Python Essential Reference, Second Edition

Data Management and Object Persistence

The modules in this section are used to store data in a variety of DBM-style database formats. These databases operate like a large disk-based hash table in which objects are stored and retrieved using unique keys represented by standard strings. Most of these modules are optional Python extensions that require third-party libraries and that must be enabled when Python is built. See Appendix B, “Extending and Embedding Python,” for details on enabling optional modules.

All the databases are opened using a variation of the open() function (defined in each database module):

					open(filename
					[,
					flag
					[,
					mode]])
				

Opens the database file filename and returns a database object. flag is 'r' for read-only access, ...