sqflite ffi #

sqflite based ffi implementation. Based on sqlite3. Thanks to Simon Binder

• Works on Linux, MacOS and Windows on both Flutter and Dart VM.
• Works on iOS and Android (using sqlite3_flutter_libs - Thanks to Simon Binder)

It allows also mocking sqflite during regular flutter unit test (i.e. not using the emulator/simulator).

Getting Started #

Dart #

Add the following dev dependency:

dev_dependencies:
  sqflite_common_ffi:

Linux #

libsqlite3 and libsqlite3-dev linux packages are required.

One time setup for Ubuntu (to run as root):

dart tool/linux_setup.dart

or

sudo apt-get -y install libsqlite3-0 libsqlite3-dev

MacOS #

Should work as is.

Windows #

Should work as is in debug mode (sqlite3.dll is bundled).

In release mode, add sqlite3.dll in same folder as your executable.

sqfliteFfiInit is provided as an implementation reference for loading the sqlite library. Please look at sqlite3 if you want to override the behavior.

Web #

Look at package sqflite_common_ffi_web for experimental Web support.

Sample code #

Unit test code #

sqflite_ffi_test.dart:

import 'package:test/test.dart';
import 'package:sqflite_common/sqlite_api.dart';
import 'package:sqflite_common_ffi/sqflite_ffi.dart';

void main() {
  // Init ffi loader if needed.
  sqfliteFfiInit();
  test('simple sqflite example', () async {
    var db = await databaseFactoryFfi.openDatabase(inMemoryDatabasePath);
    expect(await db.getVersion(), 0);
    await db.close();
  });
}

More info on unit testing here

Application #

Make it a normal dependency.

main.dart:

import 'package:sqflite_common/sqlite_api.dart';
import 'package:sqflite_common_ffi/sqflite_ffi.dart';

Future main() async {
  // Init ffi loader if needed.
  sqfliteFfiInit();

  var databaseFactory = databaseFactoryFfi;
  var db = await databaseFactory.openDatabase(inMemoryDatabasePath);
  await db.execute('''
  CREATE TABLE Product (
      id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
      title TEXT
  )
  ''');
  await db.insert('Product', <String, Object?>{'title': 'Product 1'});
  await db.insert('Product', <String, Object?>{'title': 'Product 1'});

  var result = await db.query('Product');
  print(result);
  // prints [{id: 1, title: Product 1}, {id: 2, title: Product 1}]
  await db.close();
}

Example with path_provider

import 'dart:io' as io;
import 'package:path/path.dart' as p;
import 'package:sqflite_common/sqlite_api.dart';
import 'package:sqflite_common_ffi/sqflite_ffi.dart';
import 'package:path_provider/path_provider.dart';

Future main() async {
  // Init ffi loader if needed.
  sqfliteFfiInit();

  var databaseFactory = databaseFactoryFfi;
  final io.Directory appDocumentsDir = await getApplicationDocumentsDirectory();
  
  //Create path for database
  String dbPath = p.join(appDocumentsDir.path, "databases", "myDb.db");
  var db = await databaseFactory.openDatabase(
    dbPath,
  );

  await db.execute('''
  CREATE TABLE Product (
      id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
      title TEXT
  )
  ''');
  await db.insert('Product', <String, Object?>{'title': 'Product 1'});
  await db.insert('Product', <String, Object?>{'title': 'Product 1'});

  var result = await db.query('Product');
  print(result);
  // prints [{id: 1, title: Product 1}, {id: 2, title: Product 1}]
  await db.close();
}

If your existing application uses sqflite on iOS/Android/MacOS, you can also set the proper initialization to have your application work on Linux and windows.

Limitations #

• Database calls are made in a separate isolate,
• Multi-instance support (not common) is simulated
• As another note, getDatabasesPath() has a lame implementation. You'd better rely on a custom strategy using package such as path_provider.