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## SQLite C Interface

## Serialize a database

>     unsigned char *sqlite3_serialize(
>       sqlite3 *db,           /* The database connection */
>       const char *zSchema,   /* Which DB to serialize. ex: "main", "temp", ... */
>       sqlite3_int64 *piSize, /* Write size of the DB here, if not NULL */
>       unsigned int mFlags    /* Zero or more SQLITE_SERIALIZE_* flags */
>     );

The sqlite3_serialize(D,S,P,F) interface returns a pointer to memory that is a serialization of the S database on database connection D. If P is not a NULL pointer, then the size of the database in bytes is written into *P.

For an ordinary on-disk database file, the serialization is just a copy of the disk file. For an in-memory database or a "TEMP" database, the serialization is the same sequence of bytes which would be written to disk if that database where backed up to disk.

The usual case is that sqlite3_serialize() copies the serialization of the database into memory obtained from sqlite3_malloc64() and returns a pointer to that memory. The caller is responsible for freeing the returned value to avoid a memory leak. However, if the F argument contains the SQLITE_SERIALIZE_NOCOPY bit, then no memory allocations are made, and the sqlite3_serialize() function will return a pointer to the contiguous memory representation of the database that SQLite is currently using for that database, or NULL if the no such contiguous memory representation of the database exists. A contiguous memory representation of the database will usually only exist if there has been a prior call to sqlite3_deserialize(D,S,...) with the same values of D and S. The size of the database is written into *P even if the SQLITE_SERIALIZE_NOCOPY bit is set but no contiguous copy of the database exists.

A call to sqlite3_serialize(D,S,P,F) might return NULL even if the SQLITE_SERIALIZE_NOCOPY bit is omitted from argument F if a memory allocation error occurs.

This interface is omitted if SQLite is compiled with the SQLITE_OMIT_DESERIALIZE option.

See also lists of Objects, Constants, and Functions.