Step 3: Read data from a table - Amazon DynamoDB
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Step 3: Read data from a table

In this step, you will read back an item that was created in Step 2: Write data to a table using the console or Amazon CLI. You can use the DynamoDB console or the Amazon CLI to read an item from the Music table by specifying Artist and SongTitle.

For more information about read operations in DynamoDB, see Reading an item.

Follow these steps to read data from the Music table using the DynamoDB console.

  1. Open the DynamoDB console at https://console.amazonaws.cn/dynamodb/.

  2. In the navigation pane on the left side of the console, choose Tables.

  3. Choose the Music table from the table list.

  4. Select the View items.

  5. On the Items tab, view the list of items stored in the table, sorted by Artist and SongTitle. The first item in the list is the one with the Artist Acme Band and the SongTitle Happy Day.

    Console screenshot showing the items list with Acme Band at the top of the list.

The following Amazon CLI example reads an item from the Music. You can do this either through the DynamoDB API or PartiQL, a SQL-compatible query language for DynamoDB.

DynamoDB API
Note

The default behavior for DynamoDB is eventually consistent reads. The consistent-read parameter is used below to demonstrate strongly consistent reads.

aws dynamodb get-item --consistent-read \
    --table-name Music \
    --key '{ "Artist": {"S": "Acme Band"}, "SongTitle": {"S": "Happy Day"}}'

Using get-item returns the following sample result.

{
    "Item": {
        "AlbumTitle": {
            "S": "Songs About Life"
        },
        "Awards": {
            "N": "10"
        },
        "SongTitle": {
            "S": "Happy Day"
        },
        "Artist": {
            "S": "Acme Band"
        }
    }
}
PartiQL for DynamoDB
aws dynamodb execute-statement --statement "SELECT * FROM Music   \
                                            WHERE Artist='Acme Band' AND SongTitle='Happy Day'"

Using the PartiQL Select statement returns the following sample result.

{
    "Items": [
        {
            "AlbumTitle": {
                "S": "Songs About Life"
            },
            "Awards": {
                "S": "10"
            },
            "Artist": {
                "S": "Acme Band"
            },
            "SongTitle": {
                "S": "Happy Day"
            }
        }
    ]
}
}

For more information about reading data with PartiQL, see PartiQL select statements.

To update the data in your table, proceed to Step 4: Update data in a table.