Michael Otu

Posted on Apr 13, 2021 • Edited on Nov 22, 2021

Python3 Programming - Exercise 25 - SQLite

#python3 #programming #beginners #tutorial

Python SQLite

In the previous exercise. Exercise 24 (SQL) we discussed SQL and used it to write to and read from the database. In this exercise, we shall make use of a built-in database know as sqlite3. Read more about sqlite3.

Create database and table with

We do believe SQLite Browser has been installed. We shall create a database, sample.db and save it into a folder, we shall use, Sample as the folder name.

Create a table using this script.

CREATE TABLE `profile` (
    `id` INTEGER NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
    `name` TEXT,
    `job` TEXT,
    `skill` TEXT,
    `salary` INTEGER
);

Connect to the database

Before we use the sqlite3 database, we must first import it, then connect to it.

import sqlite3

DATABASE_NAME = 'sample.db'

# create connection
connection = sqlite3.connect(DATABASE_NAME)

Cursor Object

After we create the connection to the database, we then make use of its cursor object to read and write to the database.

# cursor object
cursor = connection.cursor()

Execute

We pass an SQL query and some parameters to the execute method after we have created the cursor object.

SQL query

For the SQL query, it is recommended to use placeholders instead of passing the actual values directly into the query.

# consider some arbitrary query

# don't do this
sql_query = "SELECT * some_tb WHERE `some_field` = 2"

# do this instead
sql_query = "SELECT * some_tb WHERE `some_field` = ?"

# the `?` is a placeholder

Execute method

# profile -> id:int, name:str, job:str, skill:str, salary:int
# `id` is a primary key and auto increments so we shall ignore it

name = "John Doe"
job = "Software Engineer"
skill = "Python Developer"
salary = 3000

# writing and updating has the same effect of
# affectting some rows, else rowcount is -1
# reading rather returns an iterable (a row - tuple)
sql_query = "INSERT INTO `profile` ( `name` , `job` , `skill` , `salary` ) VALUES(?, ?, ?, ?)"

# the second argument is of the form, *parameters,
# remember `*arg`
# there would be a change in the database, so get 
# the number of affected rows with `rowcount` attribute
num_affected_row = cursor.execute(sql_query, name, job, skill, salary).rowcount

# do something if num_affected_row > 0

# consider select query
# for more than one row return, we can use fetchone() to 
# get one row and fetchall to return all rows
sql_query = "SELECT * FROM `profile` "
row_profiles = cursor.execute(sql_query).fetchall()

# do something with row_profiles

Commit

Sure commit here sound familiar, from exercise 23 (Git). Commit means save/write changes made to the database permanently. So after an insert, update or delete you have to commit.

connetion.commit()

Close cursor and connection

After everything, we must close the cursor and close the database. This is done so that the database isn't blocked.

cursor.close()
connection.close()

Full code

import sqlite3

DATABASE_NAME = 'sample.db'

# create connection
connection = sqlite3.connect(DATABASE_NAME)

# cursor object
cursor = connection.cursor()

# profile -> id:int, name:str, job:str, skill:str, salary:int
# `id` is a primary key and auto increments so we shall
# ignore it

name = "John Doe"
job = "Software Engineer"
skill = "Python Developer"
salary = 3000

# insert/write to database
sql_query = "INSERT INTO `profile` ( `name` , `job` , `skill` , `salary` ) VALUES(?, ?, ?, ?)"

# check if there is a change in the database
num_affected_row = cursor.execute(sql_query, name, job, skill, salary).rowcount

if num_affected_row:
    print("profile written to database successful")
else:
    print("profile writing to database unsuccessful")

# save the changes
connetion.commit()

# close cursor and connection
cursor.close()
connection.close()

Reading

import sqlite3

DATABASE_NAME = 'sample.db'

# create connection
connection = sqlite3.connect(DATABASE_NAME)

# cursor object
cursor = connection.cursor()

# read data
sql_query = "SELECT * FROM `profile` "

# check if there is a change in the database
rows = cursor.execute(sql_query).fetchall()

# every row is like a tuple - integer indexed
# if rows will do, since an empty row is `False`
if rows > 0:
    for row in rows:
        id = row[0]
        name = row[1]
        job = row[3]
        skill = row[4]
        salary = row[5]

        print(
            f"ID: {id} - {name} is a(n) {job} specialized in {skill} and earns {salary}")
else:
    print("profile writing to database unsuccessful")

# there is no need to commit here because no changes are made to the database

# close cursor and connection
cursor.close()
connection.close()

Practicals

Use a class if possible

Write a script that returns the number of characters in the entire file and the number of characters on each line. Save these two into a database with the name of the file.
Write a script that returns the document statistics of a given file. The document statistics are the number of lines, number of words number of characters with space and without space.

  file name
  ---------
  Lines      - 8
  Words      - 71
  Char (ws)  - 403
  Char (wos) - 337

Write these into a database

Write a script that backs the content of a file up. Save the back up in the database.

Summary

The concept or steps behind the use of sqlite3 is quite simple.

sqlite3 is a built-in lightweight database
connect to the database
create a cursor object
execute some queries
commit the changes
close cursor and connection

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