How to verify successful database connection using sqlite3 in Python?

Data and Databases
1

I need help figuring out how to properly validate that my sqlite3 database connection worked correctly in Python. I’m building an authentication app and want to make sure the database connection is solid before proceeding with any operations.

I’m pretty new to Python and databases, coming from a C background. I’ve been trying different approaches but none seem to work:

Attempt 1:

if db.connect == db.Connection:
    print("Database linked successfully")
    app_running = True
else:
    print("Failed to link database. Please retry.")
    app_running = False

Attempt 2:

if db.Error:
    print("Failed to link database. Please retry.")
    app_running = False
else:
    print("Database linked successfully")
    app_running = True

Attempt 3:

if db == 0:
    print("Failed to link database. Please retry.")
    app_running = False
else:
    print("Database linked successfully")
    app_running = True

What’s the correct way to check if the connection actually succeeded?

2

The problem with your approaches is that sqlite3.connect() almost never fails directly - it’ll just create the database file if it doesn’t exist. You need to check if you can actually do stuff with the connection. Best way is to try a simple operation right after connecting: ```python
import sqlite3
try:
conn = sqlite3.connect(‘your_database.db’)
conn.execute(‘SELECT 1’)
print(“Database connection verified successfully”)
app_running = True
except sqlite3.Error as e:
print(f"Database connection failed: {e}")
app_running = False
finally:
if ‘conn’ in locals():
conn.close()

3

sqlite3.connect() succeeds even with bogus paths, so those checks won’t work. I just run PRAGMA schema_version; right after connecting - if it throws an exception, then the db is actually broken.

4

hmm, what happens if you run a simple query right after connecting? try cursor.execute("SELECT 1") and wrap it in a try-except block. curious what specific exceptions you’re getting when it fails?