Using SQLite

Advanced Example: weblog Module

Now that we’ve seen a very simple example of a virtual table module, you should have some idea of how they work. Although our dblist module was a good introduction to how virtual tables operate, it isn’t a very representative example.

To provide a more advanced and realistic example, we’re going to look at a second example module. This module is known as weblog, and is designed to parse Apache httpd server logs and present them to the database engine as a virtual table. It will parse the default Apache combine or common logfile formats, or any other logfile that matches this format. Apache logfiles are cross-platform and reasonably common. Many people have access to logfiles with a decent amount of interesting data, allowing this example to be a bit more hands-on.

Be warned that some of the code explanations will be a bit brief. Although the functions are larger, much of the code involves rather basic housekeeping-type tasks, such as string scanning. Rather than focus on these parts, most of the descriptions will focus on how the code interacts with the SQLite library. Many of the housekeeping details will be, as they say, left as an exercise for the reader.

The weblog module is designed as an external read-only module. The module gets all of its data directly from a web server logfile, making it dependent on external resources to provide data. The module does not let you modify those data sources, however.

A weblog virtual table would be created with ...