F/OSS Flat-File Database?

Leemeng writes "I'm looking for a simple, free, and F/OSS flat-file database program. I'm storing info about Wi-Fi access points that I come across, maybe 8-9 fields per entry. I've outgrown Notepad. This info is for my own reference only; it is not going on a Web server. Googling was unhelpful, with results skewed towards SQL, Access (MS), and Oracle, all of which would be overkill for my purposes. My criteria are: it must be simple, F/OSS, must work in Windows Vista, preferably use a portable format, must not be an online app, and must not require Java. Does such a beast exist?"

Comments

Python?

[fyngyrz]

Can't be Java... well, how about Python?

Here is a completely free (PD, not GPL-style "you're free to do as we tell you") database engine that will do what you have described thus far.

The database engine is about 19k bytes (not a typo), has no dependencies (other than Python itself), supports a useful subset of SQL so you can actually create flexible queries that produce well-sorted results from your database, and it works everywhere Python does, which is to say, it works pretty much everywhere. It's just as happy operating on a command line as it is on a web server. The results (the actual databases) are 100% portable from OS to OS. I use it on various linuxes, OS X, and Windows for tasks very similar to yours.

Comes with tutorial examples, sample databases and extensive docs. In a 13k (not a typo) archive.

:-)

Re:Python?

[fyngyrz]

No, it isn't just that. It is used to show that what you are quoting is verbatim, for instance in cases where an assertion is unique, questionable, or worded unusually. This also works for obvious spelling errors, of course.

Re:Python?

[fyngyrz]

Why not sqlite?

• SQLite isn't present or compiled in, in all Python installations, 2.5 or otherwise
• At 800k, it's about 50x the size of class dbtxt (executable)
• Source is huge compared to class dbtxt, so maintainance is not easy
• SQLite is considerably more difficult to use (it's also more capable, though)

That's all I have for ya, offhand. ;-)

Re:Python?

[ehrichweiss]

Well that assertion was a massive FAIL. I make quite a living thanks to the GPL and I know tons of others who do the same.

Re:Python?

[dixonpete]

There's an add-on for Firefox that makes SQlite use fairly painless: SQLite Manager. Brilliant work.

Re:Python?

[smilindog2000]

I'll throw out a shameless plug for something totally unsuitable for what the poster wants: datadraw. It's an in-memory super-high-performance (think raw C code or better - not SQL), database generator that I've not only had a lot of fun with, but which now supports well over 1M lines of algorithmic code - some of the most high performance stuff around.

Re:Python?

[smilindog2000]

Grr... some shameless link! Should have checked it: datadraw

Re:Python?

[jhol13]

dbtxt can only handle ASCII (<128 so even ISO-8859-1, etc. are no-no). This can be killer (it is for me).

Other than that the dbtxt looks very nice indeed.

Re:Python?

[Binary Boy]

Never used a self join? I mean I'm no relational database theorist, so maybe you're correct on some level, but one can certainly create relationships between data stored in a single table.

Re:Python?

[poopdeville]

No, he's completely wrong. A relation is a subset of the Cartesian product of sets. And one can form the Cartesian product of a set with itself. For example, the plane is realized by the product RxR.

Err ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Comma Separated Variable Text Files, as exported and imported by Excel. You can get libraries to read and write these, and search these in most languages.

Otherwise what's wrong with a simple database like MySQL or PostgreSQL on your computer?

Re:Err ...

[pthisis]

We have even worst problems; it'll turn

Smith,John,703-555-5555

into
Smith,John,-5407

The latter being 703 minus 555 minus 5555.
when importing a CSV file. No joke. There are ways around it, but the default is pretty braindead.

Re:Err ...

[CheeseTroll]

Another way around that is to open Excel first, then do File > Open to open the .csv file. That should force Excel to use the import Wizard, which lets you specify those columns as text, rather than assuming that they're numbers or an equation.

That's what I do in Excel 2003, anyway, to stop it from stripping the leading zeros in SSNs.

OOO?

[iamhigh]

it must be simple, F/OSS, must work in Windows Vista, preferably use a portable format, must not be an online app, and must not require Java. Does such a beast exist Maybe this will do? I think it meets all your needs. You can even use it with a web app if desired. Some functionality may need Java, but most doesn't. I don't know what parts of OOO are Java-driven, but I am sure somebody here does!

sqlite

[nguy]

Sqlite is used in many apps (including Firefox), it's small, and it's efficient. It also has bindings to just about every imaginable language.

I find it amazing that you didn't come across it in Googling...

Re:SQLite

[Quartz25]

Python 2.5 comes with SQLite3, so you don't even have to install it separately.

Re:sqlite

[kingbyu]

There is an add-on to Firefox called SQLite Manager that makes managing your own little database quite a bit easier than typing sql commands on a command line:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5817

SQLite

[kcbanner]

Get it http://www.sqlite.org/ here.
There are GUI clients that work fine for this sort of thing, SQL is simple for doing basic things. One file, one database.

Spreadsheet

[benwb]

Open office should do the trick.

SQLIte or BDB

[willyhill]

I'd recommend SQLite or Berkley DB. I've used BDB on a couple of projects where I needed to basically store an enormous hashtable that could be read quickly by key, and I don't think anything else comes close to the speed of that thing.

BDB is *not* a relational database though, it's just a storage/indexing engine, which is used most notably by MySQL as a backend. SQLite on the other hand is a full file-based RDBMS with a small runtime, so it might be a bit of overkill for you in this particular scenario.

But both of them run on Windows, Linux and the BSDs, so you won't have portability problems. And most languages have bindings for them.

GDBM

[jschmerge]

If you're doing simple Key,Record storing, try GDBM (or one of its analogs: DBM, NDBM). IIRC, it's included as part of glibc. The interface for it is analogous to that of a hash table... In fact there's even native Perl support for tying hash tables to GDBM.

If that doesn't satisfy your need, take a look at Berkley DB. It offers a more sophisticated interface than DBM.

Re:Python comes with SQLite

[spookymonster]

Just get Python, and use the version of SQLite that comes with it:

import sqlite3
mydb = sqlite3.connect('sample.db')
mydb.execute("create table contacts (fname text, lname text, email text)")

mydb.execute("insert into contacts values('Spooky','Monster','spook@spammity.spam')")

mydb.commit()
mydb.close()

You can then use the free and open SQLite database browser to browse, edit, and print your table.

You may think you're keeping it simple by using a flat file, but you're really not. It may be somewhat easier to manually edit, but it's also easier to screw up, and I've never heard of one with the ability to undo changes.

Try Metakit

[kawabago]

Metakit is a small footprint database that might fit your needs. Metakit

sed, awk, and grep...

[mikelieman]

echo "badger, badger, badger, badger, snake" >> my_file

Why are we trying to promote python?

[tknd]

He doesn't need python. He just needs a database. He can download a precompiled binary for windows that allows one to work with the database at the command line. Python is not necessary.

And if the command line is too much, as others have noted there is already a convenient firefox extension for graphically interacting with a sqlite database.

Berkeley?

[mindstrm]

Berkely DB?

Spectate Swamp Desktop Search

[SpectateSwamp]

Been searching flat files with this open source VB5 program since 1999. Searches flat files at 20,000,000 cps displaying hi-lited hits in matching lines only or full context mode. Results can be exported to a results file. Append txt files together. Search and replace option. Run multiple versions with various default settings. I have been yapping and yapping about flat files, only to get great amounts of resistance from the Geeks. The search uses lots of defaults and quick keys (for typists). From startup to shutdown nothing is faster. Channel9 and thedailyWTF.com have the best threads. Check it out. It's the only program you'll ever need