dbas_sqlite

Flutter plugin that provides access to SQLite databases for Android, iOS, macOS, Linux, Windows and Web platforms.

Previously published as dbas_sqlite_flutter (≤ 1.x) under the repository name DBAS.SQLite.Flutter. Both the pub package and GitHub repo now use dbas_sqlite.

Features

Cross-Platform Support

Android - Native library integration
iOS - xcframework with optimized performance
macOS - xcframework for both development and production
Linux - Native shared libraries
Windows - DLL integration
Web - WASM SQLite via dedicated Web Worker with OPFS persistence

Connection Pool (WAL Mode)

openDb() automatically creates a C-level connection pool with 1 writer + 4 readers (configurable)
WAL mode enables concurrent reads and writes
Pool is fully transparent -- no API changes needed
Reads automatically use pool readers; writes use the dedicated writer
Falls back to single connection if pool creation fails or readerPoolSize = 0
Native pool has mutex-protected reader acquire/release for thread safety
The writer is pinned to PRAGMA synchronous=FULL and PRAGMA wal_autocheckpoint=1 when it enters WAL, so every commit folds the WAL back into the main .db file — committed data is always present in the file a copy, a backup or streamCopyDb reads, instead of sitting in the -wal. Measured cost: about +2.2 ms per commit (~3.5× on a 2000-commit write loop). The cost is per commit, not per row, so batch bulk writes into a single transaction — N writes inside one transaction pay for one checkpoint. closeDb() and streamCopyDb() checkpoint on their own; checkpoint() is public for anything that reads the .db file by other means
Web uses an equivalent multi-worker pool (1 writer + N reader Web Workers, each its own SQLite connection, coordinated via a SharedArrayBuffer-backed WAL SHM) so reads and writes run on separate connections just like native. Requires the page to be cross-origin isolated — see Web Setup; without it the web side falls back to a single connection (no read/write concurrency)

Thread Safety & Parallel Readers

Writer lock: serializes all write operations (executeSql, transactions) on both web and native
Independent readers: each executeReader call returns a DbasSqliteReader with its own pool connection -- multiple readers can be active simultaneously
Pool readers are acquired non-blocking; if all are busy, the reader falls back to the writer connection
Transactions hold the writer lock for their full duration
Reads within a transaction use the writer connection to see uncommitted data
Readers must be closed explicitly via reader.close() (or auto-closed when readRow() returns false) before the connection can be reused
closeDb() automatically closes all active readers, then releases all locks and unblocks any pending operations -- no risk of use-after-free on lingering readers

Background FFI Worker (Native)

All heavy FFI operations (executeSql, prepareQuery, readRow, openDb, closeDb) run on a dedicated background isolate
Column data is pre-fetched into a Dart-side cache after each readRow -- getColumn* calls are synchronous reads from Dart memory, not FFI round-trips
Bind operations remain synchronous on the main isolate for performance

True Streaming I/O (Web)

attachStreamDb(stream): Streams a database to OPFS chunk by chunk via attachStreamBegin/attachStreamChunk/attachStreamEnd with ACK-based backpressure. The complete file is never buffered in Dart memory -- critical for large databases (500 MB+)
getContent(): Streams the database from OPFS chunk by chunk. Supports both Transferable Streams (Chrome/Firefox) and chunked postMessage fallback (Safari)
streamCopyDb(destDbName): Copies between OPFS files chunk by chunk

Database Operations

Lifecycle
- getInstance(dbName:) - Get singleton instance for a database
- openDb({readerPoolSize}) - Open database with connection pool
- closeDb() - Close database connection (automatically closes all active readers, rolls back any open transaction, then folds the WAL into the main .db file)
- isOpened() - Check connection status
- getAppDatabasePath() - Get platform-specific database path
- databaseExists() - Check if the database file exists
- dropDb() - Delete the database file (including WAL and SHM)
Database Content
- attachDb(bytes) - Attach a database from raw bytes
- attachStreamDb(stream) - Attach a database from a byte stream
- streamCopyDb(destDbName) - Stream-copy database to a new name (checkpoints first, so the copy is self-contained — only the main .db file is copied)
- getContent() - Get the raw bytes of the database file
- checkpoint() - Fold committed WAL frames into the main .db file. Returns a DbasSqliteCheckpointResult (busy, log, checkpointed, isComplete). Read isComplete (checkpointed == log) — busy is not a success signal: a PASSIVE checkpoint that folds nothing because a reader pins the WAL still reports busy: 0 and SQLITE_OK. An incomplete fold is recoverable, not an error: the pinned frames fold at the next opportunity
SQL Execution
- prepareQuery(sql) - Prepare one statement, returns a DbasSqliteStatement. Everything after the first ; is silently discarded — no rc, no exception, no log — so a multi-statement string must go to executeScript instead
- executeSql(sql, {params, nameParams}) - Execute DDL/DML statements with optional positional or named parameters. One statement per call, same limit as prepareQuery
- executeReader(sql, {params, nameParams}) - Prepare a SELECT query, returns an independent DbasSqliteReader
- executeScript(sql) - Run a whole multi-statement script via sqlite3_exec. The only call that executes more than one statement. No bindings (the text must be complete — never interpolate untrusted values), result rows are discarded, execution stops at the first failing statement with everything before it already applied, and there is no atomicity across the script unless you wrap it: await db.transaction((tx) => tx.executeScript(sql)). Returns the last row-changing statement's change count, not a total
Transactions
- beginTransaction({strict = false}) - Begin a new transaction. Idempotent by default: if one is already active this joins it (no second hold on the writer lock). strict: true never joins — it parks on the writer-lock queue until the active transaction ends, then issues its own BEGIN. A strict: true call from the flow that already owns the transaction is a self-deadlock and fails with writerLockWaitTimeout
- startedCurrentTransaction - Whether the last beginTransaction() issued a real BEGIN or took the join path. Read it right after the await, and use it to decide whether ending the transaction is your job: if (db.startedCurrentTransaction) await db.commit();
- commit() - Commit the current transaction (idempotent). Pre-flights the writer connection first and throws commitBlockedByInFlightOperation / commitBlockedByActiveReader rather than committing out from under an unfinished write or an open writer-routed reader. There is no reference counting — a joiner's commit() ends the transaction for everyone
- rollback() - Rollback the current transaction (idempotent). Drains in-flight writes first, then issues ROLLBACK
- transaction(action) - Execute an action within a transaction with automatic commit/rollback
- isInTransaction - Check if a transaction is currently active

Data Retrieval (`DbasSqliteReader`)

readRow() - Advance to next row (true if available, false and auto-closes when done)
readRows([amount = 50]) - Read up to amount rows in one call. Returns a record ({rows, hasMore}) where rows is List<Map<String, ColumnData>> (column name → typed ColumnData) and hasMore is the result of the last readRow (true = more rows may follow, false = result set exhausted)
close() - Manually close the reader and release its connection
Column Access (with nullable variants)
- getColumnText(index) / getColumnNullableText(index) - Get string value
- getColumnInt(index) / getColumnNullableInt(index) - Get integer value
- getColumnBool(index) / getColumnNullableBool(index) - Get boolean value
- getColumnDouble(index) / getColumnNullableDouble(index) - Get double value
- getColumnDecimal(index) / getColumnNullableDecimal(index) - Get decimal value
- getColumnDateTime(index) / getColumnNullableDateTime(index) - Get DateTime value
- getColumnTime(index) / getColumnNullableTime(index) - Get Duration value
- getColumnEnum<T>(index, values) / getColumnNullableEnum<T>(index, values) - Get enum value
- getColumnBlob(index) / getColumnNullableBlob(index) - Get binary data
- getColumnValue(index) - Get typed value based on SQLite column type
- isColumnNull(index) - Check if column is NULL
- getColumnType(index) - Get column data type
- getColumnName(index) - Get column name
- getColumnCount() - Get number of columns

Query Information

getLastInsertedId() - Get last inserted row ID

Installation

Add to your pubspec.yaml:

dependencies:
  dbas_sqlite: ^2.8.4

Or install with the Dart CLI:

flutter pub add dbas_sqlite

Setup

Mobile & Desktop

No additional setup required. Native libraries are automatically bundled.

Web Setup

The WASM module and Web Workers are bundled as Flutter assets and loaded automatically by the plugin. Requires a modern browser with OPFS persistence (Chrome 86+, Firefox 111+, Safari 15.2+) served over HTTPS or localhost.

Cross-origin isolation is required for the connection pool. The web pool runs multiple Web Workers that share WAL state through a SharedArrayBuffer, which the browser only exposes when the document is cross-origin isolated (crossOriginIsolated === true). Enable it one of two ways:

Server headers (recommended for production): serve the app with Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy: same-origin and Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy: require-corp on the document response.
coi-serviceworker.js (works on any host, including flutter run — no header config): the plugin ships this file at web/libs/coi-serviceworker.js, and scripts/sqlite/sync_sqlite_lib.(ps1|sh) copies it to the example's web root. For your own app, copy coi-serviceworker.js into your web/ folder and load it first in web/index.html, as a plain (non-async) script before the Flutter bootstrap:
```
<head>
  <base href="$FLUTTER_BASE_HREF">
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <script src="coi-serviceworker.js"></script>
  
</head>
```
It registers a service worker that injects the COOP/COEP headers and reloads the page once. For release builds, build with flutter build web --pwa-strategy=none so Flutter's own service worker doesn't take the root scope from it.

Why the web root? A service worker can only control pages within its own URL path, and isolation must apply to the root document — so coi-serviceworker.js must be served from /coi-serviceworker.js, not as a deep /assets/packages/... package asset.

If the page is not cross-origin isolated, the plugin logs the reason (channel dbas_sqlite.lifecycle) and falls back to a single Web Worker (one SQLite connection). The app still runs, but loses read/write concurrency — a write blocked behind an open read cursor can fail with SQLITE_BUSY.

Usage

Basic Example

import 'package:dbas_sqlite/dbas_sqlite.dart';

// Get database instance
final db = await DbasSqlite.getInstance(dbName: 'myapp.db');

// Open database (creates pool with WAL mode)
await db.openDb();

// Create table
final createStmt = await db.prepareQuery('''
  CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS users (
    id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
    name TEXT NOT NULL,
    email TEXT UNIQUE,
    age INTEGER
  )
''');
try {
  await createStmt.executeSql();
} finally {
  await createStmt.close();
}

// Insert with positional parameters
final insertStmt = await db.prepareQuery(
  'INSERT INTO users (name, email, age) VALUES (?, ?, ?)',
);
try {
  await insertStmt.executeSql(params: ['John Doe', 'john@example.com', 30]);
  print('Inserted user with id: ${insertStmt.getLastInsertedId()}');
} finally {
  await insertStmt.close();
}

// Query data
final selectStmt = await db.prepareQuery('SELECT * FROM users WHERE age > ?');
try {
  final reader = await selectStmt.executeReader(params: [25]);
  try {
    while (await reader.readRow()) {
      final name = reader.getColumnText(0);
      final email = reader.getColumnNullableText(1);
      final age = reader.getColumnInt(2);
      print('$name ($email) - age: $age');
    }
  } finally {
    await reader.close();
  }
} finally {
  await selectStmt.close();
}

await db.closeDb();

Statement Reuse

A prepared statement can be executed many times with different params — the bind buffer is replayed against a fresh native handle on each call:

final stmt = await db.prepareQuery('INSERT INTO users (name) VALUES (?)');
try {
  for (final name in ['Alice', 'Bob', 'Carol']) {
    await stmt.executeSql(params: [name]);
  }
} finally {
  await stmt.close();
}

Named Parameters

final stmt = await db.prepareQuery(
  'INSERT INTO users (name, email, age) VALUES (:name, :email, :age)',
);
try {
  await stmt.executeSql(nameParams: {
    'name': 'Jane Smith',
    'email': 'jane@example.com',
    'age': 28,
  });
} finally {
  await stmt.close();
}

// By default, extra named parameters not present in the SQL are silently
// ignored (C#/SQLite behavior). To throw instead:
db.throwOnMissingNamedParams = true;

Rich Types

import 'package:decimal/decimal.dart';

// Supports Decimal, bool, DateTime, Duration, Enum and Blob
final insStmt = await db.prepareQuery(
  'INSERT INTO products (name, price, active) VALUES (?, ?, ?)',
);
try {
  await insStmt.executeSql(
    params: ['Widget', Decimal.parse('19.99'), true],
  );
} finally {
  await insStmt.close();
}

final selStmt = await db.prepareQuery('SELECT name, price, active FROM products');
try {
  final reader = await selStmt.executeReader();
  try {
    while (await reader.readRow()) {
      final name = reader.getColumnText(0);
      final price = reader.getColumnDecimal(1);
      final active = reader.getColumnBool(2);
      print('$name - \$$price (active: $active)');
    }
  } finally {
    await reader.close();
  }
} finally {
  await selStmt.close();
}

Transactions

// Automatic commit/rollback
await db.transaction((tx) async {
  final stmt = await tx.prepareQuery('INSERT INTO users (name) VALUES (?)');
  try {
    await stmt.executeSql(params: ['Alice']);
    await stmt.executeSql(params: ['Bob']);
  } finally {
    await stmt.close();
  }
});

// Manual control
await db.beginTransaction();
try {
  final stmt = await db.prepareQuery('INSERT INTO users (name) VALUES (?)');
  try {
    await stmt.executeSql(params: ['Alice']);
  } finally {
    await stmt.close();
  }
  await db.commit();
} catch (_) {
  await db.rollback();
  rethrow;
}

// A helper that may or may not be called inside someone else's
// transaction: begin, then only end what you actually started.
await db.beginTransaction();
final owned = db.startedCurrentTransaction; // read before the next await
try {
  // ...writes...
  if (owned) await db.commit();
} catch (_) {
  if (owned) await db.rollback();
  rethrow;
}

commit() pre-flights the writer connection: every write started inside the transaction must be awaited, and every reader opened inside it (once the transaction has written, reads route to the writer connection for read-your-writes) must be closed, before commit() is called. Otherwise it throws commitBlockedByInFlightOperation / commitBlockedByActiveReader and leaves the transaction untouched — committing there would end the transaction and hand the writer lock to the next waiter while that work is still running on the connection. Neither error is transient: finish the work, then commit again. rollback() does not throw for this — it drains in-flight writes and then rolls back, because it is also the cleanup path used by closeDb().

Multi-Statement Scripts

prepareQuery / executeSql run exactly one statement — everything after the first ; is dropped at prepare time, silently and with a success return. Use executeScript for anything that holds more than one statement (runtime DDL plus its indexes, a migration step, a pragma block):

// Not atomic on its own — wrap it when it must be all-or-nothing.
await db.transaction((tx) => tx.executeScript('''
  CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS orders (
    id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
    user_id INTEGER NOT NULL REFERENCES users(id),
    total TEXT NOT NULL
  );
  CREATE UNIQUE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS ix_orders_user ON orders (user_id, id);
  PRAGMA foreign_keys = ON;
'''));

The script takes no bindings (sqlite3_exec has no bind surface), so build parameterised SQL with prepareQuery instead and never interpolate untrusted values into a script. Result rows are discarded — a SELECT in a script runs and yields nothing. Execution stops at the first statement that fails, and every statement before it has already run; outside a transaction those are already committed and nothing can take them back. The return value is the change count of the last row-changing statement, not a total for the script.

WAL & Checkpoints

Every commit folds the WAL into the main .db file, and closeDb() / streamCopyDb() fold on their own, so committed data is in the file that a copy or backup reads. When you read, copy or ship the .db file by other means, checkpoint explicitly and check the result:

final result = await db.checkpoint();
if (!result.isComplete) {
  // A reader is pinning a WAL snapshot: `result.log - result.checkpointed`
  // frames stay in the -wal and fold at the next opportunity. Nothing
  // committed is lost, but a copy of the main .db file alone would be
  // missing them right now — close in-flight readers and try again.
}

isComplete (checkpointed == log) is the only honest test. result.busy is not: a PASSIVE checkpoint that folds nothing still reports busy: 0 and success. checkpoint() throws checkpointInsideTransaction if a transaction is open — SQLite refuses to checkpoint a connection holding one, so it would fold nothing.

Connection Pool

// Default: 4 readers (WAL mode)
await db.openDb();

// Custom pool size
await db.openDb(readerPoolSize: 8);

// Single connection (no pool)
await db.openDb(readerPoolSize: 0);

Stream Copy

// Copy database to a backup
await db.streamCopyDb('myapp_backup.db');

Error Handling

All public API calls on DbasSqlite, DbasSqliteStatement, and DbasSqliteReader throw a single DbasSqliteException on failure (implements Exception). It carries:

DbasSqliteErrorCode code — stable, one unique value per throw site (e.g. bindPositionalFailed, statementClosed, transactionAlreadyActive). Useful for telemetry IDs and test assertions.
int? sqliteCode — SQLite primary result code (e.g. 19 for SQLITE_CONSTRAINT, 5 for SQLITE_BUSY). null for Dart-side failures.
int? sqliteUniqueCode — SQLite extended result code, the unique discriminator within a primary code (e.g. 2067 for SQLITE_CONSTRAINT_UNIQUE, 787 for SQLITE_CONSTRAINT_FOREIGNKEY). null when the platform didn't queue an extended rc.
String message — human-readable description.
Object? cause / StackTrace? causeStackTrace — non-null when the exception wraps an underlying failure (the rollback-failed paths of rollback() / commit() / transaction()).

Two derived enums make recovery branching ergonomic:

DbasSqliteErrorCategory (coarse) — notOpened, busyOrCancelled, prepareFailed, executeFailed, bindFailed, transactionFailed, readerStateFailed, decodeFailed, internal.
DbasSqliteSubCategory (fine, SQLite-aware) — derived from sqliteUniqueCode ?? sqliteCode, so the extended rc wins over the primary. Maps to semantic values: databaseBusy, tableLocked, duplicatedData (UNIQUE/PRIMARY KEY/ROWID violations), foreignKeyViolation, notNullViolation, checkViolation, corruptDatabase, diskFull, readOnlyDatabase, rangeError, valueTooLarge, and ~20 more.

try {
  await stmt.executeSql(params: ['alice@example.com']);
} on DbasSqliteException catch (e) {
  switch (e.subCategory) {
    case DbasSqliteSubCategory.duplicatedData:
      // Email already exists — show "use a different address".
      break;
    case DbasSqliteSubCategory.foreignKeyViolation:
      // Referenced row missing — abort or repair.
      break;
    case DbasSqliteSubCategory.databaseBusy:
      // Transient — retry after a backoff.
      break;
    default:
      // Inspect e.code, e.sqliteCode, e.sqliteUniqueCode, e.message,
      // and e.cause for the rest. For wrapped failures
      // (transactionRollbackAlsoFailed), e.cause holds the original
      // exception with its own code/subCategory.
      rethrow;
  }
}

DbasSqliteStatement also exposes getLastErrorCode() and getLastUniqueErrorCode() — int? accessors parallel to the existing getLastError() — populated after every executeSql / executeReader. Useful when an exception is routed through a generic handler and the statement is later inspected for telemetry without rethrowing.

openDb() is idempotent — a second call on an already-open instance is a no-op. Calling it with a different readerPoolSize than the original throws DbasSqliteException with code openDbReopenWithDifferentPoolSize.

Minimum Platform Versions

Platform	Minimum Version
Android	API 35
iOS	16.0
macOS	13.0 (Ventura)
Linux	x86_64
Windows	x86_64
Web	Modern browsers with OPFS support

Platform Notes

iOS/macOS: Uses xcframework for optimal performance
Android: Native library automatically included (NDK r29)
Windows/Linux: Dynamic libraries bundled with app
Web: WASM module runs in a dedicated Web Worker with OPFS persistence. All heavy operations are serialized through the worker — column data is cached in Dart memory after each readRow for synchronous access

License

This project is licensed under the terms specified in the LICENSE file.

dbas_sqlite

Features

Cross-Platform Support

Connection Pool (WAL Mode)

Thread Safety & Parallel Readers

Background FFI Worker (Native)

True Streaming I/O (Web)

Database Operations

Data Retrieval (`DbasSqliteReader`)

Query Information

Installation

Setup

Mobile & Desktop

Web Setup

Usage

Basic Example

Statement Reuse

Named Parameters

Rich Types

Transactions

Multi-Statement Scripts

WAL & Checkpoints

Connection Pool

Stream Copy

Error Handling

Minimum Platform Versions

Platform Notes

License

Libraries

dbas_sqlite package

dbas_sqlite

Features

Cross-Platform Support

Connection Pool (WAL Mode)

Thread Safety & Parallel Readers

Background FFI Worker (Native)

True Streaming I/O (Web)

Database Operations

Data Retrieval (DbasSqliteReader)

Query Information

Installation

Setup

Mobile & Desktop

Web Setup

Usage

Basic Example

Statement Reuse

Named Parameters

Rich Types

Transactions

Multi-Statement Scripts

WAL & Checkpoints

Connection Pool

Stream Copy

Error Handling

Minimum Platform Versions

Platform Notes

License

Libraries

dbas_sqlite package

Data Retrieval (`DbasSqliteReader`)