Amazon DynamoDB

The sample application

The files the samples share. Add them to your project once; a Progressive sample then adds only its own files.

Start from Get started: a project with the packages, the database with the sample schema, and the connection string. Then add each file below with the file name shown. Every sample page says which of them it needs; Standalone and Advanced pages repeat them, so they can be followed on their own.

  • SampleContext.cs: What every sample is given: the connection string (and the ISample interface the samples implement).
  • SampleOutput.cs: How the samples print: Step for each scenario, Show for what it did, ShowError for an error caught on purpose.
  • SampleContext.Application.cs: The application's DynamoDB client, model, schema catalog and ARX service, created once and shared by the samples.
  • SampleModel.cs: How the application lays out its entities in Amazon DynamoDB, and its schema catalog.
  • SampleContext.Direct.cs: The plain AWSSDK.DynamoDBv2 read-back helper, for the samples that show what Amazon DynamoDB stored.
  • DynamoDirectHelper.cs: Plain AWSSDK.DynamoDBv2, not part of ARX: reads rows back so a sample can show what Amazon DynamoDB stored.
  • SecurityGuard.cs: A security check around ARX calls: suspected injection logged as a security event, strikes, blocking.
SampleContext.cs

What every sample is given: the connection string (and the ISample interface the samples implement).

namespace ArxSamples.DynamoDb;

/// <summary>One documentation sample: a scenario a real application has, shown end to end.</summary>
public interface ISample
{
    /// <summary>The name to run it alone: <c>dotnet run -- &lt;name&gt;</c>.</summary>
    string Name { get; }

    /// <summary>One line on what it shows.</summary>
    string Title { get; }

    Task RunAsync(SampleContext dbContext);
}

/// <summary>
/// What a sample is given. Every sample gets the connection string; the application's service and catalog
/// (SampleContext.Application.cs) and the plain AWS SDK read-back helper (SampleContext.Direct.cs) live in their own
/// files, so a sample needs only the files it uses.
/// </summary>
public sealed partial class SampleContext
{
    public SampleContext(string connectionString)
    {
        ConnectionString = connectionString;
    }

    public string ConnectionString { get; }
}
SampleOutput.cs

How the samples print: Step for each scenario, Show for what it did, ShowError for an error caught on purpose.

using ARX.SDK;

namespace ArxSamples.DynamoDb;

/// <summary>How the samples print: a numbered step for each scenario, then what it did.</summary>
public static class SampleOutput
{
    /// <summary>The start of a scenario: <c>Step("1. By the id Create returned")</c>.</summary>
    public static void Step(string text) => Console.WriteLine($"  > {text}");

    /// <summary>What the scenario did.</summary>
    public static void Show(string text) => Console.WriteLine($"      {text}");

    /// <summary>An ARX error the scenario caught on purpose.</summary>
    public static void ShowError(ArxException exception)
        => Console.WriteLine($"      caught {exception.GetType().Name}: {exception.Message}");
}
SampleContext.Application.cs

The application's DynamoDB client, model, schema catalog and ARX service, created once and shared by the samples.

using Amazon.DynamoDBv2;
using Amazon.Runtime;
using ARX.SDK.DynamoDb.Model;
using ARX.SDK.DynamoDb.Services;
using ARX.SDK.Services;

namespace ArxSamples.DynamoDb;

/// <summary>The application's DynamoDB client, model, catalog and ARX service, shared by the samples.</summary>
public sealed partial class SampleContext
{
    private IAmazonDynamoDB? _client;
    private ArxDynamoModel? _model;
    private ArxSchemaCatalog? _catalog;
    private ArxDynamoDbService? _service;

    /// <summary>
    /// The DynamoDB client for the endpoint the connection string names. Credentials come from the AWS SDK's own chain
    /// (environment, profile, role), never from code; DynamoDB Local on this machine accepts any, so a local endpoint
    /// without credentials in the environment gets placeholder ones.
    /// </summary>
    public IAmazonDynamoDB Client => _client ??= CreateClient(ConnectionString);

    /// <summary>How the entities are laid out (SampleModel.cs).</summary>
    public ArxDynamoModel Model => _model ??= SampleModel.Build();

    /// <summary>The ids, lookups and selection sets (SampleModel.cs).</summary>
    public ArxSchemaCatalog Catalog => _catalog ??= SampleModel.Catalog();

    /// <summary>One service for the whole application: it holds no connection.</summary>
    public ArxDynamoDbService Service => _service ??= new ArxDynamoDbService(Client, Model, Catalog);

    private static IAmazonDynamoDB CreateClient(string endpoint)
    {
        var config = new AmazonDynamoDBConfig { ServiceURL = endpoint, AuthenticationRegion = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("AWS_REGION") ?? "us-east-1" };
        var local = Uri.TryCreate(endpoint, UriKind.Absolute, out var uri) && (uri.IsLoopback || uri.Host == "localhost");

        return local && Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID") == null
            ? new AmazonDynamoDBClient(new BasicAWSCredentials("local", "local"), config)
            : new AmazonDynamoDBClient(config);
    }
}
SampleModel.cs

How the application lays out its entities in Amazon DynamoDB, and its schema catalog.

using ARX.SDK.DynamoDb.Model;
using ARX.SDK.Services;

namespace ArxSamples.DynamoDb;

/// <summary>
/// How the application lays out its entities in DynamoDB, in both designs, and its schema catalog.
/// </summary>
/// <remarks>
/// <para>
/// <b>A table per entity:</b> <c>product</c> has a table of its own, keyed by its <c>sku</c>; <c>lead</c> by its
/// <c>email</c>. The entity's attributes are the item's, keys included.
/// </para>
/// <para>
/// <b>A single table:</b> <c>crm</c> holds customers and their orders together. Each entity's keys are templates:
/// a customer is <c>PK = CUSTOMER#{customer_id}</c>, <c>SK = PROFILE</c>; an order shares its customer's partition,
/// <c>SK = ORDER#{order_number}</c>, so one query reads a customer with its orders. ARX writes the keys, the
/// <c>entity_type</c> attribute that tells the items apart, and the index keys (<c>GSI1</c>: orders by status and date).
/// </para>
/// <para>
/// <b>Write sharding:</b> <c>events</c> spreads the page views of one page over four partitions (a suffix from a hash of
/// the time), so a popular page doesn't overload one partition; ARX reads them back merged.
/// </para>
/// <para>
/// <b>The catalog</b> declares each entity's id (supplied: DynamoDB generates none, so ids come from the application),
/// the lookup from an order to its customer, the customer's display name and the order statuses.
/// </para>
/// </remarks>
public static class SampleModel
{
    public static ArxDynamoModel Build() => ArxDynamoModel.Create()
        .Table("product", partitionKey: "sku")
        .Table("lead", partitionKey: "email")
        .SingleTable("crm", "PK", "SK", crm => crm
            .Entity("customer", pk: "CUSTOMER#{customer_id}", sk: "PROFILE")
            .Entity("sales_order", pk: "CUSTOMER#{customer_id}", sk: "ORDER#{order_number}")
            .Index("GSI1", "GSI1PK", "GSI1SK")
            .EntityIndex("sales_order", "GSI1", pk: "STATUS#{status}", sk: "{ordered_on}"))
        .SingleTable("events", "PK", "SK", events => events
            .Entity("page_view", pk: "PAGE#{page}", sk: "VIEW#{viewed_at}"))
        .WriteSharding("page_view", shards: 4, by: "viewed_at")
        .Build();

    public static ArxSchemaCatalog Catalog() => ArxSchemaCatalog.Create()
        .Table("product", ArxIdColumn.Supplied<string>("sku"))
        .DisplayName("product", "name")
        .Table("lead", ArxIdColumn.Supplied<string>("email"))
        .Table("customer", ArxIdColumn.Supplied<string>("customer_id"))
        .DisplayName("customer", "name")
        .Table("sales_order", ArxIdColumn.Supplied<string>("order_number"))
        .Lookup("sales_order", "customer_id", "customer")
        .Table("page_view", ArxIdColumn.Supplied<string>("viewed_at"))
        .Add("OrderStatus", ArxSelectionSetKind.String, ("OPEN", "Open"), ("SHIPPED", "Shipped"), ("CANCELLED", "Cancelled"))
        .Build();
}
SampleContext.Direct.cs

The plain AWSSDK.DynamoDBv2 read-back helper, for the samples that show what Amazon DynamoDB stored.

namespace ArxSamples.DynamoDb;

/// <summary>The plain AWS SDK outside ARX, for the samples that show what DynamoDB stored.</summary>
public sealed partial class SampleContext
{
    private DynamoDirectHelper? _direct;

    /// <summary>The plain AWS SDK outside ARX, used only to reset the tables and to show what was stored.</summary>
    public DynamoDirectHelper Direct => _direct ??= new DynamoDirectHelper(Client);
}
DynamoDirectHelper.cs

Plain AWSSDK.DynamoDBv2, not part of ARX: reads rows back so a sample can show what Amazon DynamoDB stored.

using System.Text.Json;
using Amazon.DynamoDBv2;
using Amazon.DynamoDBv2.Model;

namespace ArxSamples.DynamoDb;

/// <summary>
/// The plain AWS SDK, outside ARX: it resets the sample tables from Schema/sample-schema.json and runs the PartiQL
/// statements of the samples' checks. Samples never write through it.
/// </summary>
public sealed class DynamoDirectHelper
{
    private readonly IAmazonDynamoDB _client;

    public DynamoDirectHelper(IAmazonDynamoDB client)
    {
        _client = client;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// The sample schema: Schema/sample-schema.json next to the program (the samples' own project), or sample-schema.json
    /// in the project folder (a sample copied from its page, as Get started says).
    /// </summary>
    private static string SchemaPath()
    {
        var candidates = new[]
        {
            Path.Combine(AppContext.BaseDirectory, "Schema", "sample-schema.json"),
            Path.Combine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), "sample-schema.json"),
            Path.Combine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), "Schema", "sample-schema.json")
        };

        return candidates.FirstOrDefault(File.Exists)
            ?? throw new FileNotFoundException("sample-schema.json isn't in the project folder: download it from the Get started page and save it next to Program.cs.");
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Deletes and creates every table sample-schema.json lists, with its keys and indexes; no other table is touched. It
    /// runs only against DynamoDB Local (a localhost endpoint): set ARX_SAMPLES_ALLOW_REMOTE_RESET=1 to reset the sample
    /// tables of a real AWS account deliberately.
    /// </summary>
    public async Task ResetAsync()
    {
        var endpoint = _client.Config.ServiceURL ?? string.Empty;
        var local = Uri.TryCreate(endpoint, UriKind.Absolute, out var uri) && (uri.IsLoopback || uri.Host.Equals("localhost", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));

        if (!local && Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("ARX_SAMPLES_ALLOW_REMOTE_RESET") != "1")
        {
            throw new InvalidOperationException(
                $"The samples reset their tables (delete and create them), and the client points at '{(endpoint.Length == 0 ? "AWS" : endpoint)}', not DynamoDB Local. "
                + "Point it at http://localhost:8000 (or your DynamoDB Local port), or set ARX_SAMPLES_ALLOW_REMOTE_RESET=1 to reset the sample tables there.");
        }

        using var schema = JsonDocument.Parse(await File.ReadAllTextAsync(SchemaPath()));

        foreach (var table in schema.RootElement.GetProperty("tables").EnumerateArray())
        {
            var name = table.GetProperty("name").GetString()!;

            try
            {
                await _client.DeleteTableAsync(name);
            }
            catch (ResourceNotFoundException)
            {
            }

            var definitions = new Dictionary<string, string>();
            var keys = Keys(table, definitions);
            var request = new CreateTableRequest { TableName = name, KeySchema = keys, BillingMode = BillingMode.PAY_PER_REQUEST };

            if (table.TryGetProperty("indexes", out var indexes))
            {
                request.GlobalSecondaryIndexes = indexes.EnumerateArray().Select(index => new GlobalSecondaryIndex
                {
                    IndexName = index.GetProperty("name").GetString(),
                    KeySchema = Keys(index, definitions),
                    Projection = new Projection { ProjectionType = ProjectionType.ALL }
                }).ToList();
            }

            request.AttributeDefinitions = definitions.Select(x => new AttributeDefinition(x.Key, x.Value)).ToList();
            await _client.CreateTableAsync(request);
        }
    }

    private static List<KeySchemaElement> Keys(JsonElement table, Dictionary<string, string> definitions)
    {
        var keys = new List<KeySchemaElement>();
        var pk = table.GetProperty("partitionKey").GetString()!;
        definitions[pk] = table.TryGetProperty("partitionKeyType", out var pkType) ? pkType.GetString()! : "S";
        keys.Add(new KeySchemaElement(pk, KeyType.HASH));

        if (table.TryGetProperty("sortKey", out var sk))
        {
            definitions[sk.GetString()!] = table.TryGetProperty("sortKeyType", out var skType) ? skType.GetString()! : "S";
            keys.Add(new KeySchemaElement(sk.GetString(), KeyType.RANGE));
        }

        return keys;
    }

    /// <summary>The items a PartiQL statement finds, as JSON, one line each.</summary>
    public async Task<IReadOnlyList<string>> QueryAsync(string statement)
    {
        var response = await _client.ExecuteStatementAsync(new ExecuteStatementRequest { Statement = statement, ConsistentRead = true });
        return response.Items.Select(item => JsonSerializer.Serialize(item.ToDictionary(x => x.Key, x => x.Value.S ?? x.Value.N ?? (x.Value.IsBOOLSet ? x.Value.BOOL.ToString() : "…")))).ToList();
    }
}
SecurityGuard.cs

A security check around ARX calls: suspected injection logged as a security event, strikes, blocking.

using ARX.SDK;

namespace ArxSamples.DynamoDb;

/// <summary>Where the names (tables, attributes, match columns) in a call come from. It decides what an ARX1017 means.</summary>
public enum NameSource
{
    /// <summary>A name built from what a user sent (a form field, a file header, a query string): ARX1017 is a suspected attack.</summary>
    UserInput,

    /// <summary>A name from your code or configuration: ARX1017 is a bug in your code, not an attack. Nobody is blocked.</summary>
    Code,
}

/// <summary>What the guard did with a call.</summary>
public enum GuardOutcome
{
    /// <summary>The call ran.</summary>
    Done,

    /// <summary>ARX refused the call with ARX1017; the event is logged and the user got a plain message.</summary>
    Refused,

    /// <summary>The user was already blocked: the call wasn't attempted.</summary>
    Blocked,
}

/// <summary>One entry of the security log: a suspected attack, or a bug when the names came from code.</summary>
public sealed record SecurityEvent(DateTimeOffset At, string User, string Action, string Kind, string Detail);

/// <summary>The outcome, the call's result when it ran, and the message to show the user (never the detection details).</summary>
public sealed record GuardResult<T>(GuardOutcome Outcome, T? Value, string ForTheUser);

/// <summary>
/// A security check around ARX calls: the pattern to copy into an application, kept small so it can be read in one
/// go. It lets every ARX error through except <c>ARX1017 SuspectedInjection</c>, which it turns into:
/// <list type="bullet">
/// <item>an entry in the security log (<see cref="Events"/>), with the user, the action and ARX's message (the name is
/// escaped and cut to 64 characters by ARX, so it is safe to log);</item>
/// <item>a plain message for the user that doesn't say what was detected;</item>
/// <item>a strike against the user. After <c>blockAfter</c> strikes the user is blocked and their calls aren't attempted.
/// One strike never blocks anyone, so a single false positive only costs one refused request;</item>
/// <item>no strike when the names came from your own code (<see cref="NameSource.Code"/>): that's a bug to fix, logged
/// as one.</item>
/// </list>
/// A false positive (a harmless name such as a file header <c>E-mail (work)</c> flagged as SQL) is handled by triage:
/// read the event, fix the mapping that let the name through, and <see cref="Unblock"/> the user if needed.
/// In a real application the log goes to your SIEM or security monitoring and the strikes live in a shared store
/// (Redis, the database), not in memory.
/// </summary>
public sealed class SecurityGuard
{
    private const string ATTACK = "suspected attack";
    private const string BUG = "bug";

    private readonly object _gate = new();
    private readonly int _blockAfter;
    private readonly Dictionary<string, int> _strikes = new(StringComparer.Ordinal);
    private readonly List<SecurityEvent> _events = new();

    public SecurityGuard(int blockAfter = 3)
    {
        _blockAfter = blockAfter;
    }

    /// <summary>The security log, oldest first.</summary>
    public IReadOnlyList<SecurityEvent> Events
    {
        get
        {
            lock (_gate)
            {
                return _events.ToArray();
            }
        }
    }

    public bool IsBlocked(string user)
    {
        lock (_gate)
        {
            return _strikes.TryGetValue(user, out var strikes) && strikes >= _blockAfter;
        }
    }

    /// <summary>After triage found the events were a false positive: clears the user's strikes (the log is kept).</summary>
    public void Unblock(string user)
    {
        lock (_gate)
        {
            _strikes.Remove(user);
        }
    }

    /// <summary>Runs <paramref name="call"/> for <paramref name="user"/> unless they are blocked, and handles ARX1017 as described above.</summary>
    public async Task<GuardResult<T>> RunAsync<T>(string user, string action, NameSource names, Func<Task<T>> call)
    {
        if (IsBlocked(user))
        {
            return new GuardResult<T>(GuardOutcome.Blocked, default, "Your access is suspended. Contact support.");
        }

        try
        {
            return new GuardResult<T>(GuardOutcome.Done, await call(), "Done.");
        }
        catch (ArxValidationException error) when (error.Code == ArxErrorCode.SuspectedInjection)
        {
            lock (_gate)
            {
                if (names == NameSource.Code)
                {
                    _events.Add(new SecurityEvent(DateTimeOffset.UtcNow, user, action, BUG, error.Message));
                    return new GuardResult<T>(GuardOutcome.Refused, default, "Something went wrong on our side. It has been reported.");
                }

                _strikes[user] = _strikes.GetValueOrDefault(user) + 1;
                _events.Add(new SecurityEvent(DateTimeOffset.UtcNow, user, action, ATTACK, error.Message));
            }

            return new GuardResult<T>(GuardOutcome.Refused, default, "The request couldn't be processed.");
        }
    }
}