Full-text Search in SQLite

In SQLite, Full-text-Search or FTS5 is an extension used in database management systems to efficiently search and retrieve information or data from a large dataset. Other searching techniques might consume more time than the FTS searching techniques.

While core SQLite features are small in number, SQLite provides a vast number of extensions that extend its features to fulfill the requirement. Full-text search extensions or FTS5 is an extension pre-installed in SQLite.

We usually work with a virtual table rather than an actual table in the case of FTS5 extensions. We commonly copy the data from the actual table into the virtual table. All the changes made in the actual table are also made in the virtual table.

Syntax:

SELECT * 
FROM table_name
WHERE table_name MATCH 'exampleSearch';

Note: This is one of the way to implement FTS5. We will see some more ways to implement FTS5 in further points discussed in this article.

SQLite is serverless architecture which means it does not requires any type of server to be installed on the system. It is also a relational database management system which stores the data into tabular or relational manner. It is used in embedded software and useful for the small and medium scale applications.

In this article we will learn about the Full-Text Search in detail along with their implementations and examples and so on. After reading this article you will have decent knowledge about the Full-Text Search and you will able to perform various operations.