Open DB File

Android and DB files

DB file extension has a generic meaning of database. This makes it popular with application and operating system manufacturers as a file extension for different kinds of structured data files.

Android, an operating system used on mobile devices, uses DB files in many native applications, for example, for backups of the contact book, SMS Backups, the image gallery and some others.

Even third-party programmers prefer DB file extension for their databases, either for final data, input data, or as an intermediate temporary database.

Depending on an application, the internal format of each DB file may differ greatly and cannot be manipulated in the same way.

Android provides multiple mechanisms to store data in a structured way and one of them is in the form of SQLite database file. SQLite is a lightweight, autonomous, open-source, transactional SQL database engine with simple configuration. Without a server, which is characterized by storing persistent information in a simple way, SQLite, thanks to its characteristics, differs from other database managers, providing great advantages over them when used in mobile development environment.

Likewise, since it is in the public domain, it is free for both private and commercial purposes, it can be downloaded freely from its official sqlite.org site. It is important to mention that SQLite has several APIs for programming languages including: Java, C ++, and JavaScript.

SQLite offers several advantages for application and operating system data storage:

• It is ideal for constructing and storing data in a structured way.
• The content is updated continuously, so that the work is not lost in case of a power failure or a blockage.
• A compatibility advantage that other database engines cannot offer, so that a large number of programs, written in different programming languages, can access the same application file without compatibility problems.
• Privacy is an important issue and SQLite can encrypt DB files.
• The DB databases generated with SQLite are lightweight, which is important for applications that need to interact with the data on devices with lower performance.

SQLite DB files are present on most of the modern Android devices and their use grows as more Android devices are being shipped. If you need details about SQLite DB file format you can refer to the Library of Congress SQLite specification or official sqlite.org site.