Query Amazon DynamoDB Data through ODBC in Node.js

Node.js is a JavaScript runtime environment that allows you to run JavaScript code outside of a browser. With the CData ODBC Driver for Amazon DynamoDB, you can access live Amazon DynamoDB data from Node.js apps and scripts. In this article, we walk through installing node-odbc and the required tools to create a simple Node.js app with access to live Amazon DynamoDB data.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Amazon DynamoDB data in Node.js. When you issue complex SQL queries from Node.js to Amazon DynamoDB, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Amazon DynamoDB and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations).

Connecting to Amazon DynamoDB Data

If you have not already done so, provide values for the required connection properties in the data source name (DSN). You can use the built-in Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to configure the DSN. This is also the last step of the driver installation. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for a guide to using the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure a DSN.

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.

Building node-odbc

In order to connect to Amazon DynamoDB through the CData ODBC Driver, you need to build node-odbc manually (after installing the required tools).

Installing the Required Tools

The following commands install the tools required to build node-odbc (note the -g parameter, which installs the tools globally).

npm i -g windows-build-tools
npm i -g node-gyp

Building node-odbc

After installing the required tools, create a directory for the Node.js app and install odbc (which builds the binary for us to use in our Node.js script).

mkdir nodeodbc
cd nodeodbc
npm i -g node

Querying Amazon DynamoDB from Node.js

With the ODBC Driver installed, a DSN Configured, and node-odbc built, we are ready to query live Amazon DynamoDB data from a Node.js app. The sample code below connects to a specific DSN and queries the Lead table.

myscript.js

const odbc = require('odbc');

async function queryAmazonDynamoDB() {
    const connection = await odbc.connect(`DSN=CData AmazonDynamoDB Source`);
    const data = await connection.query('SELECT Industry, Revenue FROM Lead');
    console.log(data);
}

queryAmazonDynamoDB();

Once you write the app, use node to execute the script:

node myscript.js

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData ODBC Driver for Amazon DynamoDB and start working with your live Amazon DynamoDB data in Node.js. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.