DDMS file explorer can't access data\data (HTC Desire HD)

Question

I'm working on some SQLite code and would like to examine the database. If I run the code on the emulator I am able to pull the file from data\data\myProject\databases using the DDMS file manager but if I run it on actual hardware the data\data folder is inaccessible. Is there any way around this other than gaining root access to the phone?

Answer 1

SQLIte Database is actually just a file stored in phone memory, which you can copy to your phone SD card and then easily access it from your PC. Below is the function which does exactly what you need. Just make sure to change your package name and database name before using function.

public static void backupDatabase() throws IOException {
    //Open your local db as the input stream
    String inFileName = "/data/data/your.package.name/databases/database.sqlite";
    File dbFile = new File(inFileName);
    FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream(dbFile);

    String outFileName = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory()
                                                    + "/database.sqlite";
    //Open the empty db as the output stream
    OutputStream output = new FileOutputStream(outFileName);
    //transfer bytes from the inputfile to the outputfile
    byte[] buffer = new byte[1024];
    int length;
    while ((length = fis.read(buffer))>0){
        output.write(buffer, 0, length);
    }
    //Close the streams
    output.flush();
    output.close();
    fis.close();
}

As you may observe from the code, database is always stored in the folder:

/data/data/your.package.name/databases/

Name (in our example "database.sqlite") is the one you picked when extending SQLiteOpenHelper. Obviously, you also need to replace "your.package.name" with the name of your application package.