Description:
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The problem is that PDOStatment::fetch(PDO::FETCH_NUM) returns a string instead of an array for the SQLite driver. 

This report is similar to bug report 44341 issued in 2008 .

Bug Report was about MySQL. The conclusion was that the user needed to use a different MySQL driver from ORACLE.

SQLite is not a client server application like ORACLE's MySQL. 

SQLite is simply source code that PHP can embed in its product. SQLite does not have a driver.

Apparently, the root of the problem is that SQLite was designed to the ANSI SQL standard. The standard is String output.

The drivers by ORACLE for MySQL hand PDO parsed data that can be turned into an array.

If my understanding of this situation is true, then PDO has a serious bug. PDO has a dependency on proprietary drivers from third parties like ORACLE (MySQL is a wholly owned division of Oracle Corporation, NYSE ORCL).

From an Open Sourve view point, I would consider the inability to process ANSI standard data while having a dependency on proprietary drivers to be a bigger bug than the simple fact that PDOStatement::fetch() doesn't work for SQLite.

Dismissing this report as a "non-bug" still leaves the problem that SQLite is not a client-server database and does not have a database driver. SQLite just publishes code that PHP can embed in its product, which still throws the ball back in PHP's court.

The following link executes a fetch on my server:

http://yintercept.com/resources/new.php

Test script:
---------------
  $db = new PDO('sqlite:/var/www/db/main.db');
  
  $stmt = $db->prepare($sql);
  $stmt->execute();

  foreach ($stmt->fetch(PDO::FETCH_NUM) as $row) {
    echo '<p>This should be an array, but shows as a '.gettype($row).'.</p>';
  }

Expected result:
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I expect gettype($row) to show an array.

Actual result:
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gettype($row) reports a string that contains only a fraction of the result.