Starting with the 0.21.0 release POPFile uses a SQLite 2.x database to store the corpus, the magnets and other data. POPFile's SQLite database is a single file, usually called 'popfile.db'. The SQLite library includes a simple command-line utility called sqlite.exe which is shipped with the Windows version of POPFile.

Although the SQLite website describes this as a “simple” utility, it is very powerful so any mistakes made when using it could seriously damage the POPFile database and stop POPFile from working properly.

The POPFile installer creates a shortcut (“Run SQLite utility”) in the 'User Data' folder to make it easy to use the SQLite command-line utility. The utility runs in a DOS-box and the necessary commands have to be typed into the DOS-box to make the utility do anything, so the installer provides some user-friendly front-ends for this utility which can be used instead:

• POPFile SQLite Database Status Check utility
• POPFile Run SQLite Utility

Two common uses for the sqlite.exe command-line utility are checking the integrity of an SQLite database and defragmenting an SQLite database. The utility also allows advanced users to manually enter and execute SQL commands against an SQLite database.

A tutorial on how to use this utility can be found on the SQLite website but that particular page has now been updated to describe the sqlite3.exe utility which is not compatible with POPFile's SQLite database.

If you want to know more about the POPFile-compatible version of the sqlite command-line utility there is an introduction, based upon old information from the SQLite web site.

Be very careful if you decide to use this utility - a simple mistake made while using it could stop POPFile from working.