Use libsqlite3 directly from Python with ctypes: without using the built-in sqlite3 Python package, and without compiling anything

sqlite.py

# From https://stackoverflow.com/a/68876046/1319998, which is itself inspired by https://stackoverflow.com/a/68814418/1319998

from contextlib import contextmanager
from collections import namedtuple
from ctypes import cdll, byref, string_at, c_char_p, c_int, c_double, c_int64, c_void_p
from sys import platform


def query(db_file, sql, params=()):
    libsqlite3 = cdll.LoadLibrary({'linux': 'libsqlite3.so', 'darwin': 'libsqlite3.dylib'}[platform])
    libsqlite3.sqlite3_errstr.restype = c_char_p
    libsqlite3.sqlite3_errmsg.restype = c_char_p
    libsqlite3.sqlite3_column_name.restype = c_char_p
    libsqlite3.sqlite3_column_double.restype = c_double
    libsqlite3.sqlite3_column_int64.restype = c_int64
    libsqlite3.sqlite3_column_blob.restype = c_void_p
    libsqlite3.sqlite3_column_bytes.restype = c_int64
    SQLITE_ROW = 100
    SQLITE_DONE = 101
    SQLITE_TRANSIENT = -1
    SQLITE_OPEN_READWRITE = 0x00000002

    bind = {
        type(0): libsqlite3.sqlite3_bind_int64,
        type(0.0): libsqlite3.sqlite3_bind_double,
        type(''): lambda pp_stmt, i, value: libsqlite3.sqlite3_bind_text(pp_stmt, i, value.encode('utf-8'), len(value.encode('utf-8')), SQLITE_TRANSIENT),
        type(b''): lambda pp_stmt, i, value: libsqlite3.sqlite3_bind_blob(pp_stmt, i, value, len(value), SQLITE_TRANSIENT),
        type(None): lambda pp_stmt, i, _: libsqlite3.sqlite3_bind_null(pp_stmt, i),
    }

    extract = {
        1: libsqlite3.sqlite3_column_int64,
        2: libsqlite3.sqlite3_column_double,
        3: lambda pp_stmt, i: string_at(
            libsqlite3.sqlite3_column_blob(pp_stmt, i),
            libsqlite3.sqlite3_column_bytes(pp_stmt, i),
        ).decode(),
        4: lambda pp_stmt, i: string_at(
            libsqlite3.sqlite3_column_blob(pp_stmt, i),
            libsqlite3.sqlite3_column_bytes(pp_stmt, i),
        ),
        5: lambda pp_stmt, i: None,
    }

    def run(func, *args):
        res = func(*args)
        if res != 0:
            raise Exception(libsqlite3.sqlite3_errstr(res).decode())

    def run_with_db(db, func, *args):
        if func(*args) != 0:
            raise Exception(libsqlite3.sqlite3_errmsg(db).decode())

    @contextmanager
    def get_db(db_file):
        db = c_void_p()
        run(libsqlite3.sqlite3_open_v2, db_file.encode(), byref(db), SQLITE_OPEN_READWRITE, None)
        try:
            yield db
        finally:
            run_with_db(db, libsqlite3.sqlite3_close, db)

    @contextmanager
    def get_pp_stmt(db, sql):
        pp_stmt = c_void_p()
        run_with_db(db, libsqlite3.sqlite3_prepare_v3, db, sql.encode(), -1, 0, byref(pp_stmt), None)
        try:
            yield pp_stmt
        finally:
            run_with_db(db, libsqlite3.sqlite3_finalize, pp_stmt)

    with \
            get_db(db_file) as db, \
            get_pp_stmt(db, sql) as pp_stmt:

        for i, param in enumerate(params):
            run_with_db(db, bind[type(param)], pp_stmt, i + 1, param)

        row_constructor = namedtuple('Row', (
            libsqlite3.sqlite3_column_name(pp_stmt, i).decode()
            for i in range(0, libsqlite3.sqlite3_column_count(pp_stmt))
        ))

        while True:
            res = libsqlite3.sqlite3_step(pp_stmt)
            if res == SQLITE_DONE:
                break
            if res != SQLITE_ROW:
                raise Exception(libsqlite3.sqlite3_errstr(res).decode())

            yield row_constructor(*(
                extract[libsqlite3.sqlite3_column_type(pp_stmt, i)](pp_stmt, i)
                for i in range(0, len(row_constructor._fields))
            ))

Usage example:

for row in query('my.db', 'SELECT * FROM my_table WHERE a = ?;', ('b',)):
    print(row)

This was super helpful....thanks! I used this code in a project that allows you to adjust the date/time/timezone of photos in Apple Photos app by directly modifying the Photos database. This is impossible with python's builtin sqlite3 due to persistent locks, trigger madness, etc. But it worked beautifully with your code!

@RhetTbull Pleased it’s helpful!

(I’m curious though, do you have more details on the locking/trigger issues it solves? I didn’t write it with any such issues in mind…)

(I’m curious though, do you have more details on the locking/trigger issues it solves? I didn’t write it with any such issues in mind…)

So I was wrong about the trigger issue (those are still there, just hadn't run into them yet). Because the database I'm editing is actually an Apple CoreData database, it has a triggers which call code in the parent app which obviously fail when triggered outside the app. That still happens with your implementation.

The locking issue is that Apple Photos has a background process photolibraryd that maintains a lock on the database (Photos does background processing on the photos even if the app isn't closed, for example, to identify faces and other objects in the photos). Even in read-only mode, the Python sqlite3 package sometimes refuses to open the database due to the existing lock. The lock isn't exclusive and I could access the database directly from the command line using sqlite3 so I knew this wasn't a sqlite issue but a python issue. I was solving it by copying the database first which caused other issues. Using your code solved this and I'm now able to write to the database even while Photos is using it. (Whether or not this is wise is another story...)

@RhetTbull Thanks for the info...

(Whether or not this is wise is another story...)

I guess I don't know! I would have thought that the code here would respect locks just as Python's sqlite3 module would, so I think something's happening that I don't quite understand...