User Commands

NAME¶

tracker-sparql - Use SparQL to query the Tracker databases.

SYNOPSIS¶

tracker-sparql [OPTION...] [-q QUERY] | [-f FILE]

DESCRIPTION¶

tracker-sparql allows the caller to run an RDF query on the database. This can be done two ways. Either by providing a FILE with the query or by providing a string with the QUERY string.

The FILE argument can be either a local path or a URI. It also does not have to be an absolute path.

OPTIONS¶

-?, --help: Show summary of options.

-f, --file=FILE: Use a FILE with SPARQL content to query or update.

-q, --query=SPARQL: Use a SPARQL string to query the database with.

-u, --update: This has to be used with --query. This tells tracker-sparql to use the SPARQL update extensions so it knows it isn't a regular data lookup request. So if your query is intended to change data in the database, this option is needed.

-c, --list-classes: Returns a list of classes which describe the ontology used for storing data. These classes are also used in queries. For example, http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#Resource is one of many classes which should be returned here.

-x, --list-class-prefixes: Returns a list of classes and their related prefixes. Prefixes are used to make querying a lot simpler and are much like an alias. For example, http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#Resource has the prefix rdfs so queries can be cut down to:
"SELECT ?u WHERE { ?u a rdfs:Resource }"

-p, --list-properties=CLASS

Returns a list of properties which pertain to a class. You can use both formats here for the class, either the full name http://www.semanticdesktop.org/ontologies/2007/03/22/nfo#Video or the shortened prefix name nfo:Video.

This gives the following result:

$ tracker-sparql -p nfo:Video

Properties: 2
  http://www.semanticdesktop.org/ontologies/2007/03/22/nfo#frameRate
  http://www.semanticdesktop.org/ontologies/2007/03/22/nfo#frameCount

These properties nfo:frameRate and nfo:frameCount can then be used in queries (see also --query ).

See also --tree

-n, --list-notifies=CLASS: Returns a list of classes which are notified over D-Bus about any changes that occur in the database. CLASS does not have to be supplied here. This is optional and filters the results according to any argument supplied. With no CLASS, all classes are listed.

-i, --list-indexes=PROPERTY: Returns a list of properties which are indexed in the database. Indexes improves query speed but also add an indexing penalty. PROPERTY does not have to be supplied here. This is optional and filters the results according to any argument supplied. With no PROPERTY, all properties are listed.

-t, --tree [<CLASS>]

Prints a tree showing all parent classes of CLASS in the ontology. CLASS can be provided in shorthand or longhand (see --get-shorthand and --get-longhand for details). For example:

$ tracker-sparql -t nmo:MMSMessage
ROOT
  +-- rdfs:Resource (C)
  |  +-- nie:InformationElement (C)
  |  |  +-- nfo:Document (C)
  |  |  |  +-- nfo:TextDocument (C)
  |  |  |  |  `-- nmo:Message (C)
  |  |  |  |  |  +-- nmo:PhoneMessage (C)
  |  |  |  |  |  |  `-- nmo:MMSMessage (C)

If no CLASS is given, the entire tree is shown.

The --search command line option can be used to highlight parts of the tree you're looking for. The search is case insensitive.

The --properties command line option can be used to show properties for each class displayed, for example:

$ tracker-sparql -t nfo:FileDataObject -p
ROOT
  +-- rdfs:Resource (C)
  |  --> http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/contributor (P)
  |  --> http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/coverage (P)
  |  --> http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/creator (P)
  |  --> http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/date (P)
  |  --> http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/description (P)
  |  --> http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/format (P)
  |  --> http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/identifier (P)
  |  --> http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/language (P)
  |  --> http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/publisher (P)
  |  --> http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/relation (P)
  |  --> http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/rights (P)
  |  --> http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/source (P)
  |  --> http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/subject (P)
  |  --> http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/title (P)
  |  --> http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/type (P)
  |  --> nao:deprecated (P)
  |  --> nao:hasTag (P)
  |  --> nao:identifier (P)
  |  --> nao:isRelated (P)
  |  --> nao:lastModified (P)
  |  --> nao:numericRating (P)
  |  --> rdf:type (P)
  |  --> rdfs:comment (P)
  |  --> rdfs:label (P)
  |  --> tracker:added (P)
  |  --> tracker:damaged (P)
  |  --> tracker:modified (P)
  |  +-- nie:DataObject (C)
  |  |  --> nfo:belongsToContainer (P)
  |  |  --> nie:byteSize (P)
  |  |  --> nie:created (P)
  |  |  --> nie:dataSource (P)
  |  |  --> nie:interpretedAs (P)
  |  |  --> nie:isPartOf (P)
  |  |  --> nie:lastRefreshed (P)
  |  |  --> nie:url (P)
  |  |  --> tracker:available (P)
  |  |  +-- nfo:FileDataObject (C)
  |  |  |  --> nfo:fileCreated (P)
  |  |  |  --> nfo:fileLastAccessed (P)
  |  |  |  --> nfo:fileLastModified (P)
  |  |  |  --> nfo:fileName (P)
  |  |  |  --> nfo:fileOwner (P)
  |  |  |  --> nfo:fileSize (P)
  |  |  |  --> nfo:hasHash (P)
  |  |  |  --> nfo:permissions (P)

-s, --search=TERM

Returns a list of classes and properties which partially match TERM in the ontology. This is a case insensitive match, for example:

$ tracker-sparql -s text

Classes: 4
  http://www.semanticdesktop.org/ontologies/2007/03/22/nfo#TextDocument
  http://www.semanticdesktop.org/ontologies/2007/03/22/nfo#PlainTextDocument
  http://www.semanticdesktop.org/ontologies/2007/03/22/nfo#PaginatedTextDocument
  http://www.tracker-project.org/temp/nmm#SynchronizedText

Properties: 4
  http://www.tracker-project.org/ontologies/tracker#fulltextIndexed
  http://www.semanticdesktop.org/ontologies/2007/01/19/nie#plainTextContent
  http://www.semanticdesktop.org/ontologies/2007/03/22/nmo#plainTextMessageContent
  http://www.tracker-project.org/temp/scal#textLocation

ENVIRONMENT¶

TRACKER_SPARQL_BACKEND: This option allows you to choose which backend you use for connecting to the database. This choice can limit your functionality. There are three settings.
With " direct" the connection to the database is made directly to the file itself on the disk, there is no intermediary daemon or process. The " direct" approach is purely read-only.
With " bus" the tracker-store process is used to liase with the database queuing all requests and managing the connections via an IPC / D-Bus. This adds a small overhead BUT this is the only approach you can use if you want to write to the database.
With " auto" the backend is decided for you, much like it would be if this environment variable was undefined.

TRACKER_PRAGMAS_FILE: Tracker has a fixed set of PRAGMA settings for creating its SQLite connection. With this environment variable pointing to a text file you can override these settings. The file is a \n separated list of SQLite queries to execute on any newly created SQLite connection in tracker-store.

EXAMPLES¶

List all classes

$ tracker-sparql -q "SELECT ?cl WHERE { ?cl a rdfs:Class }"

List all properties for the Resources class (see --list-properties)

$ tracker-sparql -q "SELECT ?prop WHERE {
      ?prop a rdf:Property ;
      rdfs:domain <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#Resource>
 }"

List all class namespace prefixes

$ tracker-sparql -q "SELECT ?prefix ?ns WHERE {
      ?ns a tracker:Namespace ;
      tracker:prefix ?prefix
  }"

List all music files

$ tracker-sparql -q "SELECT ?song WHERE { ?song a nmm:MusicPiece }"

List all music albums

$ tracker-sparql -q "SELECT ?album ?title COUNT(?song)
                     AS songs
                     SUM(?length) AS totallength
                     WHERE {
      ?album a nmm:MusicAlbum ;
      nie:title ?title .
      ?song nmm:musicAlbum ?album ;
      nfo:duration ?length
  } GROUP BY ?album"

List all music from a particular artist

$ tracker-sparql -q "SELECT ?song ?title WHERE {
      ?song nmm:performer [ nmm:artistName 'Artist Name' ] ;
      nie:title ?title
  }"

Set the played count for a song

$ tracker-sparql -u -q "DELETE {
      <file:///home/user/Music/song.mp3> nie:usageCounter ?count
  } WHERE {
      <file:///home/user/Music/song.mp3> nie:usageCounter ?count
  } INSERT {
      <file:///home/user/Music/song.mp3> nie:usageCounter 42
  }"

List all image files

$ tracker-sparql -q "SELECT ?image WHERE { ?image a nfo:Image }"

List all image files with a specific tag

$ tracker-sparql -q "SELECT ?image WHERE {
      ?image a nfo:Image ;
      nao:hasTag [ nao:prefLabel 'tag' ]
  }"

List all image files created on a specific month and order by date

$ tracker-sparql -q "SELECT ?image ?date WHERE {
      ?image a nfo:Image ;
      nie:contentCreated ?date .
      FILTER (?date >= '2008-07-01T00:00:00' &&
              ?date <  '2008-08-01T00:00:00')
  } ORDER BY ?date"

Source file:	tracker-sparql.1.en.gz (from tracker-utils 1.2.4-2)
Source last updated:	2015-02-06T18:34:35Z
Converted to HTML:	2019-03-07T15:56:45Z