DynamoDB transactions example

As an example of a situation in which Amazon DynamoDB transactions can be useful, consider this sample Java application for an online marketplace.

The application has three DynamoDB tables in the backend:

Making an order

The following code snippets illustrate how to use DynamoDB transactions to coordinate the multiple steps that are required to create and process an order. Using a single all-or-nothing operation ensures that if any part of the transaction fails, no actions in the transaction are run and no changes are made.

In this example, you set up an order from a customer whose customerId is 09e8e9c8-ec48. You then run it as a single transaction using the following simple order-processing workflow:

Validate the customer

First, define an action to verify that a customer with customerId equal to 09e8e9c8-ec48 exists in the customer table.

final String CUSTOMER_TABLE_NAME = "Customers";
final String CUSTOMER_PARTITION_KEY = "CustomerId";
final String customerId = "09e8e9c8-ec48";
final HashMap<String, AttributeValue> customerItemKey = new HashMap<>();
customerItemKey.put(CUSTOMER_PARTITION_KEY, new AttributeValue(customerId));

ConditionCheck checkCustomerValid = new ConditionCheck()
    .withTableName(CUSTOMER_TABLE_NAME)
    .withKey(customerItemKey)
    .withConditionExpression("attribute_exists(" + CUSTOMER_PARTITION_KEY + ")");

Update the product status

Next, define an action to update the product status to SOLD if the condition that the product status is currently set to IN_STOCK is true. Setting the ReturnValuesOnConditionCheckFailure parameter returns the item if the item's product status attribute was not equal to IN_STOCK.

final String PRODUCT_TABLE_NAME = "ProductCatalog";
final String PRODUCT_PARTITION_KEY = "ProductId";
HashMap<String, AttributeValue> productItemKey = new HashMap<>();
productItemKey.put(PRODUCT_PARTITION_KEY, new AttributeValue(productKey));

Map<String, AttributeValue> expressionAttributeValues = new HashMap<>();
expressionAttributeValues.put(":new_status", new AttributeValue("SOLD"));
expressionAttributeValues.put(":expected_status", new AttributeValue("IN_STOCK"));

Update markItemSold = new Update()
    .withTableName(PRODUCT_TABLE_NAME)
    .withKey(productItemKey)
    .withUpdateExpression("SET ProductStatus = :new_status")
    .withExpressionAttributeValues(expressionAttributeValues)
    .withConditionExpression("ProductStatus = :expected_status")
    .withReturnValuesOnConditionCheckFailure(ReturnValuesOnConditionCheckFailure.ALL_OLD);

Create the order

Lastly, create the order as long as an order with that OrderId does not already exist.

final String ORDER_PARTITION_KEY = "OrderId";
final String ORDER_TABLE_NAME = "Orders";

HashMap<String, AttributeValue> orderItem = new HashMap<>();
orderItem.put(ORDER_PARTITION_KEY, new AttributeValue(orderId));
orderItem.put(PRODUCT_PARTITION_KEY, new AttributeValue(productKey));
orderItem.put(CUSTOMER_PARTITION_KEY, new AttributeValue(customerId));
orderItem.put("OrderStatus", new AttributeValue("CONFIRMED"));
orderItem.put("OrderTotal", new AttributeValue("100"));

Put createOrder = new Put()
    .withTableName(ORDER_TABLE_NAME)
    .withItem(orderItem)
    .withReturnValuesOnConditionCheckFailure(ReturnValuesOnConditionCheckFailure.ALL_OLD)
    .withConditionExpression("attribute_not_exists(" + ORDER_PARTITION_KEY + ")");

Run the transaction

The following example illustrates how to run the actions defined previously as a single all-or-nothing operation.

    Collection<TransactWriteItem> actions = Arrays.asList(
        new TransactWriteItem().withConditionCheck(checkCustomerValid),
        new TransactWriteItem().withUpdate(markItemSold),
        new TransactWriteItem().withPut(createOrder));

    TransactWriteItemsRequest placeOrderTransaction = new TransactWriteItemsRequest()
        .withTransactItems(actions)
        .withReturnConsumedCapacity(ReturnConsumedCapacity.TOTAL);

    // Run the transaction and process the result.
    try {
        client.transactWriteItems(placeOrderTransaction);
        System.out.println("Transaction Successful");

    } catch (ResourceNotFoundException rnf) {
        System.err.println("One of the table involved in the transaction is not found" + rnf.getMessage());
    } catch (InternalServerErrorException ise) {
        System.err.println("Internal Server Error" + ise.getMessage());
    } catch (TransactionCanceledException tce) {
        System.out.println("Transaction Canceled " + tce.getMessage());
    }

Reading the order details

The following example shows how to read the completed order transactionally across the Orders and ProductCatalog tables.

HashMap<String, AttributeValue> productItemKey = new HashMap<>();
productItemKey.put(PRODUCT_PARTITION_KEY, new AttributeValue(productKey));

HashMap<String, AttributeValue> orderKey = new HashMap<>();
orderKey.put(ORDER_PARTITION_KEY, new AttributeValue(orderId));

Get readProductSold = new Get()
    .withTableName(PRODUCT_TABLE_NAME)
    .withKey(productItemKey);
Get readCreatedOrder = new Get()
    .withTableName(ORDER_TABLE_NAME)
    .withKey(orderKey);

Collection<TransactGetItem> getActions = Arrays.asList(
    new TransactGetItem().withGet(readProductSold),
    new TransactGetItem().withGet(readCreatedOrder));

TransactGetItemsRequest readCompletedOrder = new TransactGetItemsRequest()
    .withTransactItems(getActions)
    .withReturnConsumedCapacity(ReturnConsumedCapacity.TOTAL);

// Run the transaction and process the result.
try {
    TransactGetItemsResult result = client.transactGetItems(readCompletedOrder);
    System.out.println(result.getResponses());
} catch (ResourceNotFoundException rnf) {
    System.err.println("One of the table involved in the transaction is not found" + rnf.getMessage());
} catch (InternalServerErrorException ise) {
    System.err.println("Internal Server Error" + ise.getMessage());
} catch (TransactionCanceledException tce) {
    System.err.println("Transaction Canceled" + tce.getMessage());
}