Command-Line Client
This page is part of the Getting Started Section. It introduces you to the standalone command-line mode of BaseX.
Contents
Startup
The command-line client can be started as follows:
- Run one of the
basex
orbasex.bat
scripts. - If you have installed BaseX on Windows, click on the BaseX Standalone icon.
Various command-line options are available to simplify batch processing. The start script can be adjusted for individual purposes (e.g. if the default memory limit is too restrictive).
Operations
Create a Database
- To create a database you need an XML document, e.g. factbook.xml.
- Save this document to your working directory.
- Type in the following command to create and open the database:
> CREATE DB factbook factbook.xml
- factbook is the name of the database
- factbook.xml is the initial input of the database
- Where is the database stored?
By default, databases are stored in the basex/data
directory, which is located in your home folder.
Depending on your Configuration, the location of your home folder varies. For example, on a Mac it's /Users/John
, if your name is John.
Execute a Query
The XQUERY command lets you run a query.
- For example, the following query returns all country nodes in the currently opened factbook database.
> XQUERY //country
- You can also run queries in files:
> RUN /Users/John/query.xq
Database Commands
- The following command lists all databases than can be opened by the currently logged in user:
> LIST
- To open an existing database, execute the following:
> OPEN factbook
- To get information on the currently opened database, type:
> INFO
- You can also address a database within your query with the db:open function:
> XQUERY db:open("factbook")//country
- To close the current database, please type:
> CLOSE
- Use the DROP DB command to delete a database:
> DROP DB factbook
Multiple Resources
One database can contain not only a single, but millions of documents. All documents can have a different structure.
With the following commands, you can create an empty database and add two documents. It is also possible to address resources via URLs:
> CREATE DB store
> ADD factbook.xml
> ADD http://files.basex.org/xml/xmark.xml
- Deleting a document from a database is easy, but make sure that the database, which contains the addressed document, is currently opened:
> DELETE factbook.xml
Backup and Restore
- To backup your database, type:
> CREATE BACKUP factbook
- To restore your database, type:
> RESTORE factbook
The backup file is stored in the database directory.
It contains the name of the database and a timestamp: [db-name]-[timestamp].zip
.
If a database is to be restored, and if several backups exist, the backup with the newest timestamp is taken.