Commands

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This article is part of the Getting Started Section. It lists all database commands supported by BaseX.

Commands can be executed from the Command Line, as part of Scripts, via the Clients, REST, the input field in the GUI, and other ways. If the GUI is used, all commands that are triggered by the GUI itself will show up in the Info View. The Permission fields indicate which rights are required by a user to perform a command in the client/server architecture.

Basics[edit]

Command Scripts[edit]

On command line, multiple commands can be written down in a single line (separated by semicolons). You can also put them into a command script: Database commands in both string and XML syntax can be placed in a text file and stored as file with the BaseX command script suffix .bxs. If the path to a script file is passed on to BaseX on command-line, or if it is opened in the GUI editor, it will be recognized and evaluated as such.

String Syntax[edit]

Lines starting with # are interpreted as comments and are skipped. With the following script, a database is created, two documents are added to it, and a query is performed:

CREATE DB test
ADD TO embedded.xml <root>embedded</root>
# run query
XQUERY <hits>{ count(//text()) }</hits>
CLOSE

XML Syntax[edit]

The string syntax is limited when XML snippets need to be embedded in a command, or when complex queries are to be specified.

The XML syntax provides more flexibility here. Multiple commands can be enclosed by a <commands/> root element. Some commands, such as ADD, allow you to directly embed XML documents. If you want to embed XML in XQuery expressions, entities should be encoded, or the CDATA syntax should be used:

<commands>
  <create-db name='test'/>
  <add path='embedded.xml'><root>embedded</root></add>
  <!-- run query -->
  <xquery><![CDATA[
    <hits>{ count(//text()) }</hits>
  ]]></xquery>
  <close/>
</commands>

Glob Syntax[edit]

Some commands support the glob syntax to address more than one database or user. Question marks and asterisks can be used to match one or more characters, and commas can be used to separate multiple patterns. Some examples:

  • AB? addresses all names with the characters AB and one more character.
  • *AB addresses all names ending with the characters AB.
  • X*,Y*,Z* addresses all names starting with the characters X, Y, or Z.

Valid Names[edit]

Names of databases and users follow the same constraints: Names must at least have one printable character, including letters, numbers, and any of the special characters !#$%&'()+-=@[]^_`{}~. The following characters are disallowed:

  • ,?*: glob syntax
  • ;: Separator for multiple database commands on the command line
  • \/: Directory path separators
  • :"<>|: invalid filename characters on Windows
  • Names starting or ending with .: hidden folders (e.g. the .logs directory)

Aliases[edit]

In all commands, the DB keyword can be replaced by DATABASE.

Database Operations[edit]

CREATE DB[edit]

Syntax CREATE DB [name] ([input])
XML Syntax    <create-db name='...'>([input])</create-db>
Permission CREATE
Summary Creates a new database with the specified name and, optionally, an initial input, and opens it. An existing database will be overwritten.
The input can be a file or directory path to XML documents, a remote URL, or a string containing XML:

If you need to add initial resources, it is always faster to supply them at creation time than adding them in a subsequent step via ADD.

Errors The command fails if a database with the specified name is currently used by another process, if one of the documents to be added is not well-formed or if it cannot be parsed for some other reason.
Examples
  • CREATE DB input
    creates an empty database input.
  • CREATE DB xmark http://files.basex.org/xml/xmark.xml
    creates the database xmark, containing a single initial document called xmark.xml.
  • CREATE DATABASE coll /path/to/input
    creates the database coll with all documents found in the input directory.
  • SET INTPARSE false and CREATE DB input input.xml
    creates a database input with input.xml as initial document, which will be parsed with Java's default XML parser.
  • <create-db name='simple'><hello>Universe</hello></create-db>
    creates a database named simple with an initial document <hello>Universe</hello>.

OPEN[edit]

Syntax OPEN [name]
XML Syntax    <open name='...'/>
Permission READ
Summary Opens the database specified by name.
Errors The command fails if the specified database does not exist, is currently being updated by another process, or cannot be opened for some other reason.

CHECK[edit]

Syntax CHECK [input]
XML Syntax    <check input='...'/>
Permission READ/CREATE
Summary This convenience command combines OPEN and CREATE DB: If a database with the name input exists, and if there is no existing file or directory with the same name that has a newer timestamp, the database is opened. Otherwise, a new database is created; if the specified input points to an existing resource, it is stored as initial content.
Errors The command fails if the addressed database could neither be opened nor created.

CLOSE[edit]

Syntax CLOSE
XML Syntax    <close/>
Permission READ
Summary Closes the currently opened database.
Errors The command fails if the database files could not be closed for some reason.

LIST[edit]

Syntax LIST ([name] ([path]))
XML Syntax    <list (name='...' (path='...'))/>
Permission NONE
Summary Lists all available databases. If name is specified, the resources of a database are listed. The output can be further restricted to the resources matching the specified path.
If database resources are listed, the size is either the number of nodes (for XML resources) or the number of bytes (for binary resources).
Errors The command fails if the optional database cannot be opened, or if the existing databases cannot be listed for some other reason.

DIR[edit]

Syntax DIR ([path]))
XML Syntax    <dir (path='...')/>
Permission READ
Summary Lists directories and resources of the currently opened database and the specified path.
If database resources are listed, the size is either the number of nodes (for XML resources) or the number of bytes (for binary resources).

EXPORT[edit]

Syntax EXPORT [path]
XML Syntax    <export path='...'/>
Permission CREATE
Summary Exports all documents in the database to the specified file path, using the serializer options specified by the EXPORTER option.
Errors The command fails if no database is opened, if the target path points to a file or is invalid, if the serialization parameters are invalid, or if the documents cannot be serialized for some other reason.

CREATE INDEX[edit]

Syntax CREATE INDEX [TEXT|ATTRIBUTE|TOKEN|FULLTEXT]
XML Syntax    <create-index type='text|attribute|token|fulltext'/>
Permission WRITE
Summary Creates the specified Value Index. The current Index Options will be considered when creating the index.
Errors The command fails if no database is opened, if the specified index is unknown, or if indexing fails for some other reason.

DROP INDEX[edit]

Syntax DROP INDEX [TEXT|ATTRIBUTE|TOKEN|FULLTEXT]
XML Syntax    <drop-index type='text|attribute|token|fulltext'/>
Permission WRITE
Summary Drops the specified Value Index.
Errors The command fails if no database is opened, if the specified index is unknown, or if it could not be deleted for some other reason.

ALTER DB[edit]

Syntax ALTER DB [name] [newname]
XML Syntax    <alter-db name='...' newname='...'/>
Permission CREATE
Summary Renames the database specified by name to newname. newname must be a valid database name.
Errors The command fails if the source database does not exist or is currently locked, or if it could not be renamed for some other reason.
Examples
  • ALTER DB db tempdb
    renames the database db into tempdb.

DROP DB[edit]

Syntax DROP DB [name]
XML Syntax    <drop-db name='...'/>
Permission CREATE
Summary Drops the database with the specified name. The Glob Syntax can be used to address more than one database.
Errors The command fails if the specified database does not exist or is currently locked, or if the database could not be deleted for some other reason.

COPY[edit]

Syntax COPY [name] [newname]
XML Syntax    <copy name='...' newname='...'/>
Permission CREATE
Summary Creates a copy of the database specified by name. newname must be a valid database name.
Errors The command fails if the source database does not exist.

INSPECT[edit]

Syntax INSPECT
XML Syntax    <inspect/>
Permission READ
Summary Performs some integrity checks on the opened database and returns a brief summary.

Backups[edit]

CREATE BACKUP[edit]

Syntax CREATE BACKUP ([name] ([comment]))
XML Syntax    <create-backup (name='...') (comment='...')/>
Permission CREATE
Summary Creates a backup of the database specified by name, with an optional comment. If no name is supplied, general data will be backed up. The backup file will be suffixed with the current timestamp and stored in the database directory. The Glob Syntax can be used to address more than one database.
Errors The command fails if the specified database does not exist, or if it could not be zipped for some other reason.
Examples
  • BACKUP db
    creates a zip archive of the database db (e.g. db-2014-04-01-12-27-28.zip) in the database directory.

DROP BACKUP[edit]

Syntax DROP BACKUP ([name])
XML Syntax    <drop-backup (name='...')/>
Permission CREATE
Summary Drops all backups of the database with the specified name, or a specific backup file if the name ends with its timestamp. If no name is supplied, backups with general data are addressed. The Glob Syntax can be used to address more than one database.
Examples
  • DROP BACKUP abc*
    deletes the backups of all databases starting with the characters abc.
  • DROP BACKUP factbook-2021-05-16-13-13-10
    deletes a specific backup file.

ALTER BACKUP[edit]

Syntax ALTER BACKUP [name] [newname]
XML Syntax    <alter-backup name='...' newname='...'/>
Permission CREATE
Summary Renames all backups of the database with the specified name to newname. If the name ends with a timestamp, only the specified backup file will be renamed. The Glob Syntax can be used to address more than one database.
Examples
  • ALTER BACKUP logs logs-backup
    renames the backups of the logs database to logs-backup.

RESTORE[edit]

Syntax RESTORE ([name])
XML Syntax    <restore (name='...')/>
Permission CREATE
Summary Restores a database with the specified name. The name may include the timestamp of the backup file. If no name is supplied, general data will be restored. If general data is restored, it will only be available after BaseX has been restarted.
Errors The command fails if the specified backup does not exist, if the database to be restored is currently locked, or if it could not be restored for some other reason.

SHOW BACKUPS[edit]

Syntax SHOW BACKUPS
XML Syntax    <show-backups/>
Permission CREATE
Summary Shows all database backups.

Querying[edit]

XQUERY[edit]

Syntax XQUERY [query]
XML Syntax    <xquery>[query]</xquery>
Permission depends on query
Summary Runs the specified query and prints the result.
Errors The command fails if the specified query is invalid.
Examples
  • XQUERY 1 to 10
    returns the sequence (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10).
  • SET RUNS 10 and XQUERY 1 to 10
    returns the results after having run the query 10 times.
  • SET XMLPLAN true and XQUERY 1 to 10
    returns the result and prints the query plan as XML.

GET[edit]

Syntax GET [path]
XML Syntax    <get path='...'/>
Permission READ
Summary Retrieves an XML document from the opened database at the specified path.
Errors The command fails if no database is opened or if the source path is invalid.

BINARY GET[edit]

Syntax BINARY GET [path]
XML Syntax    <binary-get path='...'/>
Permission READ
Summary Retrieves a binary resource from the opened database at the specified path.
Errors The command fails if no database is opened or if the source path is invalid.

FIND[edit]

Syntax FIND [query]
XML Syntax    <find>[query]</find>
Permission READ
Summary Builds and runs a query for the specified query terms. Keywords can be enclosed in quotes to look for phrases. The following modifiers can be used to further limit search:

= looks for exact text nodes
~ looks for approximate hits
@= looks for exact attribute values
@ looks for attributes

Errors The command fails if no database is opened.

TEST[edit]

Syntax TEST [path]
XML Syntax    <test path='...'/>
Permission ADMIN
Summary Runs all XQUnit tests in the specified path. The path can point to a single file or a directory.
Unit testing can also be triggered via -t on command line.
Errors The command fails if at least one test fails.
Examples
  • TEST project/tests
    runs all tests in the directory project/tests.

REPO INSTALL[edit]

Syntax REPO INSTALL [path]
XML Syntax    <repo-install path='...'/>
Permission CREATE
Summary Installs the package with path path.
Errors The command fails in the following cases:
  • The package to be installed is not a xar file.
  • The package to be installed does not exist or is already installed.
  • The package descriptor is with invalid syntax.
  • The package to be installed depends on a package which is not installed.
  • The package is not supported by the current version of BaseX.
  • A component of the package is already installed as part of another package.

REPO LIST[edit]

Syntax REPO LIST
XML Syntax    <repo-list/>
Permission READ
Summary Lists all installed packages.

REPO DELETE[edit]

Syntax REPO DELETE [name]
XML Syntax    <repo-delete name='...'/>
Permission CREATE
Summary Deletes the specified package with the specified name. What is called "name" can also be the id (which is the name followed by the version) or the directory of the package.
Errors The command fails if the package to be deleted is required by another package.

Updates[edit]

ADD[edit]

Syntax ADD (TO [path]) [input]
XML Syntax    <add (path='...')>[input]</add>
Permission WRITE
Summary Adds a file, directory or XML string specified by input to the currently opened database at the specified path:
  • input may either be a single XML document, a directory, a remote URL or a plain XML string.
  • A document with the same path may occur than once in a database. If this is unwanted, the PUT command can be used.
  • If a file is too large to be added in one go, its data structures will be cached to disk first. Caching can be enforced by turning the ADDCACHE option on.

If files are to be added to an empty database, it is usually faster to use the CREATE DB command and specify the initial input as argument.

Errors The command fails if no database is opened, if one of the documents to be added is not well-formed, or if it could not be parsed for some other reason.
Examples
  • ADD input.xml
    adds the file input.xml to the database.
  • ADD TO temp/one.xml input.xml
    adds input.xml to the database and moves it to temp/one.xml.
  • ADD TO target/ xmldir
    adds all files from the xmldir directory to the database in the target path.

DELETE[edit]

Syntax DELETE [path]
XML Syntax    <delete path='...'/>
Permission WRITE
Summary Deletes all documents from the currently opened database that start with the specified path.
Errors The command fails if no database is opened.

RENAME[edit]

Syntax RENAME [path] [newpath]
XML Syntax    <rename path='...' newpath='...'/>
Permission WRITE
Summary Renames all document paths in the currently opened database that start with the specified path. The command may be used to either rename single documents or directories.
Errors The command fails if no database is opened, or if the target path is empty.
Examples
  • RENAME one.xml two.xml
    renames the document one.xml to two.xml.
  • RENAME / TOP
    moves all documents to a TOP root directory.

PUT[edit]

Syntax PUT [path] [input]
XML Syntax    <put path='...'>[input]</put>
Permission WRITE
Summary Adds or replaces resources in the currently opened database, addressed by path, with the file, directory or XML string specified by input.
Errors The command fails if no database is opened or if the specified path is invalid.
Examples
  • PUT one.xml input.xml
    replaces one.xml with the contents of the file input.xml.
  • PUT top.xml <xml/>
    replaces top.xml with the XML document <xml/>.

BINARY PUT[edit]

Syntax BINARY PUT (TO [path]) [input]
XML Syntax    <binary-put (path='...')>[input]</store>
Permission WRITE
Summary Stores a binary resource specified via input in the opened database to the specified path:
  • The input may either be a file reference, a remote URL, or a plain string.
  • If the path denotes a directory, it needs to be suffixed with a slash (/).
  • An existing resource will be replaced.
Errors The command fails if no database is opened, if the specified resource is not found, if the target path is invalid or if the data cannot not be written for some other reason.

OPTIMIZE[edit]

Syntax OPTIMIZE (ALL)
XML Syntax    <optimize/>
<optimize-all/>
Permission WRITE
Summary Optimizes the index structures, metadata and statistics of the currently opened database:
  • If ALL is specified, all database structures are completely reconstructed. The database size will be reduced, and all orphaned data will be deleted.
  • Without ALL, only the outdated index structures and database statistics will be updated. If the database is completely up-to-date, nothing will be done.
  • Database options will be adopted from the original database. Only AUTOOPTIMIZE and (if ALL is specified) UPDINDEX will be adopted from the current options.
Errors The command fails if no database is opened, or if the currently opened database is a main-memory instance.

FLUSH[edit]

Syntax FLUSH
XML Syntax    <flush/>
Permission WRITE
Summary Explicitly flushes the buffers of the currently opened database to disk. This command is applied if AUTOFLUSH has been set to false.
Errors The command fails if no database is opened.

User Management[edit]

CREATE USER[edit]

Syntax CREATE USER [name] ([password])
XML Syntax    <create-user name='...'>([password])</create-user>
Permission ADMIN
Summary Creates a user with the specified name and password. If no password is specified, it is requested via the chosen frontend (GUI or bash).
Errors The command fails if the specified user already exists.

ALTER USER[edit]

Syntax ALTER USER [name] ([newname])
XML Syntax    <alter-user name='...' newname='...'/>
Permission ADMIN
Summary Renames the user with the specified name to newname.
Errors The command fails if the specified user does not exist, or if the new user already exists.

ALTER PASSWORD[edit]

Syntax ALTER PASSWORD [name] ([password])
XML Syntax    <alter-password name='...'>([password])</alter-password>
Permission ADMIN
Summary Alters the password of the user with the specified name. If no password is specified, it is requested via the chosen frontend (GUI or bash).
Errors The command fails if the specified user does not exist.

DROP USER[edit]

Syntax DROP USER [name] (ON [pattern]):
XML Syntax    <drop-user name='...' (pattern='...')/>
Permission ADMIN
Summary Drops the user with the specified name. The Glob Syntax can be used to address more than one database or user. If a glob pattern is specified, only the assigned database pattern will be removed.
Errors The command fails if admin is specified as username, or if the specified user does not exist or is currently logged in.

GRANT[edit]

Syntax GRANT [NONE|READ|WRITE|CREATE|ADMIN] (ON [pattern]) TO [user]
XML Syntax    <grant name='...' permission='none|read|write|create|admin' (pattern='...')/>
Permission ADMIN
Summary Grants the specified permission to the specified user. The Glob Syntax can be used to address more than one user. If a glob pattern is specified, the permission will be applied to all databases that match this pattern.
Errors The command fails if admin is specified as username or if the specified user does not exist.
Examples
  • GRANT READ TO JoeWinson
    grants READ permission to the user JoeWinson.
  • GRANT WRITE ON Wiki TO editor*
    grants WRITE permissions on the Wiki database to all users starting with the characters editor*.

PASSWORD[edit]

Syntax PASSWORD ([password])
XML Syntax    <password>([password])</password>
Permission NONE
Summary Changes the password of the current user. If the command is run on command-line or in the GUI, the password can be omitted and entered interactively.

Administration[edit]

SHOW OPTIONS[edit]

Syntax SHOW OPTIONS [name]
XML Syntax    <show-options (name='...')/>
Permission NONE
Summary Returns the current values of all Options, or a single option with the specified name. Global options can only be requested by users with ADMIN permissions.
Errors The command fails if the specified option is unknown.

SHOW SESSIONS[edit]

Syntax SHOW SESSIONS
XML Syntax    <show-sessions/>
Permission ADMIN
Summary Shows all sessions that are connected to the current server instance.

SHOW USERS[edit]

Syntax SHOW USERS (ON [database])
XML Syntax    <show-users (database='...')/>
Permission ADMIN
Summary Shows all users that are visible to the current user. If a database is specified, only those users will be shown for which a pattern was specified that matches the database name.
Errors The command fails if the optional database could not be opened.

KILL[edit]

Syntax KILL [target]
XML Syntax    <kill target='...'/>
Permission ADMIN
Summary Kills sessions of a user or an IP:port combination, specified by target. The Glob Syntax can be used to address more than one user.
Errors The command fails if a user tried to kill his/her own session.

INFO DB[edit]

Syntax INFO DB
XML Syntax    <info-db/>
Permission READ
Summary Shows general information and metadata on the currently opened database.
Errors The command fails if no database is opened.

INFO INDEX[edit]

Syntax INFO INDEX ([ELEMNAME|ATTRNAME|PATH|TEXT|ATTRIBUTE|TOKEN|FULLTEXT])
XML Syntax    <info-index type='elemname|attrname|path|text|attribute|token|fulltext'/>
Permission READ
Summary Shows information on the existing index structures. The output can be optionally limited to the specified index.
Errors The command fails if no database is opened, or if the specified index is unknown.

INFO STORAGE[edit]

Syntax INFO STORAGE [start end]
XML Syntax    <info-storage (start='...') (end='...')/>
Permission READ
Summary Shows the internal main table of the currently opened database. An integer range may be specified as argument.
Errors The command fails if no database is opened, or if one of the specified arguments is invalid.

General Commands[edit]

RUN[edit]

Syntax RUN [file]
XML Syntax    <run file='...'/>
Permission depends on input
Summary Evaluates the contents of file as XQuery expression. If the file ends with the suffix .bxs, the file contents will be evaluated as command script. This command can be used to run several commands in a row, with no other transaction intervening the execution.
Errors The command fails if the specified file does not exist, or if the retrieved input is invalid. It will be canceled as soon as one of the executed commands fails.
Examples
  • RUN query.xq
    will evaluate the specified file as XQuery expression
  • RUN commands.bxs
    will evaluate the specified file as command script

EXECUTE[edit]

Syntax EXECUTE [input]
XML Syntax    <execute>[input]</execute>
Permission depends on input
Summary Evaluates the specified input as command script. This command can be used to run several commands in a row, with no other transaction intervening the execution.
Errors The command fails if the syntax of the specified input is invalid. It will be canceled as soon as one of the executed commands fails.
Examples
  • EXECUTE "<commands><create-db name='db1'/><create-db name='db2'/></commands>"
    Two databases will be created in a single transaction.

SET[edit]

Syntax SET [option] ([value])
XML Syntax    <set option='...'>([value])</set>
Permission NONE
Summary Sets the Option specified by option to a new value. Only local options can be modified. If no value is specified, and if the value is boolean, it will be inverted.
Errors The command fails if the specified option is unknown or if the specified value is invalid.

INFO[edit]

Syntax INFO
XML Syntax    <info/>
Permission READ
Summary Shows global information.

HELP[edit]

Syntax HELP ([command])
XML Syntax    <help>([command])</help>
Permission NONE
Summary If command is specified, information on the specific command is printed; otherwise, all commands are listed.
Errors The command fails if the specified command is unknown.

EXIT[edit]

Syntax EXIT
XML Syntax    <exit/>
Permission NONE
Summary Exits the console mode.

QUIT[edit]

Syntax QUIT
XML Syntax    <quit/>
Permission NONE
Summary Exits the console mode (alias of EXIT).

Changelog[edit]

Version 10
Version 9.7
Version 9.3
Version 8.6
  • Updated: SHOW USERS: If called by non-admins, will only return the current user
Version 8.5
Version 8.4
Version 8.2
  • Removed: CREATE EVENT, DROP EVENT and SHOW EVENTS command
Version 8.0
Version 7.9
  • Added: TEST runs XQUnit tests.
Version 7.7
Version 7.5
  • Added: EXECUTE executes a command script.
  • Added: INSPECT performs integrity checks.
  • Added: automatic detection of Command Scripts.
  • Removed: SHOW DATABASES; information is also returned by SHOW SESSIONS.
  • Removed: OPEN: path argument.
Version 7.3
  • Added: XML Syntax added.
  • Updated: CHECK can now be used to create empty databases.
  • Updated: Names and paths in OPEN and LIST are now specified as separate arguments.
Version 7.2.1
  • Updated: permissions for GET and SET changed from READ to NONE.
Version 7.2
Version 7.1
  • Updated: KILL (killing sessions by specifying IP:port)
Version 7.0
  • Added: FLUSH, RETRIEVE, STORE.
  • Updated: ADD: simplified arguments.