SQLite database creation fails, documentation is unclear

Question

When I add this code to my Android 2.1 Java app, it fails:

db=SQLiteDatabase.openOrCreateDatabase("Locations", null);

Do I need a special permission to create a database, or can anybody provide a suggestion how to find out what goes wrong?

Here is the LogCat output:

04-04 15:04:28.702: DEBUG/ddm-heap(703): Got feature list request
04-04 15:04:29.642: ERROR/Database(703): sqlite3_open_v2("Locations", &handle, 6, NULL) failed
04-04 15:04:29.652: DEBUG/AndroidRuntime(703): Shutting down VM
04-04 15:04:29.662: WARN/dalvikvm(703): threadid=3: thread exiting with uncaught exception (group=0x4001b188)
04-04 15:04:29.662: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(703): Uncaught handler: thread main exiting due to uncaught exception
04-04 15:04:29.702: ERROR/AndroidRuntime(703): java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{com.gormtech.zyx.RejseplanQuick/com.xxx.zyx.xxx.HelloAndroid}: android.database.sqlite.SQLiteException: unable to open database file

Could you be more specific about "it fails", such as posting the Java stack trace? You can access that stack trace via adb logcat, DDMS, or the DDMS perspective in Eclipse. FWIW, I really recommend you use SQLiteOpenHelper rather than manually open the database the way you are, so that you can get assistance for updating your schema when it changes. — CommonsWare
– CommonsWare, Commented Apr 4, 2010 at 12:21
It is very important for me to understand how things work before I start using obscure methods like SQLiteOpenHelper. Otherwise I could easily end up with an app that is unstable or slow, without having any idea why. — Lars D
– Lars D, Commented Apr 4, 2010 at 13:02
I have added logcat output. The error message is that it cannot open the database file, and the GUI behavior is a Force Close. — Lars D
– Lars D, Commented Apr 4, 2010 at 13:09

Vadim Kotov · Accepted Answer · 2017-07-21 10:25:52Z

2

Any app can make a SQLiteDatabase without any special permissions.

I'm a little thrown by your code snippet because in my documents/SDK openOrCreateDatabase (on Context) takes three parameters: name, operating mode and factory. https://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/Context.html

It will be very revealing to see the output of your 'adb logcat'. Either run the adb application from a console, or bring up the LogCat window in Eclipse (it might help to switch to the DDMS Perspective). Run the app, get the failure and paste the later lines here.

edited Jul 21, 2017 at 10:25

Vadim Kotov

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answered Apr 4, 2010 at 12:24

Jim Blackler

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4 Comments

Lars D Over a year ago

I am not using the Context class, but the SQLiteDatabase class, where it only takes 2 parameters.

Jim Blackler Over a year ago

That may well be the source of your difficulty. From a quick look at the source it seems that 'path' parameter taken by the SQLiteDatabase version of openOrCreateDatabase is the 'The full path to the database'. The context version however appears to convert the name to a full path with getDatabasePath(). google.com/codesearch/p?hl=en#uX1GffpyOZk/core/java/android/… It feeds through to the constructor: google.com/codesearch/p?hl=en#uX1GffpyOZk/core/java/android/…

Lars D Over a year ago

It seems to be documented here as a bug: code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=949

Lars D Over a year ago

This solved it: db=this.openOrCreateDatabase("Locations.db", MODE_PRIVATE, null); - thanks

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