Database Commander (dbc)

A terminal-based database management tool, focused on database operations across multiple database engines.

Installation

Prerequisites

Runtime dependencies (required for all users):

The pre-built binary requires these system libraries to run:

• libncursesw6 - Terminal UI library
• libpq5 - PostgreSQL client library

Install on your system:

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt install libncursesw6 libpq5

Fedora/RHEL/CentOS:

sudo dnf install ncurses-libs postgresql-libs

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S ncurses postgresql-libs

macOS:

brew install ncurses postgresql

---

Build dependencies (only if building from source):

• Zig 0.15.2 or later
• Development headers: libncursesw5-dev and libpq-dev (Ubuntu/Debian)

On Ubuntu/Debian (for building):

sudo apt install libncursesw5-dev libpq-dev

Method 1: Pre-built Binary (Recommended - No Build Required)

Direct install from GitHub (fastest):

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sajonaro/dbc/master/install-binary.sh | bash

With custom installation prefix:

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sajonaro/dbc/master/install-binary.sh | PREFIX=/usr/local bash

Specific version:

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sajonaro/dbc/master/install-binary.sh | VERSION=v0.1.0 bash

Supported platforms:

• Linux x86_64

Method 2: Build from Source

Using install script:

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sajonaro/dbc/master/install.sh | bash

Or clone and build:

git clone https://github.com/sajonaro/dbc.git && cd dbc && ./install.sh

Method 3: Direct Installation with Zig

git clone https://github.com/sajonaro/dbc.git && cd dbc && zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe --prefix ~/.local && echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc && source ~/.bashrc

Method 4: As a Zig Dependency

zig fetch --save git+https://github.com/sajonaro/dbc.git

Usage

After installation, you can use dbc in the following ways:

# Start dbc with an empty editor
dbc

# Load a SQL file into the editor
dbc query.sql

# Display help message
dbc --help
dbc -h
dbc ?

Command-Line Options

• No arguments: Starts dbc with an empty editor
• FILE: Opens the specified SQL file in the editor panel
• --help, -h, ?: Displays usage information and exits

Examples

# Start dbc and begin writing queries
dbc

# Open an existing query file
dbc /path/to/my-query.sql

# Get help
dbc --help

Documentation

• ARCHITECTURE.md - Architecture documentation, design principles, and key bindings
• STRUCTURE.md - Project structure and file organization

Building

zig build

Running

zig build run

Testing

zig build test

Supported Databases

• PostgreSQL (via libpq)
• SQLite (via sqlite3)
• MSSQL (via ODBC)
• MariaDB (via mariadb client library)

Dependencies

• ncurses (for TUI)
• libpq (PostgreSQL)
• sqlite3
• ODBC drivers (for MSSQL)
• MariaDB client library