Debugging sqlite database on the device

user_323404 0
Viewed 81933

I am presently working on an WiFi application for Android. I am having trouble trying to access the database on the device. Debugging in the emulator doesn't work for me, because there is no WiFi support in the emulator. I tried pulling the database file out of the device by using 

adb pull data/data/package-name/databases/database-name

But I get the error "Permission denied.". In this answer Android: Where are database files stored?, Commonsware has suggested to pull database file by running in debug mode. But it doesn't work too. Any help on how to debug the database without rooting the device would be much appreciated.

adb sqlite android
17 Answers

Although, it's an old question I think it's still relevant and deserves a current state answer. There are tools available, which allow you to inspect databases directly (without the need to pull them from the device or emulator).

The tool, I most recently discovered (and favor most) is Android Debug Database.

You only need to add this dependency:

debugImplementation 'com.amitshekhar.android:debug-db:1.0.3'

No further code is required. After you started your app, open logcat and filter for "DebugDB" and you will find a message saying 

D/DebugDB: Open http://192.168.178.XXX:8080 in your browser

It works with every browser and you can inspect your database tables and shared preferences.

enter image description here

It also works with the default and the Genymotion emulators.

The tool I used before is stetho.

Downside: You need to add a bit of code and you are bound to the Chrome browser.

Advantage: You have the option to also inspect network traffic.

user_20116220

In the new Android Studio 4.1 there is the new Database Inspector.

https://i.ibb.co/9tNM1xg/database-Inspector.gif

You can select the following options from the menu bar View > Tool Windows > Database Inspector to open it (App Inspector in Android Studio 4.2). More detailed instructions can be found in this blog and in Exploring the Database Inspector in Android Studio medium article.

Another way is to use stetho for this. You add the dependency and then can use the Chrome DevTools ( chrome://inspect ) to check the database when the device is plugged in.

user_15408540

Android Studio 4.1 Added a new feature to view/ edit Android SQLite databases.

enter image description here

How to open Database Inspector

To open the Database Inspector in Android Studio, you need to select View > Tool Windows > Database Inspector from the menu bar.

Also you need to run the app to a device running API level 26 or higher.

Using this tool you can

  • Query your databases

  • Modify and debug your database

enter image description here

user_37564080
  1. Open up a terminal
  2. cd <ANDROID_SDK_PATH> (for me on Windows cd C:\Users\Willi\AppData\Local\Android\sdk)
  3. cd platform-tools
  4. adb shell (this works only if only one emulator is running)
  5. cd data/data
  6. su (gain super user privileges)
  7. cd <PACKAGE_NAME>/databases
  8. sqlite3 <DB_NAME>
  9. issue SQL statements (important: terminate them with ;, otherwise the statement is not issued and it breaks to a new line instead.)

Note: Use ls (Linux) or dir (Windows) if you need to list directory contents.

user_17888060
Related