Recent content on Menial
I’ve recently been asked if there’s a way to open a database in Base from the Terminal. You can use the open command for this. This opens a file in the same way as double-clicking it in the Finder. You do need to have Base installed first, though ( get a copy here ). Say I have a file on my desktop called contacts.sqlite3 . If Base is already the default app for opening SQLite…
Base 3.3 is now available for download . Base now provides Quick Look previews for SQLite databases. When you’ve got a database selected in the Finder, pressing the spacebar will show a list of tables, views, triggers and indexes in that file. I find this really useful when I’m working with multiple databases or just want to quickly check what’s in a file without opening it…
Base 3.2 is now available for download . This update contains mostly quality-of-life improvements, with improvements to the table schema editor, data browsing table and SQL autocompletion. The full list of changes is as follows: New features The table schema editor has been simplified. Columns and table constraints are now presented in a single list with section titles dividing them. This more…
SQLite columns are flexibly-typed, you can put broadly anything in any column regardless of the declared type of that column. There also isn’t a specific type for dates or times. This means that when it comes to storing dates or times, we’ve got choices to make. I’ll go through the main options in this post. To start with, we need to provide some context: SQLite lets you put…
SQLite has the concept of a rowid . A special column with a unique integer identifier for each row. It’s present in most tables, but generally hidden from view. This post gives an overview of how rowids work and their relationship with primary keys. All the SQL commands in this post can be followed along in sequence. You can either create a new database using Base or by using the sqlite3…
Base 3.1.0 is now available for download . This update adopts the new Liquid Glass look on macOS 26 and contains a good selection of quality-of-life improvements to make using Base even nicer. Because Base is now built for macOS 26, it adopts the new Liquid Glass design. This doesn’t radically change the appearance of the app - all the parts of the interface are still in roughly the same…
The first version of Base was released in late 2008. It grew into a v2 by early 2011 and kept going until the last feature release in 2020 (with a few bugfix releases after). On the 4th July 2020, I started a new branch for Base v3. Getting Started In mid-2020, the codebase for Base was struggling a bit. It was mostly Objective-C (which I still love) with some tentative Swift adoption dotted here…
Base 3.0.2 is now available for download. This is a bug-fixing release, containing the following changes: From Base 3.0.1: The last selected table and tab in a database is now remembered between launches The database size inspector chart was missing the legend - it’s back now When entering numbers with leading zeros in a TEXT column, the leading zeros are no longer removed From Base 3.0.2:…
I'm incredibly happy to announce that Base 3.0 is now available for download. The app has had a major overhaul to all areas while keeping a familiar UI. Base 3 is faster, more capable and even nicer to use. Highlights of this version include: Working with multiple attached databases Support for more SQLite features like: WITHOUT ROWID & STRICT tables Partial indexes (with WHERE clauses) Named…
After a bit of a gap, I’m pleased to say a new update to Base is available to download. The highlights include: Modernising the UI a bit to bring it more in line with recent versions of macOS. It looks familiar, but feels less old fashioned . Adding syntax highlighting themes. You can now have different text colours for light & dark modes which switch automatically. Adding support for macOS…
Base 2.4.11 is now available to download for direct sale, Setapp and Mac App Store users. This update fixes a bug causing Base to sometimes crash when re-opening a database on launch. It also updates to SQLite version 3.17.0. Base 2.4.11 can be downloaded from the product page , Setapp or the Mac App Store . As always, release notes are available and if you’ve found a bug or have a question,…
Base is now available on Setapp , a new service from MacPaw which gives you access to more than 50 great apps for $9.99 per month, with a month’s free trial to start. When you subscribe to Setapp, you have unlimited access to a curated library of useful apps. There are no upgrade fees, no ads, and no in-app purchases. One fixed fee gets you all of it. Go ahead and try Setapp . I think…
I’ve made something small and fun. A rubber stamp sticker pack for iOS 10! It’s a collection of iMessage stickers in the style of rubber stamps. There are stamps for likes and dislikes, reactions, star ratings, and a bunch of other odds and ends. Here’s a couple of images showing them in use: The InkStamp sticker pack is a 99¢ (79p) download available from the App Store for…
Base 2.4.10 is now available to download for both direct sale and Mac App Store users. This update fixes some minor problems and updates to the latest version of SQLite. Base 2.4.10 can be downloaded from the product page or from the Mac App Store . As always, the full list of changes can be found in the release notes and if you’ve found a bug or have a question, please do get in touch .
Base 2.4.9 is now available to download for both direct sale and Mac App Store users. This is a bugfix release to prepare for OS X Yosemite. Base 2.4.9 can be downloaded from the product page or from the Mac App Store . As always, the full list of changes can be found in the release notes and if you’ve found a bug or have a question, please do get in touch .
Five years ago today, Base 1.0 was released blinking into the internet. Since that day there have been 29 updates varying from minor patches to major upgrades. There’s still a long way to go with this app. Development is still ongoing and I am looking forward to the next five years. I hope you will all join me. To celebrate, Base is 50% off for the next three days. Until the end of 18 th…
Base 2.4.8 is now available to download for those purchasing licenses via the web store. An update for Mac App Store users has been submitted and will hopefully be approved for sale quickly. While normally both versions will have updates released together, the bugs that are fixed in this version were annoying enough to warrant separate releases. The main changes in this release are to disable…
Base 2.4.7 is now available to download for both web and App Store users. This improves compatibility with Mac OS 10.9 Mavericks and files generated by iOS 7. Base 2.4.7 can be downloaded from the product page or from the Mac App Store . As always, the full list of changes can be found in the release notes and if you’ve found a bug or have a question, please do get in touch .
Base 2.4.6 is now available to download for both web and App Store users. This update fixes several display and export bugs. Base 2.4.6 can be downloaded from the product page or from the Mac App Store . As always, the full list of changes can be found in the release notes and if you’ve found a bug or have a question, please do get in touch .
Base 2.4.5 is now available to download for both web and App Store users. This update fixes a number of fiddly little bugs across most parts of the app. Notable changes include: Tabbing between fields in the data browser now wraps from line to line Failed CSV imports now report where and why failure occurred Table list filtering no longer loses focus after each keystroke Base 2.4.5 can be…