NAME

       cleanup_digikamdb - Cleanup the digiKam databases to reduce their sizes and increase access speed

SYNOPSIS

       cleanup_digikamdb [-t] [-T] [-p] [-h]

OPTIONS

       -t     Include thumbnail databases.

       -T     Only cleanup thumbnail databases.

       -p path
              Specify  a  different  database path.  If this option is not set or the specified path is invalid,
              the entry from the configuration file will be used.

       -h     Show command line options.

DESCRIPTION

       cleanup_digikamdb will cleanup and optimize the digiKam database file.  This will, in most cases, lead to
       a smaller database file size and an increased access speed, because unneeded elements  are  removed  from
       the database and data is optimized.

       The  program  will  make  sure that no instance of digiKam is running, because it is more safe to have no
       database access during the optimization process. It then will read the digiKam configuration file and de‐
       termine the database location.  In a final step the database will be optimized  by  invoking  the  sqlite
       command 'VACUUM;' on it.  If more then one database is found in this location, cleanup_digikamdb will op‐
       timize every database found in this path and below.

       For further explanation, see the following description of the VACUUM command from the sqlite3 website:

       When  an  object  (table,  index, or trigger) is dropped from the database, it leaves behind empty space.
       This empty space will be reused the next time new information is added to the database.  But in the mean‐
       time, the database file might be larger than strictly necessary.  Also, frequent  inserts,  updates,  and
       deletes  can  cause  the information in the database to become fragmented - scrattered out all across the
       database file rather than clustered together in one place.

       The VACUUM command cleans the main database by copying its contents to a temporary database file and  re‐
       loading  the  original  database file from the copy.  This eliminates free pages, aligns table data to be
       contiguous, and otherwise cleans up the database file structure.

AUTHOR

       cleanup_digikamdb was written by Andi Clemens <andi dot clemens at gmail dot com>

cleanup_digikamdb                                24 October 2011                            cleanup_digikamdb(1)