# Archive/Import/Overview

From XOWA: the free, open-source, offline wiki application

## Sqlite vs XOWA text file hive

XOWA text file advantages:

- Faster import: Writing to a text file is quick. fr.wikipedia.org imports in about 19 minutes whereas sqlite takes about 45 minutes
- Universal format: Text files are more ubiquitous than a sqlite database.
- No binary dependence: Almost anything can read a text file; one needs platform-specific binaries to read sqlite

Advantages of sqlite

- Fewer files: A wiki can be stored in one sqlite file (or several). The XOWA text file hive requires many thousands
- Simpler development: SQL can be used to select / update records. XOWA includes a lot of code to provide similar functionality.
- Slightly faster reading: Sqlite allows quicker retrieval when a wiki page has many templates / modules. This speed difference is dependent on the size of the wiki and the disk drive / memory card. Simple Wikipedia may be significantly faster. English Wikipedia may be marginally fasater.

### XOWA

- Main page
- Screenshots
- Video
- Download XOWA
- Download wikis

### Getting started

- Requirements
- Installation
- Simple Wikipedia
- English Wikipedia
- Other Wikipedias

### Android

- Setup
- Video

### Help

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### Links

- Wikimedia dumps
- XOWA @ archive.org
- English Wikipedia

### Donate

- archive.org
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