Mapping arbitrary data in DynamoDB - Amazon DynamoDB
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Mapping arbitrary data in DynamoDB

In addition to the supported Java types (see Supported data types for DynamoDBMapper for Java), you can use types in your application for which there is no direct mapping to the Amazon DynamoDB types. To map these types, you must provide an implementation that converts your complex type to a DynamoDB supported type and vice versa, and annotate the complex type accessor method using the @DynamoDBTypeConverted annotation. The converter code transforms data when objects are saved or loaded. It is also used for all operations that consume complex types. Note that when comparing data during query and scan operations, the comparisons are made against the data stored in DynamoDB.

For example, consider the following CatalogItem class that defines a property, Dimension, that is of DimensionType. This property stores the item dimensions as height, width, and thickness. Assume that you decide to store these item dimensions as a string (such as 8.5x11x.05) in DynamoDB. The following example provides converter code that converts the DimensionType object to a string and a string to the DimensionType.

Note

This code example assumes that you have already loaded data into DynamoDB for your account by following the instructions in the Creating tables and loading data for code examples in DynamoDB section.

For step-by-step instructions to run the following example, see Java code examples.

Example
public class DynamoDBMapperExample { static AmazonDynamoDB client; public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException { // Set the AWS region you want to access. Regions usWest2 = Regions.US_WEST_2; client = AmazonDynamoDBClientBuilder.standard().withRegion(usWest2).build(); DimensionType dimType = new DimensionType(); dimType.setHeight("8.00"); dimType.setLength("11.0"); dimType.setThickness("1.0"); Book book = new Book(); book.setId(502); book.setTitle("Book 502"); book.setISBN("555-5555555555"); book.setBookAuthors(new HashSet<String>(Arrays.asList("Author1", "Author2"))); book.setDimensions(dimType); DynamoDBMapper mapper = new DynamoDBMapper(client); mapper.save(book); Book bookRetrieved = mapper.load(Book.class, 502); System.out.println("Book info: " + "\n" + bookRetrieved); bookRetrieved.getDimensions().setHeight("9.0"); bookRetrieved.getDimensions().setLength("12.0"); bookRetrieved.getDimensions().setThickness("2.0"); mapper.save(bookRetrieved); bookRetrieved = mapper.load(Book.class, 502); System.out.println("Updated book info: " + "\n" + bookRetrieved); } @DynamoDBTable(tableName = "ProductCatalog") public static class Book { private int id; private String title; private String ISBN; private Set<String> bookAuthors; private DimensionType dimensionType; // Partition key @DynamoDBHashKey(attributeName = "Id") public int getId() { return id; } public void setId(int id) { this.id = id; } @DynamoDBAttribute(attributeName = "Title") public String getTitle() { return title; } public void setTitle(String title) { this.title = title; } @DynamoDBAttribute(attributeName = "ISBN") public String getISBN() { return ISBN; } public void setISBN(String ISBN) { this.ISBN = ISBN; } @DynamoDBAttribute(attributeName = "Authors") public Set<String> getBookAuthors() { return bookAuthors; } public void setBookAuthors(Set<String> bookAuthors) { this.bookAuthors = bookAuthors; } @DynamoDBTypeConverted(converter = DimensionTypeConverter.class) @DynamoDBAttribute(attributeName = "Dimensions") public DimensionType getDimensions() { return dimensionType; } @DynamoDBAttribute(attributeName = "Dimensions") public void setDimensions(DimensionType dimensionType) { this.dimensionType = dimensionType; } @Override public String toString() { return "Book [ISBN=" + ISBN + ", bookAuthors=" + bookAuthors + ", dimensionType= " + dimensionType.getHeight() + " X " + dimensionType.getLength() + " X " + dimensionType.getThickness() + ", Id=" + id + ", Title=" + title + "]"; } } static public class DimensionType { private String length; private String height; private String thickness; public String getLength() { return length; } public void setLength(String length) { this.length = length; } public String getHeight() { return height; } public void setHeight(String height) { this.height = height; } public String getThickness() { return thickness; } public void setThickness(String thickness) { this.thickness = thickness; } } // Converts the complex type DimensionType to a string and vice-versa. static public class DimensionTypeConverter implements DynamoDBTypeConverter<String, DimensionType> { @Override public String convert(DimensionType object) { DimensionType itemDimensions = (DimensionType) object; String dimension = null; try { if (itemDimensions != null) { dimension = String.format("%s x %s x %s", itemDimensions.getLength(), itemDimensions.getHeight(), itemDimensions.getThickness()); } } catch (Exception e) { e.printStackTrace(); } return dimension; } @Override public DimensionType unconvert(String s) { DimensionType itemDimension = new DimensionType(); try { if (s != null && s.length() != 0) { String[] data = s.split("x"); itemDimension.setLength(data[0].trim()); itemDimension.setHeight(data[1].trim()); itemDimension.setThickness(data[2].trim()); } } catch (Exception e) { e.printStackTrace(); } return itemDimension; } } }