What is com.apple.dock.db?

I know what com.apple.dock.plist does, but what is the purpose of "com.apple.dock.db"? I have been using OS 10.5 for a couple of years, and I often go to the preferences to copy the file path and use it as a help suggestion to someone having a Dock issue, and I do not remember seeing com.apple.dock.db before today. Is this a new concept added by some update?

If I open com.apple.dock.db with TextEdit, it has this:

SQLite format 3 @ &

¨ + æ

Å1 =# Ç triggerdirectory_trigger_deletedirectoriesCREATE TRIGGER directory_trigger_delete AFTER DELETE ON directories BEGIN DELETE FROM files WHERE directory_id = OLD.ROWID; ENDk # Å)indexfiles_indexfiles CREATE INDEX files_index on files (name, filesystemid, directory_id, ordering) Å]tablefilesfiles CREATE TABLE files (name VARCHAR NOT NULL, filesystemid INTEGER, directory_id INTEGER, ordering INTEGER)R ## mtabledirectoriesdirectories CREATE TABLE directories (path VARCHAR NOT NULL)

Ë – ¥ /Applications/iWork '09/ /Users/jm/Downloads/ /Users/jm/Documents/

ì ì ì y y 9 9 f$ System Pages notes걆 U Pages.app ¢å Key# CH ≈ CHUD_3.5.2.dmg ◊¨ m Updater ñ· Z Microsoft User Data ˙d ; About Downloads.pdf ÍF About Stacks.pdf ÍC

è è è è è 1 J `% Syster Pages notes걆 Y Pages.app ¢å Keyn$ CH √ CHUD_3.5.2.dmg ◊¨ q Updater ñ· ] Microsoft User Data ˙d = About Downloads.pdf ÍF About Stacks.pdf ÍC

The text "delete" appearing a couple of times makes me worry.

Anyone know how to explain com.apple.dock.d in 25 words or less?