sqlite - how to check if table exists before completing inserts?

Question

What is the best SQL for a SQLite database to effectively do:

If Database Table Exists then
  - create table
  - insert row
  - insert row (i.e. for startup data)
end

answered here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1601151/how-do-i-check-in-sqlite-whether-a-table-exists — krystan honour, Apr 25 '12 at 09:07

score 32 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 25 '12 at 09:40

32

To check that your table exists or not, you can use:

SELECT * FROM sqlite_master WHERE name ='myTable' and type='table';

answered Apr 25 '12 at 09:40

Yaqub Ahmad

1

ok - so you think it best to keep the inserts as separate sql statements I assume? thanks – Greg Apr 25 '12 at 10:00
For TEMP tables, you must look at sqlite_temp_master. – PatchyFog Dec 18 '12 at 16:06

score 9 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 25 '17 at 16:53

9

You can let Sqlite itself check this out for you:

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS <table_name> ...;

answered Aug 25 '17 at 16:53

Nery Jr

2

This is the way! – Rodney Salcedo Sep 13 '17 at 20:16
Well for the database itself yes but what if I have lot of things to do in the app before even calling this? I can save compute time and resources if I am able to check before. – Dareon Oct 08 '17 at 10:24
This is the right answer! – JChen___ Oct 21 '21 at 09:17

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 20 '13 at 09:29

5

Use this code

SELECT name FROM sqlite_master WHERE type='table' AND name='yourTableName';

if returning array count is equal to 1 its means table exist else not exist.

answered Dec 20 '13 at 09:29

asmad

3 Answers3