Query - Amazon DynamoDB
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Query

Important

This section refers to API version 2011-12-05, which is deprecated and should not be used for new applications.

For documentation on the current low-level API, see the Amazon DynamoDB API Reference.

Description

A Query operation gets the values of one or more items and their attributes by primary key (Query is only available for hash-and-range primary key tables). You must provide a specific HashKeyValue, and can narrow the scope of the query using comparison operators on the RangeKeyValue of the primary key. Use the ScanIndexForward parameter to get results in forward or reverse order by range key.

Queries that do not return results consume the minimum read capacity units according to the type of read.

Note

If the total number of items meeting the query parameters exceeds the 1MB limit, the query stops and results are returned to the user with a LastEvaluatedKey to continue the query in a subsequent operation. Unlike a Scan operation, a Query operation never returns an empty result set and a LastEvaluatedKey. The LastEvaluatedKey is only provided if the results exceed 1MB, or if you have used the Limit parameter.

The result can be set for a consistent read using the ConsistentRead parameter.

Requests

Syntax

// This header is abbreviated. // For a sample of a complete header, see DynamoDB low-level API. POST / HTTP/1.1 x-amz-target: DynamoDB_20111205.Query content-type: application/x-amz-json-1.0 {"TableName":"Table1", "Limit":2, "ConsistentRead":true, "HashKeyValue":{"S":"AttributeValue1":}, "RangeKeyCondition": {"AttributeValueList":[{"N":"AttributeValue2"}],"ComparisonOperator":"GT"} "ScanIndexForward":true, "ExclusiveStartKey":{ "HashKeyElement":{"S":"AttributeName1"}, "RangeKeyElement":{"N":"AttributeName2"} }, "AttributesToGet":["AttributeName1", "AttributeName2", "AttributeName3"]}, }
Name Description Required
TableName

The name of the table containing the requested items.

Type: String

Yes
AttributesToGet

Array of Attribute names. If attribute names are not specified then all attributes will be returned. If some attributes are not found, they will not appear in the result.

Type: Array

No
Limit

The maximum number of items to return (not necessarily the number of matching items). If DynamoDB processes the number of items up to the limit while querying the table, it stops the query and returns the matching values up to that point, and a LastEvaluatedKey to apply in a subsequent operation to continue the query. Also, if the result set size exceeds 1MB before DynamoDB hits this limit, it stops the query and returns the matching values, and a LastEvaluatedKey to apply in a subsequent operation to continue the query.

Type: Number

No
ConsistentRead

If set to true, then a consistent read is issued, otherwise eventually consistent is used.

Type: Boolean

No
Count

If set to true, DynamoDB returns a total number of items that match the query parameters, instead of a list of the matching items and their attributes. You can apply the Limit parameter to count-only queries.

Do not set Count to true while providing a list of AttributesToGet; otherwise, DynamoDB returns a validation error. For more information, see Counting the items in the results.

Type: Boolean

No
HashKeyValue

Attribute value of the hash component of the composite primary key.

Type: String, Number, or Binary

Yes
RangeKeyCondition

A container for the attribute values and comparison operators to use for the query. A query request does not require a RangeKeyCondition. If you provide only the HashKeyValue, DynamoDB returns all items with the specified hash key element value.

Type: Map

No
RangeKeyCondition:​ AttributeValueList

The attribute values to evaluate for the query parameters. The AttributeValueList contains one attribute value, unless a BETWEEN comparison is specified. For the BETWEEN comparison, the AttributeValueList contains two attribute values.

Type: A map of AttributeValue to a ComparisonOperator.

No
RangeKeyCondition:​ ComparisonOperator

The criteria for evaluating the provided attributes, such as equals, greater-than, etc. The following are valid comparison operators for a Query operation.

Note

String value comparisons for greater than, equals, or less than are based on ASCII character code values. For example, a is greater than A, and aa is greater than B. For a list of code values, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII#ASCII_printable_characters.

For Binary, DynamoDB treats each byte of the binary data as unsigned when it compares binary values, for example when evaluating query expressions.

Type: String or Binary

No
 

EQ : Equal.

For EQ, AttributeValueList can contain only one AttributeValue of type String, Number, or Binary (not a set). If an item contains an AttributeValue of a different type than the one specified in the request, the value does not match. For example, {"S":"6"} does not equal {"N":"6"}. Also, {"N":"6"} does not equal {"NS":["6", "2", "1"]}.

 
 

LE : Less than or equal.

For LE, AttributeValueList can contain only one AttributeValue of type String, Number, or Binary (not a set). If an item contains an AttributeValue of a different type than the one specified in the request, the value does not match. For example, {"S":"6"} does not equal {"N":"6"}. Also, {"N":"6"} does not compare to {"NS":["6", "2", "1"]}.

 
 

LT : Less than.

For LT, AttributeValueList can contain only one AttributeValue of type String, Number, or Binary (not a set). If an item contains an AttributeValue of a different type than the one specified in the request, the value does not match. For example, {"S":"6"} does not equal {"N":"6"}. Also, {"N":"6"} does not compare to {"NS":["6", "2", "1"]}.

 
 

GE : Greater than or equal.

For GE, AttributeValueList can contain only one AttributeValue of type String, Number, or Binary (not a set). If an item contains an AttributeValue of a different type than the one specified in the request, the value does not match. For example, {"S":"6"} does not equal {"N":"6"}. Also, {"N":"6"} does not compare to {"NS":["6", "2", "1"]}.

 
 

GT : Greater than.

For GT, AttributeValueList can contain only one AttributeValue of type String, Number, or Binary (not a set). If an item contains an AttributeValue of a different type than the one specified in the request, the value does not match. For example, {"S":"6"} does not equal {"N":"6"}. Also, {"N":"6"} does not compare to {"NS":["6", "2", "1"]}.

 
 

BEGINS_WITH : checks for a prefix.

For BEGINS_WITH, AttributeValueList can contain only one AttributeValue of type String or Binary (not a Number or a set). The target attribute of the comparison must be a String or Binary (not a Number or a set).

 
 

BETWEEN : Greater than, or equal to, the first value and less than, or equal to, the second value.

For BETWEEN, AttributeValueList must contain two AttributeValue elements of the same type, either String, Number, or Binary (not a set). A target attribute matches if the target value is greater than, or equal to, the first element and less than, or equal to, the second element. If an item contains an AttributeValue of a different type than the one specified in the request, the value does not match. For example, {"S":"6"} does not compare to {"N":"6"}. Also, {"N":"6"} does not compare to {"NS":["6", "2", "1"]}.

 
ScanIndexForward

Specifies ascending or descending traversal of the index. DynamoDB returns results reflecting the requested order determined by the range key: If the data type is Number, the results are returned in numeric order; otherwise, the traversal is based on ASCII character code values.

Type: Boolean

Default is true (ascending).

No
ExclusiveStartKey

Primary key of the item from which to continue an earlier query. An earlier query might provide this value as the LastEvaluatedKey if that query operation was interrupted before completing the query; either because of the result set size or the Limit parameter. The LastEvaluatedKey can be passed back in a new query request to continue the operation from that point.

Type: HashKeyElement, or HashKeyElement and RangeKeyElement for a composite primary key.

No

Responses

Syntax

HTTP/1.1 200 x-amzn-RequestId: 8966d095-71e9-11e0-a498-71d736f27375 content-type: application/x-amz-json-1.0 content-length: 308 {"Count":2,"Items":[{ "AttributeName1":{"S":"AttributeValue1"}, "AttributeName2":{"N":"AttributeValue2"}, "AttributeName3":{"S":"AttributeValue3"} },{ "AttributeName1":{"S":"AttributeValue3"}, "AttributeName2":{"N":"AttributeValue4"}, "AttributeName3":{"S":"AttributeValue3"}, "AttributeName5":{"B":"dmFsdWU="} }], "LastEvaluatedKey":{"HashKeyElement":{"AttributeValue3":"S"}, "RangeKeyElement":{"AttributeValue4":"N"} }, "ConsumedCapacityUnits":1 }
Name Description
Items

Item attributes meeting the query parameters.

Type: Map of attribute names to and their data types and values.

Count

Number of items in the response. For more information, see Counting the items in the results.

Type: Number

LastEvaluatedKey Primary key of the item where the query operation stopped, inclusive of the previous result set. Use this value to start a new operation excluding this value in the new request.

The LastEvaluatedKey is null when the entire query result set is complete (i.e. the operation processed the “last page”).

Type: HashKeyElement, or HashKeyElement and RangeKeyElement for a composite primary key.

ConsumedCapacityUnits

The number of read capacity units consumed by the operation. This value shows the number applied toward your provisioned throughput. For more information see DynamoDB provisioned capacity mode.

Type: Number

Special errors

Error Description
ResourceNotFoundException The specified table was not found.

Examples

For examples using the Amazon SDK, see Querying tables in DynamoDB.

Sample request

// This header is abbreviated. For a sample of a complete header, see DynamoDB low-level API. POST / HTTP/1.1 x-amz-target: DynamoDB_20111205.Query content-type: application/x-amz-json-1.0 {"TableName":"1-hash-rangetable", "Limit":2, "HashKeyValue":{"S":"John"}, "ScanIndexForward":false, "ExclusiveStartKey":{ "HashKeyElement":{"S":"John"}, "RangeKeyElement":{"S":"The Matrix"} } }

Sample response

HTTP/1.1 200 x-amzn-RequestId: 3647e778-71eb-11e0-a498-71d736f27375 content-type: application/x-amz-json-1.0 content-length: 308 {"Count":2,"Items":[{ "fans":{"SS":["Jody","Jake"]}, "name":{"S":"John"}, "rating":{"S":"***"}, "title":{"S":"The End"} },{ "fans":{"SS":["Jody","Jake"]}, "name":{"S":"John"}, "rating":{"S":"***"}, "title":{"S":"The Beatles"} }], "LastEvaluatedKey":{"HashKeyElement":{"S":"John"},"RangeKeyElement":{"S":"The Beatles"}}, "ConsumedCapacityUnits":1 }

Sample request

// This header is abbreviated. For a sample of a complete header, see DynamoDB low-level API. POST / HTTP/1.1 x-amz-target: DynamoDB_20111205.Query content-type: application/x-amz-json-1.0 {"TableName":"1-hash-rangetable", "Limit":2, "HashKeyValue":{"S":"Airplane"}, "RangeKeyCondition":{"AttributeValueList":[{"N":"1980"}],"ComparisonOperator":"EQ"}, "ScanIndexForward":false}

Sample response

HTTP/1.1 200 x-amzn-RequestId: 8b9ee1ad-774c-11e0-9172-d954e38f553a content-type: application/x-amz-json-1.0 content-length: 119 {"Count":1,"Items":[{ "fans":{"SS":["Dave","Aaron"]}, "name":{"S":"Airplane"}, "rating":{"S":"***"}, "year":{"N":"1980"} }], "ConsumedCapacityUnits":1 }