawnchair adapter does not support the openDatabase options such as location or iosDatabaseLocation options and is therefore not expected to work with this plugin.

Common adapter

Please look at the Lawnchair-adapter tree that contains a common adapter, which should also work with the Android version, along with a test-www directory.

Included files

Include the following Javascript files in your HTML:

Sample

The name option determines the sqlite database filename, with no extension automatically added. Optionally, you can change the db filename using the db option.

In this example, you would be using/creating a database with filename kvstore:

kvstore = new Lawnchair({name: "kvstore"}, function() {
  // do stuff
);

Using the db option you can specify the filename with the desired extension and be able to create multiple stores in the same database file. (There will be one table per store.)

recipes = new Lawnchair({db: "cookbook", name: "recipes", ...}, myCallback());
ingredients = new Lawnchair({db: "cookbook", name: "ingredients", ...}, myCallback());

KNOWN ISSUE: the new db options are not supported by the Lawnchair adapter. The workaround is to first open the database file using sqlitePlugin.openDatabase().

PouchDB

The adapter is now part of PouchDB thanks to @nolanlawson, see PouchDB FAQ.

NOTE: The PouchDB adapter has not been tested with the Android version which is using the new Android-sqlite-connector.

Contributing

Community

NOTE: As stated above, patches will NOT be accepted on this project due to potential licensing issues. Issues with reproduction scenarios will help maintain and improve the quality of this plugin for future users. (It is also helpful if you have a pointer to the code that is causing the issue.)

External sources

Contact

info@litehelpers.net