drift_flutter and sqlite3_flutter_libs

[tenhobi]

Hi, we started using drift_flutter which internally uses sqlite3_flutter_libs. This breaks SQLCipher - as recommended https://drift.simonbinder.eu/platforms/encryption/ we are using sqlcipher_flutter_libs.

I noticed sqlite3_flutter_libs is only used for applyWorkaroundToOpenSqlite3OnOldAndroidVersions and sqlcipher_flutter_libs already has applyWorkaroundToOpenSqlCipherOnOldAndroidVersions and openCipherOnAndroid.

Because of this added dependency on sqlite3_flutter_libs we are unable to run our Flutter app because of

Error (Xcode): 'Sqlite3FlutterLibsPlugin' has different definitions in different modules; first difference is definition in module 'sqlcipher_flutter_libs.Sqlite3FlutterLibsPlugin' found end of class
/Users/myName/.pub-cache/hosted/pub.dev/sqlcipher_flutter_libs-0.6.8/ios/Classes/Sqlite3FlutterLibsPlugin.h:3:0

What to do about it? Can this function be i.e. extracted from the package and users can pass it in callback?

[simolus3]

This is an unfortunate limitation of native Flutter plugins which can't have conditional dependencies. Really we would need a drift_flutter_sqlite3 and a drift_flutter_sqlcipher to fix this, but that's a maintenance nightmare.

The good news is that this will get better very soon! With the next stable Dart SDK, we'll have access to hooks which are able to contribute native libraries to Dart and Flutter projects. I'm already busy migrating package:sqlite3 to hooks, and that will allow switching between SQLite and SQLite3MultipleCiphers (which is compatible with SQLCipher) without changing dependencies.

Fixing this properly in the meantime doesn't make sense to me given that it would be a lot of effort and hooks are a much better solution. A possible workaround could be to:

1. In your workspace / app repository, add a sqlite3_flutter_libs package that contains nothing except a applyWorkaroundToOpenSqlite3OnOldAndroidVersions that calls applyWorkaroundToOpenSqlCipherOnOldAndroidVersions.
2. Add a dependency_overrides entry to your pubspec to replace the original sqlite3_flutter_libs library with that custom package, and add a dependency on sqlcipher_flutter_libs.
3. Now drift_flutter would implicitly use SQLCipher.

Of course, this is quite hacky. But since we're close to having a proper solution for this, maybe that can work for a short while?

[tenhobi]

Thanks, will try!

[tenhobi]

@simolus3 your tip worked, but now I have issues with overriding libsqlite3.so to libsqlcipher.so using

await applyWorkaroundToOpenSqlCipherOnOldAndroidVersions();
sqlite.open.overrideFor(sqlite.OperatingSystem.android, openCipherOnAndroid);

works in main isolate probably (i have created temporary getter to see from outside)

in the isolate that drift_flutter creates it does not, it is empty there

Any idea how to solve this?

[simolus3]

Good catch! I don't think this is fixable today, but I've added an option in 7782ee8. With that, you could use isolateSetup: () { open.overrideFor(...); } to use SQLCipher. If you're keen to try this out, you could add a git dependency override for drift_flutter:

dependency_overrides:
  drift_flutter:
    git:
      url: https://github.com/simolus3/drift.git
      ref: 7782ee8541d7cb035a1a2ee4a2ff67265c84d779
      path: drift_flutter

[tenhobi]

Works. Thank you very much for the superb support! 🥇

[mertalev]

This is an unfortunate limitation of native Flutter plugins which can't have conditional dependencies. Really we would need a drift_flutter_sqlite3 and a drift_flutter_sqlcipher to fix this, but that's a maintenance nightmare.

The good news is that this will get better very soon! With the next stable Dart SDK, we'll have access to hooks which are able to contribute native libraries to Dart and Flutter projects. I'm already busy migrating package:sqlite3 to hooks, and that will allow switching between SQLite and SQLite3MultipleCiphers (which is compatible with SQLCipher) without changing dependencies.

Fixing this properly in the meantime doesn't make sense to me given that it would be a lot of effort and hooks are a much better solution. A possible workaround could be to:

1. In your workspace / app repository, add a sqlite3_flutter_libs package that contains nothing except a applyWorkaroundToOpenSqlite3OnOldAndroidVersions that calls applyWorkaroundToOpenSqlCipherOnOldAndroidVersions.
2. Add a dependency_overrides entry to your pubspec to replace the original sqlite3_flutter_libs library with that custom package, and add a dependency on sqlcipher_flutter_libs.
3. Now drift_flutter would implicitly use SQLCipher.

Of course, this is quite hacky. But since we're close to having a proper solution for this, maybe that can work for a short while?

Will this allow devs to bring their own native SQLite dependencies? Overriding sqlite3_flutter_libs is the solution I landed on to have a custom SQLite build to be used in both Dart and native code. It also includes a query builder for Swift because of other dependency reasons (specifically, the query builder must be built with this SQLite build rather than the system one).

[simolus3]

Overriding sqlite3_flutter_libs is the solution I landed on to have a custom SQLite build to be used in both Dart and native code

That will continue to require customization with version 3.x of package:sqlite3, but it will become less hacky (in the sense that you don't have to patch a package).

So for iOS/macOS builds for example, I assume your native dependency would statically link SQLite into the application? In that case you could add the following to your pubspec and wouldn't have to change any other dependency:

hooks:
  user_defines:
    sqlite3:
      source: executable

[mertalev]

Yes, it's static for iOS. For Android, I think it will still need to be a shared library because this is what Room seems to expect. Would source: process work for both platforms in this case?

[simolus3]

source: process should work if you use Room with the sqlite-driver-bundled driver implementation. If not there should be a way to load that with platform-specific options, would be worth opening an issue on the sqlite3.dart repository in that case.

[simolus3]

I'll close this issue since the two flutter_libs packages are no longer a concern with version 3.x of the sqlite3 package.