Connect to Amazon DynamoDB Data in DBVisualizer

The CData JDBC Driver for Amazon DynamoDB implements JDBC standards to provide connectivity to Amazon DynamoDB data in applications ranging from business intelligence tools to IDEs. This article shows how to establish a connection to Amazon DynamoDB data in DBVisualizer and use the table editor to edit and save Amazon DynamoDB data.

Create a New JDBC Data Source for Amazon DynamoDB Data

Follow the steps below to use the Driver Manager to provide connectivity to Amazon DynamoDB data from DBVisualizer tools.

1. In DBVisualizer, click Tools -> Driver Manager -> Create a New Driver.
2. Enter a name for the data source.
3. Enter the following in the URL Format box: jdbc:amazondynamodb:
   The DBVisualizer Driver Manager.
4. In the User Specified tab, click the Open File button and select the cdata.jdbc.amazondynamodb.jar file, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.
5. In the Driver Class menu, select the AmazonDynamoDBDriver class, cdata.jdbc.amazondynamodb.AmazonDynamoDBDriver.

Define the Connection to the JDBC Data Source

Follow the steps below to save connection properties in the JDBC URL.

1. In the Database tab, right-click the Database Connection node and click Create a Database Connection.

2. In the Connection section, set the following options:

   • Database Type: If you selected the wizard option, the database type is automatically detected. If you selected the "No Wizard" option, select the Generic or Auto Detect option in the Database Type menu.
   • Driver: Select the driver you just created.

   • Database URL: Enter the full JDBC URL. The syntax of the JDBC URL is jdbc:amazondynamodb: followed by the connection properties in a semicolon-separated list of name-value pairs.

     The connection to Amazon DynamoDB is made using your AccessKey, SecretKey, and optionally your Domain and Region. Your AccessKey and SecretKey can be obtained on the security credentials page for your Amazon Web Services account. Your Region will be displayed in the upper left-hand corner when you are logged into DynamoDB.

     Built-in Connection String Designer

     For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Amazon DynamoDB JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

     java -jar cdata.jdbc.amazondynamodb.jar

     Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

     When you configure the JDBC URL, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

     A typical connection string is below:

     jdbc:amazondynamodb:Access Key=xxx;Secret Key=xxx;Domain=amazonaws.com;Region=OREGON;
   • Database UserId: The username to use to authenticate to Amazon DynamoDB.
   • Database Password: The password to use to authenticate to Amazon DynamoDB.

3. On the Connection tab, click Connect.

To browse through tables exposed by the Amazon DynamoDB JDBC Driver, right-click a table and click Open in New Tab.

To execute SQL queries, use the SQL Commander tool: Click SQL Commander -> New SQL Commander. Select the Database Connection, Database, and Schema from the available menus.

See the "Supported SQL" chapter in the help documentation for more information on the supported SQL. See the "Data Model" chapter for table-specific information.