dbTableFromDataFrame: Create a table in a SQLite database from a data frame

In RSQLite.toolkit: Load Data in SQLite from Tabular Files

Create a table in a SQLite database from a data frame

Description

The dbTableFromDataFrame() function reads the data from a rectangula region of a sheet in an Excel file and copies it to a table in a SQLite database. If table does not exist, it will create it.

Usage

dbTableFromDataFrame(
  df,
  dbcon,
  table_name,
  id_quote_method = "DB_NAMES",
  col_names = NULL,
  col_types = NULL,
  drop_table = FALSE,
  auto_pk = FALSE,
  build_pk = FALSE,
  pk_fields = NULL
)

Arguments

df	the data frame to be saved in the SQLite table.
dbcon	database connection, as created by the dbConnect function.
table_name	character, the name of the table.
id_quote_method	character, used to specify how to build the SQLite columns' names using the fields' identifiers read from the input file. For details see the description of the quote_method parameter of the format_column_names() function. Defautls to DB_NAMES.
col_names	character vector, names of the columuns to be imported. Used to override the field names derived from the data frame (using the quote method selected by id_quote_method). Must be of the same length of the number of columns in the data frame. If NULL the column names coming from the input (after quoting) will be used. Defaults to NULL.
col_types	character vector of classes to be assumed for the columns. If not null, it will override the data types inferred from the input data frame. Must be of the same length of the number of columns in the input. If NULL the data type inferred from the input will be used. Defaults to NULL.
drop_table	logical, if TRUE the target table will be dropped (if exists) and recreated before importing the data. if FALSE, data from input data frame will be appended to an existing table. Defaults to FALSE.
auto_pk	logical, if TRUE, and pk_fields parameter is NULL, an additional column named SEQ will be added to the table and it will be defined to be ⁠INTEGER PRIMARY KEY⁠ (i.e. in effect an alias for ROWID). Defaults to FALSE.
build_pk	logical, if TRUE creates a ⁠UNIQUE INDEX⁠ named ⁠<table_name>_PK⁠ defined by the combination of fields specified in the pk_fields parameter. It will be effective only if pk_fields is not null. Defaults to FALSE.
pk_fields	character vector, the list of the fields' names that define the ⁠UNIQUE INDEX⁠. Defaults to NULL.

Value

integer, the number of records in table_name after reading data from the data frame.

Examples

# Create a temporary database and load data frame
# Set up database connection
dbcon <- dbConnect(RSQLite::SQLite(), file.path(tempdir(), "example.sqlite"))

# Create a sample data frame
sample_data <- data.frame(
  id = 1:10,
  name = paste0("Item_", 1:10),
  value = runif(10, 1, 100),
  active = c(TRUE, FALSE),
  date = Sys.Date() + 0:9,
  stringsAsFactors = FALSE,
  row.names = NULL
)

# Load data frame with automatic primary key
dbTableFromDataFrame(
  df = sample_data,
  dbcon = dbcon,
  table_name = "SAMPLE_DATA",
  drop_table = TRUE,
  auto_pk = TRUE  
)

# Check the imported data
dbListFields(dbcon, "SAMPLE_DATA")
dbGetQuery(dbcon, "SELECT * FROM SAMPLE_DATA LIMIT 5")

# Load with column selection and custom naming
dbTableFromDataFrame(
  df = sample_data,
  dbcon = dbcon,
  table_name = "SAMPLE_SUBSET",
  drop_table = TRUE,
  col_names = c("ID", "ITEM_NAME", "ITEM_VALUE", "IS_ACTIVE", "DATE_CREATED")
)

dbGetQuery(dbcon, "SELECT * FROM SAMPLE_SUBSET LIMIT 5")

# Clean up
dbDisconnect(dbcon)

RSQLite.toolkit documentation built on Sept. 2, 2026, 9:06 a.m.