Android SQLite “no such table” exception with external DB

Question

I have followed several tutorials on importing an external SQLite DB on an Android App and it looks I do everything "good" but I always get the same error:

Caused by: android.database.sqlite.SQLiteException: no such table: games (code 1): , while compiling: SELECT * FROM games

I created the DB on "DB Browser for SQLite: Here

I saved the DB as "testDB.db" and I put it on "assets" folder of Android Studio Project.

Here the code:

public class DatabaseHelper extends SQLiteOpenHelper{

   private static String DB_NAME = "testDB.db";
   SQLiteDatabase mDb;
   private final Context myContext;

   //The Android's default system path
   private static String DB_PATH = "/data/data/com.example.jack.testimport/databases/";

   public DatabaseHelper(Context context) {
       super(context, DB_NAME, null, 1);
       this.myContext = context;
   }

   public void createDataBase() throws IOException{
       boolean dbExist = checkDataBase();
       if(dbExist){
           //do nothing - database already exist
       }else{
           mDb = this.getReadableDatabase();
           if (mDb.isOpen()){
               mDb.close();
           }

           try {
               copyDataBase();
           } catch (IOException e) {
               throw new Error("Error copying database");
           }
       }

   }


   public boolean checkDataBase(){
       File dbFile = myContext.getDatabasePath(DB_NAME);
       return dbFile.exists();
   }


   private void copyDataBase() throws IOException{
       InputStream myInput = myContext.getAssets().open(DB_NAME);

       String outFileName = DB_PATH + DB_NAME;

       OutputStream myOutput = new FileOutputStream(outFileName);

       byte[] buffer = new byte[1024];
       int length;
       while ((length = myInput.read(buffer))>0){
           myOutput.write(buffer, 0, length);
       }

       //Close the streams
       myOutput.flush();
       myOutput.close();
       myInput.close();
   }

   public void openDataBase() throws SQLException{
       String myPath = DB_PATH + DB_NAME;
       mDb = SQLiteDatabase.openDatabase(myPath, null, SQLiteDatabase.OPEN_READONLY);
   }

   @Override
   public synchronized void close() {
       if(mDb != null)
           mDb.close();
       super.close();
   }

   @Override
   public void onCreate(SQLiteDatabase db) {
   }

   @Override
   public void onUpgrade(SQLiteDatabase db, int oldVersion, int newVersion) {
   }

   //Query all data:
   public Cursor fetchGames(){
       return mDb.query("games", null,null,null,null,null,null);
   }

   public static String getDbName(){
       return DB_NAME;
   }

}

And from my activity I call this method:

int counter=0;
DatabaseHelper myDbHelper = new DatabaseHelper(ImportDatabase.this);

try {
   myDbHelper.createDataBase();
} catch (IOException ioe) {
   throw new Error("Unable to create database");
}
try {
    myDbHelper.openDataBase();
    counter=myDbHelper.fetchGames().getCount();
} catch (SQLException sqle) {
    throw sqle;
}

Counter is always 0 and I get the error on top of this thread. I tried to clean/rebuild the project, delete all data and reinstalling the app, changing the path, I followed all the related question (so I hope you don't report it as duplicate), etc...I'm becoming crazy! What can I do to fix this error?

Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

I've tested your code working in my device. But,

1. Can you test with my createDatabase method next few line of code?

   public void createDataBase() throws IOException{
       try
       {
           openDataBase();
       }catch(SQLException se)
       {
       }
   
       //if database does exists
       if(mDb != null)
       {
           //close it before open
           mDb.close();
       }
       else
       {
           //if the database does not exists..onCreate method will be called
           this.getReadableDatabase();
           //copy it from the assets directory.
           copyDataBase();
       }
   }
   

2. Is 'com.example.jack.testimport' your package name in your AndroidManifest.xml?

You would get such an error message when your database is located in a different location from your package like 'com.example.jack' for example.

Your database location must be

'/data/data/[package name in your AndroidManifest.xml]/databases/'

I got a similar message with yours.

I've got a message above when my database path is "com.tobee.myapp.db" and my package location is "com.tobee.myapp".

I hope this will help..