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F/OSS Flat-File Database?

Posted by kdawson on from the no-relation dept.

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?"

7 of 702 comments (clear)

  1. Python? by fyngyrz · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

    :-)

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    1. Re:Python? by ehrichweiss · · Score: 5, Informative

      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.

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      0x09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0
    2. Re:Python? by dixonpete · · Score: 5, Informative

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

  2. OOO? by iamhigh · · Score: 5, Informative

    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!
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    No comprende? Let me type that a little slower for you...
  3. sqlite by nguy · · Score: 5, Informative

    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...

    1. Re:sqlite by kingbyu · · Score: 5, Informative

      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

  4. Why are we trying to promote python? by tknd · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.