sps_execute() binds the parameter values and returns a context for retrieving the result rows of a query, no rows have been returned yet by the SQLite VDBE. The sps_next_row() loop retrieves at most one row each call and increments ctx->count if successful. My library has another function, sps_execute_rowless(), which does run the statement 'fully' before returning, but that's used where you expect sqlite3_step() to immediately return SQLITE_DONE rather than one or more SQLITE_ROW return values first (e.g. "COMMIT;").