What is a DB-WAL file?
The file extension .db-wal is associated with SQLite, a popular open-source relational database management system. The WAL file format (short for Write-Ahead Log) is an alternative to the traditional rollback journal used by SQLite. It provides more concurrency control, allowing multiple processes to read the database at the same time, while still providing crash-recovery capabilities. The .db-wal file is used to store changes made to the database that have not yet been committed to the main database file (with .db extension).
General WAL Format
In the WAL (Write-Ahead Log) file format, changes made to the database are first written to the WAL file before being committed to the main database file. This allows for more concurrent access to the database, as multiple processes can read from the database while changes are being made. Additionally, the WAL file format provides crash-recovery capabilities, allowing the database to be rolled back to a previous state in the event of an unexpected shutdown.
Difference between DB-WAL and WAL format
Both .db-wal and WAL file formats are associated with SQLite, a popular open-source relational database management system. However, there is a subtle difference between the two.
The .db-wal file is essentially a WAL file, but with a different file extension. The .db-wal file is used to store changes made to the database that have not yet been committed to the main database file (with .db extension), while WAL file format is used to store the write-ahead log of the database changes.
In other words, a .db-wal file is a specific type of WAL file that is used by SQLite databases to store changes made to the database that have not yet been committed to the main database file. The WAL file format is the general term for this type of file format.
So, WAL is the general term for the file format, .db-wal is a specific implementation of the WAL file format used by SQLite databases.
