03. SQLite Database

BiG-SCAPE 2 makes use of an SQLite database ([parent_folder_name].db) to store and manage all the data it generates throughout a run.

The same database file can be re-used for multiple runs and several input datasets - in this case, with each run and newly seen data, BiG-SCAPE 2 will expand the database with all record data and run data that it encounters/generates. In principle this can greatly speed up your runs, as BiG-SCAPE 2 will not have to re-process the existing data. To do this, the database file must be present in the output directory passed to BiG-SCAPE 2.

In the scenario in which there are more records (and related data) saved to the database than present in the input folder, BiG-SCAPE 2 will only make use of the stored data which is relevant to the records in the input folder for that particular run.

Note: BiG-SCAPE 2 is not yet equipped to handle runs with multiple phmm databases being stored in the same SQLite DB, so we advise starting with a fresh SQLite DB anytime a user wants to use a different phmm database.