docs/content/en/docs/appstore/connectors/aws/aws-dynamodb.md at 1534ae975c5d787c85db600d32acd4352af9dad1 · ClevrSolutions/docs

title

Amazon DynamoDB

url

/appstore/connectors/aws/amazon-dynamodb/

description

Describes the configuration and usage of the Amazon DynamoDB connector from the Mendix Marketplace. Amazon DynamoDB is a fully managed, serverless, key-value NoSQL database designed to run high-performance applications at any scale.

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1 Introduction

The Amazon DynamoDB connector provides a way for you to increase the security, scalability, and performance of your Mendix app by implementing Amazon DynamoDB.

1.1 Typical Use Cases

Amazon DynamoDB helps improve your app by giving you the tools to build scalable, performant applications on a flexible, serverless database. You can use it to develop high-traffic online platforms and applications for a variety of modern industries, such as content streaming, electronic commerce, or gaming.

1.2 Prerequisites {#prerequisites}

To use the Amazon DynamoDB connector, you must first install and configure the following modules:

AWS Authentication connector version 2.0 or higher - This connector is required to authenticate with Amazon Web Services (AWS). It is crucial for the Amazon DynamoDB connector to function correctly. For more information about installing and configuring the AWS Authentication connector, see AWS Authentication.
Community Commons module - This module is required to parse the creationDateTime attribute as returned by the DescribeTable activity.

2 Installation

Follow the instructions in How to Use Marketplace Content in Studio Pro to import the Amazon DynamoDB connector into your app.

3 Configuration

After you install the connector, you can find it in the App Explorer, in the AmazonDynamoDBConnector section. The connector provides a domain model and several activities that you can use to connect your app to Amazon DynamoDB. Each activity can be implemented by using it in a microflow. To ensure that your app can connect to the AWS service, you must also configure AWS authentication for the connector.

3.1 Configuring AWS Authentication

In order to use the Amazon DynamoDB service, you must authenticate with AWS. To do so, you must set up a configuration profile in your Mendix app. After you set up the configuration profile, the connector module handles the authentication internally.

Ensure that you have installed and configured the AWS Authentication connector, as mentioned in Prerequisites.
Decide whether you want to use session or static credentials to authenticate. The Amazon DynamoDB connector supports both session and static credentials. By default, the connector is pre-configured to use static credentials, but you may want to switch to session credentials, for example, to increase the security of your app. For an overview of both authentication methods, see AWS Authentication.
In the App Explorer, double-click the Settings for your app.

{{< figure src="/attachments/appstore/connectors/aws-dynamodb/appsettings.png" alt="The Settings option in the App Explorer">}}
In the App Settings dialog, in the Configurations tab, edit or create an authentication profile. If you have multiple sets of AWS credentials, or if you want to use both static and session credentials for different use cases, create separate authentication profiles for each set of credentials.
In the Edit Configuration dialog, in the Constants tab, click New to add the constants required for the configuration.
In the Select Constants dialog, find and expand the AmazonDynamoDBConnector > ConnectionDetails section.

{{< figure src="/attachments/appstore/connectors/aws-dynamodb/credentials.png" alt="The SessionCredentials and StaticCredentials items in the ConnectionDetails section">}}

Depending on your selected authentication type, configure the required parameters for the StaticCredentials or SessionCredentials.

Credentials type	Parameter	Value
Any	UseStaticCredentials	true if you want to use static credentials, or false for session credentials
StaticCredentials	AccessKey	Access key ID created in IAM
StaticCredentials	SecretKey	Secret key created in IAM
SessionCredentials	Role ARN	ARN of the AWS role that the connector should assume
SessionCredentials	Profile ARN	ARN of the profile created in IAM Roles Anywhere
SessionCredentials	Trust Anchor ARN	ARN of the trust anchor created in IAM Roles Anywhere
SessionCredentials	Client Certificate Identifier	The Client Certificate Pin visible in the Outgoing Certificates section on the Network tab in the Mendix Cloud environment
SessionCredentials	Duration	Duration for which the session token should be valid; after the duration passes, the validity of the session credentials expires
SessionCredentials	Session Name	An identifier for the session

3.2 Configuring a Microflow for an AWS Service

After you configure the authentication profile for Amazon DynamoDB, you can implement the functions of the connector by using the provided activities in microflows. For example, to list all Amazon DynamoDB tables for a specific region, implement the ListTables activity by doing the following steps:

In the App Explorer, find and open the domain model for your app.
Right-click on the working area of the domain model, and then click Add entity.

{{< figure src="/attachments/appstore/connectors/aws-dynamodb/addentity.png" alt="Adding a new entity to the domain model">}}
Open the new entity by double-clicking on it.
Enter a name for the entity, for example, DBTable.
In the Attributes section, click New, and then configure the attribute in the following way:
- Name - A unique name for the attribute, for example, TableName
- Type - String
The parameters that you need to configure depend on the contents of the response that an activity expects. The ListTables activity used in this example only expects the database table name as a response. Other activities require different parameters. For more information, see Activities.
In the App Explorer, right-click on the name of your module, and then click Add microflow.

{{< figure src="/attachments/appstore/connectors/aws-dynamodb/addmicroflow.png" alt="Adding a microflow">}}
Enter a name for your microflow, for example, DS_ListTables, and then click OK.
In the App Explorer, in the Amazon DynamoDBConnector > Operations section, find the ListTables activity.
Drag the ListTables activity onto the work area of your microflow.

{{< figure src="/attachments/appstore/connectors/aws-dynamodb/listtables.png" alt="The DS_ListTables microflow with the ListTables activity">}}
In the Properties pane for the microflow, in the Security section, select a user role that should be allowed to run the microflow.

{{< figure src="/attachments/appstore/connectors/aws-dynamodb/microflowsecurity.png" alt="The Properties pane of a microflow">}}
Double-click the ListTables activity to configure the required parameters.

For the ListTables activity, you must specify the region for which you want to retrieve the tables. Other activities may have different required parameters.
Click Edit parameter value, edit the AWS_Region parameter, and change Type to Expression.
In the expression builder, type AWS_Region, and then press Ctrl+Space.
In the autocomplete dialog, select AmazonDynamoDBConnector.AWS_Region, then type . and select your AWS region from the list.

{{< figure src="/attachments/appstore/connectors/aws-dynamodb/awsregions.png" alt="The list of AWS regions">}}

For a list of available AWS regions, see AWS_Region.
Click OK, and then click OK again.
In the Toolbox pane, search for the Retrieve activity and drag it onto the microflow area.
Position the Retrieve activity between the ListTables activity and the microflow end event.

{{< figure src="/attachments/appstore/connectors/aws-dynamodb/microflow.png" alt="The microflow with the Retrieve activity added">}}
Double-click the Retrieve activity.
In the Association section, click Select.
In the Select Association dialog box, expand the Variable item, and then select ListTablesResponse as the association.

{{< figure src="/attachments/appstore/connectors/aws-dynamodb/selectassociation.png" alt="Selecting the association">}}
Click OK.
In the Toolbox pane, search for the Create list activity and drag it onto the microflow area.
Position the Create list activity between the microflow start event and the ListTables activity.

{{< figure src="/attachments/appstore/connectors/aws-dynamodb/createlist.png" alt="The microflow with the Create list activity added">}}
Double-click the Create list activity.
In the Entity section, click Select.
In the Select Entity dialog box, select the entity that you previously added to your domain model, for example, DBTable.

{{< figure src="/attachments/appstore/connectors/aws-dynamodb/selectentity.png" alt="Selecting the entity">}}
In the Toolbox pane, search for the Loop activity and drag it onto the microflow area.
Position the Loop activity before the microflow end event.

{{< figure src="/attachments/appstore/connectors/aws-dynamodb/addloop.png" alt="The microflow with the loop added">}}
Double-click the Loop activity.
In the Iterate over list, select ListTableList.

{{< figure src="/attachments/appstore/connectors/aws-dynamodb/editloop.png" alt="Selecting the entity to iterate over">}}
In the Toolbox pane, search for the Create object activity and drag it inside the loop area.

{{< figure src="/attachments/appstore/connectors/aws-dynamodb/createobject.png" alt="The microflow with the Create activity added">}}
Double-click the Create object activity.
In the Entity section, click Select.
In the Select Entity dialog box, select the entity that you previously added to your domain model, for example, DBTable, and then click Select.
In the Create Object dialog box, click New.
In the Edit Change Item dialog box, in the Member drop-down, select the attribute that you previously created, for example, TableName.
In the expression editor, type $IteratorListTable/Name, and then click OK.
In the Toolbox pane, search for the Change List activity and drag it inside the loop area, to the right of the Create Object activity.
Double-click the Change List activity, and then set the following values:
- Type - Add
- Value - The created object, for example, $NewDBTable
Double-click the end event of your microflow, and then set the following values:
- Type - List
- Entity - The entity that you previously added to your domain model, for example, DBTable
Right-click the Create List activity, and then click Set {TableName} as return value.
In the App Explorer, right-click on the name of your module, and then click Add page.
In the Lists category, select the List template for the page.
Enter a name for your page, for example, Table_Overview, and then click OK.
On the page, double-click the List view widget.

{{< figure src="/attachments/appstore/connectors/aws-dynamodb/listview.png" alt="The List view widget">}}
In the Select Data Source dialog, set the Type to Microflow.
In the Entity (path) field, select the DS_ListTables microflow.
Click OK, and then click Yes.
In the Properties pane for the page, in the Security section, select a user role that should be allowed to run the microflow.
In the App Explorer, double-click the Navigation for your app.
In the Menu section, click New Item.
In the New Menu Item dialog, configure the following settings:
- Caption - A caption for the navigation item, for example, Table
- Icon - An icon that will be displayed for this page in the navigation for your app
- On click - Show a page
- Page - Your Table_Overview page
{{< figure src="/attachments/appstore/connectors/aws-dynamodb/navigation.png" alt="The New Menu Item dialog">}}
Click OK.

{{< figure src="/attachments/appstore/connectors/aws-dynamodb/microflow2.png" alt="The microflow after mapping the properties">}}

4 Technical Reference

To help you work with the Amazon DynamoDB connector, the following sections of this document list the available entities, enumerations, and activities that you can use in your application.

4.1 Domain Model {#domain-model}

The domain model is a data model that describes the information in your application domain in an abstract way. For more information, see Domain Model.

The entities in the table below describe all generalizations. These are reused by the different models for the specific microflow activities or for storing connection details.

Name	Description
`Table`	This generalization entity holds information for a given table. The attribute it contains is `Name`, which is the name of the table inside of Amazon DynamoDB.
`Key`	This generalization entity holds information for the key in a key-value pair. The sole purpose of this entity is to be specialized from. Values in DynamoDB are stored in key-value pairs and the connector returns the data in its native type.
`Item`	This generalization entity holds information of items inside Amazon DynamoDB. Each item represents a row in a table. Each item at least has one `KeyValue` object.
`KeyValueLong`	This generalization entity holds information for a key-value pair for a given Item. The attribute it contains is `LongValue`, which is a numeric representation of value in a key-value pair.
`KeyValueDecimal`	This generalization entity holds information for a key-value pair for a given Item. The attribute it contains is `DecimalValue`, which is a numeric representation of value in a key-value pair.
`KeyValueBoolean`	This generalization entity holds information for a key-value pair for a given Item. The attribute it contains is `BooleanValue`, which is a Boolean representation of value in a key-value pair.
`KeyValueString`	This generalization entity holds information for a key-value pair for a given Item. The attribute it contains is `StringValue`, which is a string representation of value in a key-value pair.

4.2 Enumerations

An enumeration is a predefined list of values that can be used as an attribute type. For the Amazon DynamoDB connector, enumerations list values such as the status of database tables, or the list of available AWS regions.

4.2.1 `ENUM_BooleanValue`

Name	Caption	Description
`_TRUE`	TRUE	The enumeration element if a key-value pair is of the type Boolean and is set to true
`_FALSE`	FALSE	The enumeration element if a key-value pair is of the type Boolean and is set to false

4.2.2 `ENUM_TableStatus`

Name	Caption	Description
`CREATING`	CREATING	The enumeration element that shows the status of a table that is being created
`UPDATING`	UPDATING	The enumeration element that shows the status of a table that is being updated
`DELETING`	DELETING	The enumeration element that shows the status of a table that is being deleted
`ACTIVE`	ACTIVE	The enumeration element that shows the status of a table that is active
`INACCESSIBLE_ENCRYPTION_CREDENTIALS`	INACCESSIBLE_ENCRYPTION_CREDENTIALS	The enumeration element that shows the status of a table that has an inaccesible AWS KMS key. Table operations may fail due to this

4.2.3 `ENUM_KEY`

Name	Caption	Description
`HASH`	HASH (partition)	The enumeration element that reflects the partition key of a table
`RANGE`	RANGE (sort)	The enumeration element that reflects the sort key of a table
`UNKNOWN_TO_SDK_VERSION`	UNKNOWN_TO_SDK_VERSION	The enumeration element that reflects an unknown key schema element

4.2.4 `ENUM_AttributeType`

Name	Caption	Description
`String`	String	The enumeration element that reflects native data type of string
`Number`	Number	The enumeration element that reflects native data type of a number (decimal or long)
`Binary`	Binary	The enumeration element that reflects native data type of a binary file expressed as a string

4.2.5 `ENUM_ComparisonOperator`

For more information on using comparison operators, please visit Amazon DynamoDB docs.

Name	Caption	Description
`BEGINS_WITH`	BEGINS_WITH	The enumeration element that evaluates items for a prefix
`BETWEEN`	BETWEEN	The enumeration element that evaluates items between two given items, where the first item must be smaller than the second
`CONTAINS`	CONTAINS	The enumeration element that evaluates items for a subsequence or value in a set
`EQ`	EQUAL	The enumeration element that evaluates items against an item. This comparison operator supports all data types, including lists and maps
`GE`	GREATER_THAN_OR_EQUAL	The enumeration element that evaluates whether items are greater than or equal to the key-value pair
`GT`	GREATER_THAN	The enumeration element that evaluates whether items are greater than the key-value pair
`IN`	IN	The enumeration element that evaluates whether items match elements in a list
`LE`	LESS_THAN_OR_EQUAL	The enumeration element that evaluates whether items are less than or equal to the key-value pair
`LT`	LESS_THAN	The enumeration element that evaluates whether items are less than the key-value pair
`NE`	NOT_EQUAL	The enumeration element that evaluates whether items are unequal to the key-value pair
`NOT_CONTAINS`	NOT_CONTAINS	The enumeration element that evaluates items for absence of a subsequence, or absence of a value in a set
`NOT_NULL`	NOT_NULL	The enumeration element that evaluates whether items are not null. This comparison operator supports all data types, including lists and maps
`_NULL`	NULL	The enumeration element that evaluates whether items have the attribute. This comparison operator supports all data types, including lists and maps

4.2.6 `AWS_Region` {#aws-region}

Name	Caption
`us_east_2`	US East (Ohio)
`us_east_1`	US East (N. Virginia)
`us_west_1`	US West (N. California)
`us_west_2`	US West (Oregon)
`af_south_1`	Africa (Cape Town)
`ap_east_1`	Asia Pacific (Hong Kong)
`ap_southeast_3`	Asia Pacific (Jakarta)
`ap_south_1`	Asia Pacific (Mumbai)
`ap_northeast_3`	Asia Pacific (Osaka)
`ap_northeast_2`	Asia Pacific (Seoul)
`ap_southeast_1`	Asia Pacific (Singapore)
`ap_southeast_2`	Asia Pacific (Sydney)
`ap_northeast_1`	Asia Pacific (Tokyo)
`ca_central_1`	Canada (Central)
`eu_central_1`	Europe (Frankfurt)
`eu_west_1`	Europe (Ireland)
`eu_west_2`	Europe (London)
`eu_south_1`	Europe (Milan)
`eu_west_3`	Europe (Paris)
`eu_north_1`	Europe (Stockholm)
`me_south_1`	Middle East (Bahrain)
`sa_east_1`	South America (São Paulo)

4.3 Activities {#activities}

Activities define the actions that are executed in a microflow or a nanoflow. For the Amazon DynamoDB connector, they represent the actions that can be performed on DynamoDB database tables.

4.3.1 Batch Get Item

The BatchGetItem Amazon DynamoDB activity allows you to get multiple items from DynamoDB in a single call. It requires a valid AWS Region and a response entity that contains the tables from which the item must be fetched. You must also specify whether the activity should perform a consistent read, and provide a list of keys to query from.