【文章标题】：Queryable Executables 【文章标题】：可查询的可执行文件
【文章正文】： 【文章正文】：
I was pleasantly surprised and happy to see that my article ‘Your executable is a SQLite database’ resonated with people. It is a format I have been thinking about for a while, and the idea seems to have struck a chord with others. 看到我的文章《你的可执行文件就是一个SQLite数据库》引起大家的共鸣，我感到既惊喜又高兴。这个格式我已经构思了一段时间，看来这个想法也触动了其他人的心弦。
A quick recap: SELF, a format where the program is a SQLite database. We can use binfmt_misc to trigger a custom interpreter that maps the rows in the segments table and jumps to the entry point, and a whole class of binary tooling collapses into SQL. 简单回顾一下：SELF是一种将程序作为SQLite数据库的格式。我们可以使用binfmt_misc来触发一个自定义解释器，该解释器映射segments表中的行并跳转到入口点，这样一来，整整一类二进制工具就都归结为SQL了。
What keeps surprising me is how having the file format be a SQLite database keeps collapsing everything into SQL. One idea that was immediately evident to myself and others through comments: If the executable is a database, and a database is something you can write to, can the running program use it to also store its state? 🤔 让我不断感到惊讶的是，将文件格式设为SQLite数据库，似乎能把一切都归结为SQL。通过评论，我和其他人立刻想到了一个显而易见的想法：如果可执行文件是一个数据库，而数据库是可以写入的，那么运行中的程序能否用它来存储自己的状态呢？🤔
Yes! 🤯 答案是肯定的！🤯
We can collapse not only a complete distribution but all the state for every application into a single file, alleviating the need for /var/ or /tmp/ or /home/ or any other filesystem. The program can store its own state in the same file it is running from, and it can do so transactionally. 我们不仅可以把完整的发行版，还可以把所有应用的所有状态都压缩到一个单一文件中，从而免除对/var/、/tmp/、/home/或任何其他文件系统的需求。程序可以将自己的状态存储在它正在运行的同一个文件中，并且可以以事务方式进行处理。
self-httpd is a proof-of-concept webserver that does exactly that. It is a single file program executed from a database. The file contains the program, the website, the routes and all the visitor logs. All state is updated in the same SQLite file as the program itself. self-httpd就是一个概念验证的Web服务器，它正是这样做的。它是一个从数据库中执行的单文件程序。该文件包含了程序、网站、路由以及所有访客日志。所有状态都在与程序本身相同的SQLite文件中进行更新。
# Our server is a single file, and it is a SQLite database
$ file server
server: SQLite 3.x database, application id 1397050438, ...
$ ./server --journal wal 8080
self-httpd: serving 3 routes out of /srv/self/server
self-httpd: listening on http://0.0.0.0:8080 with 4 workers
$ curl -s localhost:8080 | head -1
<!doctype html>
# nobody has pressed the button on that page yet
$ sqlite3 server 'SELECT count(*) FROM presses'
0
$ curl -s -X POST -d press localhost:8080/api/press
{"presses":1,"button":"press"}
# the application data is inside the same database
$ sqlite3 server 'SELECT id, at, button FROM presses'
1|2026-08-25 03:11:28|press
# so was the GET that fetched the page in the first place
$ sqlite3 server 'SELECT count(*) AS n, path
FROM visits GROUP BY path'
1|/
1|/api/press
# 我们的服务器是一个单文件，且是一个SQLite数据库
$ file server
server: SQLite 3.x database, application id 1397050438, ...
$ ./server --journal wal 8080
self-httpd: serving 3 routes out of /srv/self/server
self-httpd: listening on http://0.0.0.0:8080 with 4 workers
$ curl -s localhost:8080 | head -1
<!doctype html>
# 还没人按过那个页面上的按钮
$ sqlite3 server 'SELECT count(*) FROM presses'
0
$ curl -s -X POST -d press localhost:8080/api/press
{"presses":1,"button":"press"}
# 应用数据就在同一个数据库中
$ sqlite3 server 'SELECT id, at, button FROM presses'
1|2026-08-25 03:11:28|press
# 最初获取该页面的GET请求也被记录了
$ sqlite3 server 'SELECT count(*) AS n, path
FROM visits GROUP BY path'
1|/
1|/api/press
This web-server is live at https://selfdb.exe.xyz.11If the site is not working for you, sorry. I deployed it on their smallest tier. I included a screenshot of the site just in case for posterity! It is one file, a SQLite database, and it is also the server. It is the website, it is the program, and it is the visitor log and state. 这个Web服务器已上线，网址是 https://selfdb.exe.xyz。11如果网站无法访问，抱歉。我把它部署在了最低配置的层级上。为了以防万一，我截了一张网站的图留作纪念！它就是一个文件，一个SQLite数据库，同时也是服务器本身。它是网站，是程序，也是访客日志和状态。
§Everything is my demon muse §万物皆是我的恶魔缪斯
I have a lot of admiration for the work of Justine Tunney, whose prior art redbean: a webserver in a single file, built as an Actually Portable Executable with a self-extracting ZIP archive, inspired the idea. 我非常钦佩Justine Tunney的工作，她的先行作品redbean：一个单文件Web服务器，构建为带有自解压ZIP归档的“真正可移植可执行文件”，启发了这个想法。
SELF is many ways is less brilliant. It relies on simpler tools to achieve something very similar but I’m amazed how much collapses into a single domain: SQL. SELF在很多方面没那么惊艳。它依赖更简单的工具来实现非常相似的功能，但令我惊叹的是，有多少东西能归结到一个单一的领域：SQL。
Whereas, redbean needs to include an archive format (ZIP), the database itself is the container. Redbean provides Lua hooks to manipulate the responses, whereas the equivalent in SELF is a new row in a handlers table. redbean需要包含一种归档格式（ZIP），而数据库本身就是容器。Redbean提供Lua钩子来操作响应，而在SELF中，等效的操作只是在handlers表中新增一行。
INSERT INTO handlers VALUES
('/api/busiest', 'SELECT path, count(*)
FROM visits GROUP BY path
ORDER BY 2 DESC LIMIT 5');
INSERT INTO handlers VALUES
('/api/busiest', 'SELECT path, count(*)
FROM visits GROUP BY path
ORDER BY 2 DESC LIMIT 5');
If redbean is an Actually Portable Executable, this is an Actually Queryable Executable. One of them runs anywhere, the other one you can SELECT from. 如果说redbean是一个“真正可移植可执行文件”，那么这就是一个“真正可查询可执行文件”。前者可以在任何地方运行，后者则可以被SELECT查询。
§All you need is argv[0] §你只需要argv[0]
How does the process get access to itself? 🤔 进程是如何访问自身的呢？🤔
For now, you cannot use /proc/self/exe.22Funny enough, the VFS Linux maintainer recently landed support for transparent binfmt_misc in the kernel, which would make /proc/self/exe point to the original file. I wrote about it here. When binfmt_misc matches, the kernel does not execve your file at all , it execs the interpreter, and hands it the path: 目前，你还不能使用/proc/self/exe。22有趣的是，Linux VFS维护者最近在内核中加入了对透明binfmt_misc的支持，这将使/proc/self/exe指向原始文件。我在这里写过相关文章。 当binfmt_misc匹配时，内核根本不会execve你的文件，而是exec解释器，并将路径传给它：
self-exec passes argv + 1 through to the program, so the program’s argv[0] is the path to the executable itself. The interpreter also releases its SQLite connection before jumping to the entry point, so the program can open its own file and query it. self-exec将argv + 1传递给程序，因此程序的argv[0]就是可执行文件本身的路径。解释器在跳转到入口点之前还会释放其SQLite连接，这样程序就可以打开自己的文件并对其进行查询。
int main(int argc, char **argv) {
sqlite3 *db;
/* the file the kernel just executed */
sqlite3_open(argv[0], &db);
...
}
int main(int argc, char **argv) {
sqlite3 *db;
/* 内核刚刚执行的文件 */
sqlite3_open(argv[0], &db);
...
}
This is pretty unrestricted and magical. You can read your own segment table or a new table next to it. The writes persist across invocations. ✨ 这相当不受限制，简直像魔法一样。你可以读取自己的段表或它旁边的新表。写入的内容在多次调用之间持久保存。✨
§self-httpd §self-httpd
The web-server for our example is three tables: routes, visits and presses. We will record every visitor and every button press. 我们示例中的Web服务器包含三个表：routes、visits和presses。我们将记录每一位访客和每一次按钮点击。
-- the content, added to the executable
-- after it is compiled and linked
CREATE TABLE routes (path TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
mime TEXT, body BLOB);
-- what the site collects, written back
-- into the executable while it runs
CREATE TABLE visits (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, at TEXT,
ua TEXT, path TEXT);
CREATE TABLE presses (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
at T
-- 内容，在编译和链接后添加到可执行文件中
CREATE TABLE routes (path TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
mime TEXT, body BLOB);
-- 网站收集的数据，在运行时写回可执行文件
CREATE TABLE visits (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, at TEXT,
ua TEXT, path TEXT);
CREATE TABLE presses (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
at T