Inserting 1000000 rows in sqlite3 database

Question

I want to insert 10,00,000 rows into the database, but the it takes too long time time in insertion like.

e.g. Now I am trying it with 2055 rows and it takes 3 minut

Answer 1

Quick example time why you should do the right thing instead of "wrong". This was tested running on ICS 4.0.4, which has horrible INSERT-performance.

First, a simple SQLiteOpenHelper that creates a table with a UNIQUE constraint on a column to cause conflicts now-and-then.

class SimpleHelper extends SQLiteOpenHelper {
    // InsertHelpers are a really good idea - they format a prepared statement
    // for you automatically.
    InsertHelper mInsert;
    public SimpleHelper(Context context) {
        super(context, "tanika.db", null, 1);
    }
    @Override
    public void onOpen(SQLiteDatabase db) {
        super.onOpen(db);
        mInsert = new InsertHelper(db, "target");
    }
    @Override
    public void onCreate(SQLiteDatabase db) {
        db.execSQL("CREATE TABLE target (\n" +
                "_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT NOT NULL,\n" +
                "val1 TEXT NOT NULL,\n" +
                "val2 TEXT NOT NULL,\n" +
                "val3 TEXT NOT NULL,\n" +
                // Let's make one unique so we can get some juicy conflicts
                "val4 TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE\n" +
                ")");
    }
    @Override
    public void onUpgrade(SQLiteDatabase db, int oldVersion, int newVersion) {
    }
}

Bundled in any old Activity we add the following simple test method:

long test(final int n) {
    long started = System.currentTimeMillis();
    ContentValues values = new ContentValues();

    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
        values.clear();
        // Every 20th insert, generate a conflict in val4
        String val4 = String.valueOf(started + i);
        if (i % 20 == 0) {
            val4 = "conflict";
        }
        values.put("val1", "Value1");
        values.put("val2", "Value2");
        values.put("val3", "Value3");
        values.put("val4", val4);
        mHelper.mInsert.replace(values);
    }
    return System.currentTimeMillis() - started;
}

As you can see, this would cause a conflict every 20th INSERT or so. Calling InsertHelper#replace(..) causes the helper to use a INSERT OR REPLACE on conflicts.

Now, let's run this test code with & without a transaction surrounding it.

class Test1 extends AsyncTask {
    @Override
    protected Long doInBackground(Integer... params) {
        return test(params[0]);
    }
    @Override
    protected void onPostExecute(Long result) {
        System.out.println(getClass().getSimpleName() + " finished in " + result + "ms");
    }
}

class Test2 extends AsyncTask {
    protected Long doInBackground(Integer... params) {
        SQLiteDatabase db = mHelper.getWritableDatabase();
        db.beginTransaction();
        long started = System.currentTimeMillis();
        try {
            test(params[0]);
            db.setTransactionSuccessful();
        } finally {
            db.endTransaction();
        }
        return System.currentTimeMillis() - started;
    }
    @Override
    protected void onPostExecute(Long result) {
        System.out.println(getClass().getSimpleName() + " finished in " + result + "ms");
    }
}

Everything is started like this:

@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.main);

    mHelper = new SimpleHelper(this);
    mHelper.getWritableDatabase(); // Forces the helper to initialize.
    new Test1().execute(2055);
    new Test2().execute(2055);
}

And the results? Without a transaction the INSERTs take 41072ms. With transactions they take 940ms. In short, FFS, start using InsertHelpers and transactions.