db_exec

Executes INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, or DDL statements on the SQLite database. Returns the number of rows affected. For DDL statements (CREATE TABLE, etc.), the affected row count is 0.

Signature

db_exec(sql, [params])

async

Note

Available only on the SQL (SQLite) build variant. On the KV (redb) variant, calling this function returns a clear error directing you to download the SQLite build. Throws a Lua error on SQL failure, use pcall to handle gracefully.

Parameters

Param	Type	Description
sql	string	The SQL statement to execute
params	table?	Optional array of positional parameters for prepared statements (? placeholders)

nil and SQL NULL

params is a positional array. Leading/interior nil holes bind as SQL NULL:

-- b is NULL
db_exec("INSERT INTO t (a, b, c) VALUES (?, ?, ?)", { 1, nil, 3 })

Lua tables do not store a trailing nil — { 1, 2, nil } is the same as { 1, 2 }. Do not end the params table with nil. For a trailing SQL NULL, put NULL in the statement text or ensure a non-nil value comes after that slot:

db_exec("INSERT INTO t (a, b, c) VALUES (?, ?, NULL)", { 1, 2 })

Returns

Value	Type	Description
affected	number	Number of rows affected

Example

local affected = db_exec("INSERT INTO products (id, name, price) VALUES (?, ?, ?)", {
    "prod-1", "Widget", 9.99
})
log("inserted " .. affected .. " row(s)")

See Also

• db_query - Execute SELECT queries