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dbview

A human-readable CLI interface for understanding SQLite database files.

Overview

dbview is a Rust-based command-line tool designed to bridge the gap between opaque database storage and human understanding. Instead of exposing raw SQL queries or requiring database expertise, the tool provides intuitive CLI commands that allow users to explore, summarize, explain, and visualize the contents of a database in a human-friendly manner.

Installation

# Build from source
cargo build --release

# The binary will be at: target/release/dbview

Usage

dbview <database.db> <command> [options]

Commands

Command Description
tables List all tables with row counts
summary Overview of the entire database
schema <table> Show table structure and columns
view <table> Display records in formatted table
stats <table> Column statistics (min, max, avg, etc.)
describe <table> Human-readable table explanation
histogram <table> <column> ASCII histogram for numeric data

Examples

# List all tables
dbview mydata.db tables

# Get database overview
dbview mydata.db summary

# View table schema
dbview mydata.db schema users

# View records with pagination
dbview mydata.db view products --limit 10 --offset 20

# Get column statistics
dbview mydata.db stats orders

# Human-readable description
dbview mydata.db describe users

# Visualize price distribution
dbview mydata.db histogram products price --bins 10

Features

  • 📊 Database Inspection - List tables, columns, data types, and row counts
  • 📄 Human-Readable Views - Display records in clean, formatted tables
  • 🔍 Semantic Explanation - Automatically describe what a table represents
  • 📈 Statistics - Compute meaningful statistics (min, max, avg, counts)
  • 📉 CLI Visualization - ASCII histograms for distributions
  • 🔒 Safe Abstraction - Read-only access, never modifies database

Tech Stack

  • Language: Rust
  • CLI: clap v4
  • Database: rusqlite
  • Tables: comfy-table, tabled
  • Colors: colored
  • Error Handling: anyhow

How to Build a Rust Project (vs Node.js)

Node.js Rust Purpose
npm init cargo init Create project
package.json Cargo.toml Dependencies file
npm install pkg Edit Cargo.toml Add dependencies
index.js src/main.rs Entry point
require('./mod') mod modname; Import modules
node index.js cargo run Run app
- cargo build --release Build binary

Key difference: Rust compiles to a standalone binary - no runtime needed!

License

MIT