Android SQLite database: slow insertion

Question

I need to parse a fairly large XML file (varying between about a hundred kilobytes and several hundred kilobytes), which I\'m doing using Xml#parse(String, ContentHand

Answer 1

Compiling the sql insert statement helps speed things up. It can also require more effort to shore everything up and prevent possible injection since it's now all on your shoulders.

Another approach which can also speed things up is the under-documented android.database.DatabaseUtils.InsertHelper class. My understanding is that it actually wraps compiled insert statements. Going from non-compiled transacted inserts to compiled transacted inserts was about a 3x gain in speed (2ms per insert to .6ms per insert) for my large (200K+ entries) but simple SQLite inserts.

Sample code:

SQLiteDatabse db = getWriteableDatabase();

//use the db you would normally use for db.insert, and the "table_name"
//is the same one you would use in db.insert()
InsertHelper iHelp = new InsertHelper(db, "table_name");

//Get the indices you need to bind data to
//Similar to Cursor.getColumnIndex("col_name");                 
int first_index = iHelp.getColumnIndex("first");
int last_index = iHelp.getColumnIndex("last");

try
{
   db.beginTransaction();
   for(int i=0 ; i