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>  sqlite newdatabase.db
>
> This creates a new database called newdatabase.db, assuming it doesn't already
> exist.
>
> Then at the sqlite> prompt, you type
>
> .read filename.sql
>
> Note this is .read not just read.  The leading dot tells sqlite it's a
> command for sqlite not just sql.
>
> This will probably give you an error along the lines of
>
>  SQL error near line 9: no such table: postamt
>
> This is because your script drops the table before recreating it, and the
> table won't exist in your blank database.
>
> Then if you type
>
> select * from postamt;
select was not mentioned in the .help output.

This displays all fields (as columns of information, one record per line)

If I have fields A B C D....

> select A, B from postamt displays just columns A and B
(Space optional after the comma)

I can start with:
sqlite -header postamt

Displays column headers but they are not lined up with the columns.
I could pad the headers to have spaces at their ends.

Maybe sqlite3 fixes this.

A|B|
Entry  |Entry
Entry  |Entry

sqlite -column postamt
Displays in columns, one record per line

sqlite -row postamt
Displays one field per row (similar to what dbf filename.dbf displays).

Up arrow works even within sqlite to repeat a previous command (including 
commands made during a previous usage, after quitting and restarting). 
Nice.

Minor drawback:

Unlike my DOS database programs (where hitting right arrow moves you 
to the next column and it is all lined up neatly, with some entries 
offscreen), if I have more than 80 columns it wraps instead of letting me 
scroll to the right. I could get 160 columns by using a framebuffer kernel 
and vga 793 (or a matrox video card that you can use fbset with).  Any 
other ideas?

For some unknown reason my large database just now imported properly into 
a db file.  I must have done something wrong before. I did not see 'syntax 
error' scroll by this time, but it does complain about \ (or was it /?) 
not being an acceptable character (in \' inside words, as opposed to ' 
that delimits field entries).  But they don't seem to show up in the 
output (what you see onscreen with sqlite).

All I need to learn now is to edit, append, insert, copy, and sort 
entries, which are also not in the help output but may be in sqlite.gz man 
page.

Sindi