Here a simple database schema:
```
CREATE TABLE tbl1 ( a );
INSERT INTO tbl1 VALUES ( 'aaa' );
CREATE INDEX tbl1_index1 ON tbl1 ( a );
CREATE INDEX index2 ON tbl1 ( a DESC );
CREATE TABLE tbl2 ( b );
INSERT INTO tbl2 VALUES ( 'bbb' );
CREATE INDEX index3 ON tbl2 ( b );
CREATE VIEW tbl3 AS
SELECT a FROM tbl1
UNION ALL
SELECT b FROM tbl2;
```
Copying a single table with the CLI to another database was possible in old versions (e.g. version 3.30) as follows:
```
sqlite3 source.db ".dump tbl1" | sqlite3 dest.db
```
Here the dump with version 3.30:
```
SQLite version 3.30.1 2019-10-10 20:19:45
Enter ".help" for usage hints.
sqlite> .dump tbl1
PRAGMA foreign_keys=OFF;
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
CREATE TABLE tbl1 ( a );
INSERT INTO tbl1 VALUES('aaa');
CREATE INDEX tbl1_index1 ON tbl1 ( a );
CREATE INDEX index2 ON tbl1 ( a DESC );
COMMIT;
```
In current versions the CREATE INDEX command is missing in the output.
```
SQLite version 3.35.0 2021-03-12 15:10:09
Enter ".help" for usage hints.
sqlite> .dump tbl1
PRAGMA foreign_keys=OFF;
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
CREATE TABLE tbl1 ( a );
INSERT INTO tbl1 VALUES('aaa');
COMMIT;
```
I have read the [documentation for the CLI](https://sqlite.org/cli.html) but have not found any hint.
The built-in help says the following:
```
SQLite version 3.35.0 2021-03-12 15:10:09
Enter ".help" for usage hints.
sqlite> .help dump
.dump ?TABLE? Render database content as SQL
Options:
--data-only Output only INSERT statements
--newlines Allow unescaped newline characters in output
--nosys Omit system tables (ex: "sqlite_stat1")
--preserve-rowids Include ROWID values in the output
TABLE is a LIKE pattern for the tables to dump
Additional LIKE patterns can be given in subsequent arguments
```
It took me some time to figure out how it works now.
---
```
sqlite> .dump
PRAGMA foreign_keys=OFF;
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
CREATE TABLE tbl1 ( a );
INSERT INTO tbl1 VALUES('aaa');
CREATE TABLE tbl2 ( b );
INSERT INTO tbl2 VALUES('bbb');
CREATE INDEX tbl1_index1 ON tbl1 ( a );
CREATE INDEX index2 ON tbl1 ( a DESC );
CREATE INDEX index3 ON tbl2 ( b );
CREATE VIEW tbl3 AS
SELECT a FROM tbl1
UNION ALL
SELECT b FROM tbl2;
COMMIT;
```
---
```
sqlite> .dump tbl1
PRAGMA foreign_keys=OFF;
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
CREATE TABLE tbl1 ( a );
INSERT INTO tbl1 VALUES('aaa');
COMMIT;
```
---
```
sqlite> .dump tbl1%
PRAGMA foreign_keys=OFF;
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
CREATE TABLE tbl1 ( a );
INSERT INTO tbl1 VALUES('aaa');
CREATE INDEX tbl1_index1 ON tbl1 ( a );
COMMIT;
```
---
```
sqlite> .dump tbl1 tbl1_index1 index2
PRAGMA foreign_keys=OFF;
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
CREATE TABLE tbl1 ( a );
INSERT INTO tbl1 VALUES('aaa');
CREATE INDEX tbl1_index1 ON tbl1 ( a );
CREATE INDEX index2 ON tbl1 ( a DESC );
COMMIT;
```
---
```
sqlite> .dump %3%
PRAGMA foreign_keys=OFF;
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
CREATE INDEX index3 ON tbl2 ( b );
CREATE VIEW tbl3 AS
SELECT a FROM tbl1
UNION ALL
SELECT b FROM tbl2;
COMMIT;
```
---
Maybe it would be a good idea to make the documentation here clearer...
```
.dump ?CONTENT? Render database content as SQL
CONTENT is a LIKE pattern for tables, indexes, views or triggers to dump
```
Regards
Herbert Gläser