diff --git a/src/sqlite-helper.h b/src/sqlite-helper.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6874259
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/sqlite-helper.h
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+/* -*- Mode: C++; c-file-style: "gnu"; indent-tabs-mode:nil -*- */
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2012 University of California, Los Angeles
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation;
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
+ *
+ * Author: Alexander Afanasyev <alexander.afanasyev@ucla.edu>
+ *	   Zhenkai Zhu <zhenkai@cs.ucla.edu>
+ */
+
+#ifndef SQLITE_HELPER_H
+#define SQLITE_HELPER_H
+
+#include <sqlite3.h>
+#include <openssl/evp.h>
+#include <boost/exception/all.hpp>
+#include <string>
+
+// temporarily ignoring all potential database errors
+
+class DbHelper
+{
+public:
+  DbHelper (const std::string &path);
+  ~DbHelper ();
+
+  
+  
+private:
+  static void
+  hash_xStep (sqlite3_context*,int,sqlite3_value**);
+
+  static void
+  hash_xFinal (sqlite3_context*);
+  
+private:
+  sqlite3 *m_db;
+};
+
+namespace Error {
+struct Db : virtual boost::exception, virtual std::exception { };
+}
+
+
+#endif // SQLITE_HELPER_H