sqlite3 - how to list out database name using .databases command?

Question

I'm a fresher of rails and SQLite.

Here is my scenario: I had sqlite3 installed on my Windows Vista machine. A blog application code had also been implemented at c:\rails\blog. I brought up my command prompt and went directly to c:\rails\blog\db. I ran the command sqlite3 to enter the database console. when I used the .databases command, no database was listed out? Why? What have I done wrong?

Answer 1

You probably didn't open the database itself

sqlite3 database.db

Remember, that in SQLite a database is just a file. As long as you don't open or attach one, there is no open one. On the other hand when you just open the database .databases feels a kind of useless, because you know which one you just opened.

Answer 2

You must provide the database (path and) name to the sqlite3 command, e.g.,

Dev e$ sqlite3 my_test.db
SQLite version 3.7.7 2011-06-23 19:49:22
Enter ".help" for instructions
Enter SQL statements terminated with a ";"
sqlite> .databases
seq  name             file                                                      
---  ---------------  ----------------------------------------------------------
0    main             /Users/e/Dev/my_test.db                                   
sqlite>