mdb-sql(1)

1mdb-sql(1)           Executable programs or shell commands          mdb-sql(1)
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NAME

6       mdb-sql - SQL interface to MDB Tools
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SYNOPSIS

9       mdb-sql [-HFp] [-d delimiter] [-i file] [-o file] [database]
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DESCRIPTION

13       mdb-sql is a utility program distributed with MDB Tools.
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15       mdb-sql  allows  querying of an MDB database using a limited SQL subset
16       language.
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OPTIONS

19       -H     Supress header row.
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21       -F     Supress footer row.
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23       -p     Turn off pretty printing. By default results are printed  in  an
24              ascii  table  format  which  looks  nice but is not conducive to
25              manipulating the output with unix tools. This option prints out‐
26              put plainly in a tab separated format.
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28       -d     Specify  an  alternative  column  delimiter.  If no delimiter is
29              specified, columns will be  delimited  by  a  tab  character  if
30              pretty  printing  (-p)  is  turned  off.  If  pretty printing is
31              enabled this option is meaningless.
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33       -i     Specify an input file. This option allows an input file contain‐
34              ing the SQL to be passed to mdb-sql.  See Notes.
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36       -o     Specify an output file. This option allows the name of an output
37              file to be used instead of stdout.
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COMMANDS

40       mdb-sql in interactive mode takes some special commands.
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42       connect to <database>
43              If no database was specified on the command line this command is
44              necessary  before  any  querys  are  issued.  It also allows the
45              switching of databases once in the tool.
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47       disconnect
48              Will disconnect from the current database.
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50       go     Each batch is sent to the parser using the 'go' command.
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52       reset A batch can be cleared using the 'reset' command.
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54       list tables
55              The list tables command will display a list of available  tables
56              in  this database, similar to the mdb-tables utility on the com‐
57              mand line.
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59       describe table <table>
60              Will display the column information for the specified table.
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62       quit   Will exit the tool.
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SQL LANGUAGE

65       The currently implemented SQL subset is quite  small,  supporting  only
66       single  table  queries,  no  aggregates,  and limited support for WHERE
67       clauses. Here is a brief synopsis of the supported language.
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69       select:
70              SELECT [* | <column list>] FROM <table> WHERE <where clause>
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72       column list:
73              <column> [, <column list>]
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75       where clause:
76              <column> <operator> <literal> [AND <where clause>]
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78       operator:
79              =, =>, =<, <>, like, <, >
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81       literal:
82              integers, floating point numbers, or string  literal  in  single
83              quotes
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NOTES

86       When  passing a file (-i) or piping output to mdb-sql the final 'go' is
87       optional. This allow constructs like
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89       echo "Select * from Table1" | mdb-sql mydb.mdb
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91       to work correctly.
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93       The -i command can be passed the string 'stdin' to test  entering  text
94       as if using a pipe.
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ENVIRONMENT

97       MDB_JET3_CHARSET
98              Defines  the charset of the input JET3 (access 97) file. Default
99              is CP1252. See iconv(1).
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101       MDBICONV
102              Defines the output charset. Default is UTF-8. mdbtools must have
103              been compiled with iconv.
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105       MDBOPTS
106              semi-column separated list of options:
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108              ·  use_index
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110              ·  no_memo
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112              ·  debug_like
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114              ·  debug_write
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116              ·  debug_usage
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118              ·  debug_ole
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120              ·  debug_row
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122              ·  debug_props
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124              ·  debug_all is a shortcut for all debug_* options
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HISTORY

127       mdb-sql first appeared in MDB Tools 0.3.
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AUTHORS

135       The mdb-sql utility was written by Brian Bruns.
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BUGS

138       The supported SQL syntax is a very limited subset and deficient in sev‐
139       eral ways.
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143MDBTools 0.7.1                   28 July 2020                       mdb-sql(1)