Try something like this
-- See if Database File Already Exists in Documents Directory path = system.pathForFile( "game.db", system.DocumentsDirectory ) file = io.open( path, "r" ) if( file == nil )then -- Doesn't Already Exist, So Copy it In From Resource Directory pathSource = system.pathForFile( "game.db", system.ResourceDirectory ) fileSource = io.open( pathSource, "r" ) contentsSource = fileSource:read( "\*a" ) -- Write Destination File in Documents Directory pathDest = system.pathForFile( "game.db", system.DocumentsDirectory ) fileDest = io.open( pathDest, "w" ) fileDest:write( contentsSource ) -- Done io.close( fileSource ) io.close( fileDest ) end