Connect to Amazon DynamoDB Data from HeidiSQL

HeidiSQL is an open-source database administration tool that natively supports MariaDB, MySQL, SQL Server, and PostgreSQL. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, HediSQL reach extends to include access to live Amazon DynamoDB data. This article demonstrates how to connect to Amazon DynamoDB using Connect Cloud and query Amazon DynamoDB data in HeidiSQL.

CData Connect Cloud provides a pure SQL Server interface for Amazon DynamoDB, allowing you to query data from Amazon DynamoDB without replicating the data to a natively supported database. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Cloud pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to Amazon DynamoDB, leveraging server-side processing to return the requested Amazon DynamoDB data quickly.

Configure Amazon DynamoDB Connectivity for HeidiSQL

Connectivity to Amazon DynamoDB from HeidiSQL is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Amazon DynamoDB data from HeidiSQL, we start by creating and configuring a Amazon DynamoDB connection.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Amazon DynamoDB" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Amazon DynamoDB.

   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.

4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Amazon DynamoDB Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Connect to Amazon DynamoDB from HeidiSQL using Connect Cloud

To establish a connection from HeidiSQL to the CData Connect Cloud Virtual SQL Server API, follow these steps.

Create a new HeidiSQL Session

1. In the Session Manager, select New in the bottom-left
2. Give the new session a descriptive name, e.g. Connect-Cloud-Amazon DynamoDB

Configure a SQL Server Connection to Connect Cloud

1. In the session settings, set the Network type to Microsoft SQL Server (TCP/IP)
2. The Library DLL should automatically update to MSOLEDBSQL
3. Set the Hostname/IP to tds.cdata.com
4. Set the User to your CData Connect Cloud username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect Cloud interface. For example, [email protected]
5. Set the Password to your PAT created in Connect Cloud in the previous section.
6. Set the Port to 14333

Query Amazon DynamoDB from HeidiSQL

1. In the database listing on the left, find your connection to Amazon DynamoDB configured earlier.
2. Expand this connection to view individual tables or data objects present within Amazon DynamoDB.
3. Write custom SQL queries targeting these tables, treating the data source like any SQL Server database, or visually explore each tabular data set by selecting the relevant tables

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