simonw / simonw/sqlite-utils

Windows: Correct way to initialize spatialite?

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Description

Hi there.

I am struggling to find a way to install, or to make the library type out a string, when I type db.find_spatialite() according to the documentation. Instead it prints out None, which means that SpatiaLite is not found.

My code is this:

from sqlite_utils import Database
from sqlite_utils.utils import find_spatialite

modelDb = Database('..\\modeludtraek.sqlite')
modelDb.init_spatialite(find_spatialite())

This gives me: TypeError: load_extension() argument must be str, not None.

Obviously, I have not installed the SpatiaLite extension... and I have no clue how to do that. The documentation links to this page. Thus, I don't know what to download and where to place the files. I believe I should look for a file called mod_spatialite.dylib, written in the docs. Instead, I have a file called mod_spatialite.dll, but when I try to locate this file, it throws a OperationalError: Det angivne modul blev ikke fundet (danish for: "The specified module was not found"):

modelDb.init_spatialite('C:\\...\\mod_spatialite-5.1.0-win-x86\\mod_spatialite.dll')

Furthermore, I tried to follow this guide on how to install SpatiaLite on Windows, but that doesn't seem to be working either.

So... what I am doing wrong? Cannot figure it out. Thanks in advance for your help :)

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Research direction

Start with the Python API documentation for find_spatialite() and init_spatialite(), then reproduce the Windows call using the reported mod_spatialite.dll path. Determine what the Windows loading error means and whether the documentation needs Windows-specific installation or initialization guidance. Done means a Windows user can install the extension and load it without the reported TypeError or OperationalError.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python, sqlite
Domain
databases
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
30/100

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