Support SQLite on Cordova 3.2.0 (Android, iOS and Windows Phone)

This article focuses on how to support SQLite (Web SQL) on the following platforms:

• Android
• iOS
• Windows Phone

Why should a SQLite Plugin used in Cordova?

• To follow the HTML5 Web SQL API as close as possible.
• To support Web SQL on Windows Phone.
• To deal with the same javascript functions on every platform.
• Fail-safe nested transactions with batch processing optimisations.
• Keeps sqlite database in a user data location that is known, can be reconfigured, and iOS will be backed up by iCloud.
• Works with SQLCipher for encryption.

  Limitations of SQLite on Windows Phone

• Drop table is not working, seems like a bug in the .NET or C# SQLite library. To work around this, empty the table instead of dropping it.
• A high number of features in C# SQLite are disabled.
• Missing failure-safe transaction mechanism.
• Not (yet) working with SQLCipher for encryption.

What do I have to change in my existing applications?

Not much.

Just replace "window.openDatabase" with "window.sqlitePlugin.openDatabase".

Don't forget to take a look at the limitations of Windows Phone Plugin.

How to install the SQLite Plugin

There are so many SQL Plugins available. I choose "lite4cordova", because it supports Cordova 3.x, it is easy to install and it is still in development.

• https://github.com/lite4cordova/Cordova-SQLitePlugin
• https://github.com/lite4cordova/Cordova-SQLitePlugin-WP-2013.12

The second project is an extension of "Cordova-SQLitePlugin", because Windows Phone is not working on "Cordova-SQLitePlugin" yet.

Windows Phone 8

If you are starting to develop for Windows Phone, have a look at this article first.

To setup the project, type the following commands in the command line:

$ cordova create hello com.example.hello Hello
$ cd hello
$ cordova platform add wp8
$ cordova plugin add https://github.com/lite4cordova/Cordova-SQLitePlugin-WP-2013.12.git

Remove all files in "hello/www", except "config.xml".
Copy the testfile to "hello/www".

To build the project type the following commands in the command line:

$ cd hello
$ cordova build

Finish! Open and run the project, execute the testfile to see if all works fine.

Android and iOS

To setup the project, type the following commands in the command line:

$ cordova create hello com.example.hello Hello
$ cd hello
$ cordova platform add android
$ cordova platform add ios
$ cordova plugin add https://github.com/lite4cordova/Cordova-SQLitePlugin.git

Remove all files in "hello/www", except "config.xml".
Copy the testfile to "hello/www".

To build the project type the following commands in the command line:

$ cd hello
$ cordova build

Finish! Open and run the project, execute the testfile to see if all works fine.