DynoTable

Glossary

Definitions of the DynamoDB and DynoTable terms used throughout these docs. Many terms appear as a dotted underline in the docs — click one to see its definition inline.

Adjacency list
A way to store a graph as plain items, each edge keyed by its source on the partition key and its target on the sort key. A single Query lists a node’s neighbours — the DynamoDB stand-in for joining a join table. Learn the concept →
Attribute
A single typed field on an item (string, number, binary, boolean, list, map, set, or null). Items in one table need not share the same attributes. Learn the concept → In DynoTable →
AWS Bedrock
AWS’s managed service for foundation models. DynoTable’s AI assistant can run against Bedrock using your own AWS credentials, keeping prompts inside your account. In DynoTable →
Batch operation
BatchWriteItem / BatchGetItem — many items handled in one round trip for efficiency. Unlike a transaction, individual items can succeed or fail independently. Learn the concept → In DynoTable →
Capacity unit
The billing/throughput measure for DynamoDB I/O. Reads are metered per 4 KB (RCU) and writes per 1 KB (WCU), rounded up. Determines what a query or scan costs. Learn the concept →
Composite key
A primary key made of a partition key plus a sort key. It lets many items live under one partition key, addressable as a sorted collection. Learn the concept → In DynoTable →
Condition expression
A predicate that must hold for a write to succeed (a conditional write) — e.g. "only if this item doesn’t already exist". DynoTable uses these to commit staged edits safely. Learn the concept → In DynoTable →
Denormalisation
Deliberately duplicating data — or embedding it in a complex attribute — so a read needs no join. You pre-join at write time and trade more careful writes for cheap single-request reads. Learn the concept →
DynamoDB Stream
An ordered, time-ordered log of item-level changes (inserts, updates, deletes) on a table. Used to trigger downstream processing such as Lambda functions. Learn the concept →
Entitlement
Whether a user is currently covered by an active subscription — and, for teams, which organization covers them. DynoTable resolves it to decide what the licence token grants. In DynoTable →
Eventually consistent read
The default read mode: may briefly return stale data right after a write, but costs half a strongly-consistent read. Replicas converge within a second. Learn the concept →
Expression Builder
DynoTable’s free web tool that turns a visual form into a valid DynamoDB key/filter/update expression with the matching attribute-name and value maps. In DynoTable →
Filter expression
A condition applied AFTER a query or scan reads items. It narrows the result set but does not reduce read cost — only a key condition can do that. Learn the concept → In DynoTable →
Global Secondary Index (GSI)
An alternate key schema over the same table data, with its own partition/sort key. Lets you query by attributes that are not the table’s primary key. GSIs are eventually consistent and have their own capacity. Learn the concept → In DynoTable →
Hot partition
When one partition key draws far more reads or writes than its slice of throughput can serve, so requests to that key throttle while the rest of the table sits idle. A key-design problem, not a size one. Learn the concept →
IAM Identity Center (SSO)
AWS’s single sign-on credential source (formerly AWS SSO). DynoTable signs in through it and refreshes short-lived role credentials as you work. In DynoTable →
Item
A single record in a DynamoDB table — the rough equivalent of a row. An item is a collection of attributes identified by its primary key.
Item collection
Every item that shares one partition key value. It is the unit a single Query reads together — an emergent property of your key schema, not a feature you turn on. Learn the concept →
Key overloading
Giving the partition and sort keys generic names (pk/sk) and encoding each entity type in the value, so one table serves many entities — the technique that makes single-table design work. Learn the concept →
Local Secondary Index (LSI)
An index that shares the table’s partition key but uses a different sort key. Defined at table creation only, and supports strongly-consistent reads. Learn the concept → In DynoTable →
Machine hash
A stable, anonymous fingerprint of a computer used to count activated devices against your licence’s 2-machine limit. It contains no personal data. In DynoTable →
Marshalling
Converting plain JSON to DynamoDB’s typed wire format ({"S":"…"}, {"N":"…"}) and back (unmarshalling). DynoTable marshals values for you when you edit items or build expressions. Learn the concept →
MFA
Multi-factor authentication. When a role or profile requires it, DynoTable prompts for your one-time code and caches the resulting session for its lifetime. In DynoTable →
NDJSON
Newline-delimited JSON — one JSON object per line. A streaming-friendly export format DynoTable offers alongside CSV and JSON array. In DynoTable →
OLAP (Online Analytical Processing)
Analytical query workloads — big aggregates, GROUP BY, ad-hoc slicing across the whole dataset. The opposite of OLTP; DynamoDB is OLTP-oriented, so heavy analytics belongs in a columnar store fed by export. Learn the concept → In DynoTable →
OLTP (Online Transaction Processing)
Operational query workloads — small, known, point-and-range reads and writes against individual records. The opposite of OLAP; DynamoDB is built for OLTP. Learn the concept → In DynoTable →
On-demand capacity
A pay-per-request billing mode: DynamoDB scales throughput automatically and you pay per read/write. Simple, with no capacity planning — good for spiky or unknown traffic. Learn the concept →
Parallel scan
Splitting one Scan into N independent Segment reads so multiple workers read a table at once — the only way to read a whole table faster than a single partition’s throughput allows. Learn the concept →
PartiQL
A SQL-compatible query language AWS exposes for DynamoDB. DynoTable lets you write PartiQL directly, including INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE, with results streamed in. Learn the concept → In DynoTable →
Partition key
A table's primary hash key. DynamoDB hashes it to pick the physical partition that stores the item, so every efficient read starts by fixing one partition-key value. Learn the concept → In DynoTable →
Primary key
The attribute(s) that uniquely identify an item. Either simple (a partition key alone) or composite (a partition key plus a sort key). Learn the concept → In DynoTable →
Profile
A saved AWS-credentials connection in DynoTable (access keys, SSO, or an assumed role for a region). Switch profiles to point the app at a different account or environment. In DynoTable →
Projection
The set of attributes copied into an index — KEYS_ONLY, INCLUDE (a chosen subset), or ALL. Reading an attribute not in the projection forces an extra fetch from the base table. Learn the concept →
Projection expression
A list of attributes to return from a read, so DynamoDB sends back only the fields you need instead of the entire item. Learn the concept →
Provisioned capacity
A billing mode where you set fixed read/write capacity units (optionally auto-scaled). Cheaper at steady, predictable load than on-demand. Learn the concept →
Query
A targeted read against one partition-key value (optionally narrowed by a sort-key condition). Reads only matching items — fast and cheap. DynoTable issues a Query the moment you set a hash-key filter. Learn the concept → In DynoTable →
Query pattern
In DynoTable, the index you read a tab through — the table’s PRIMARY key or a named GSI/LSI. It decides which keys you can filter on. In DynoTable →
Quick View
A keyboard-driven peek at a single item’s full contents without leaving the grid — open it on the selected row to inspect every attribute. In DynoTable →
Read-only mode
A state where DynoTable lets you browse and query but blocks writes (item saves, staged commits, deletes). Triggered by an expired trial/licence or an explicitly read-only view. In DynoTable →
Reference count
A denormalised tally stored on a parent item — likes on a post, members in a workspace — maintained as children are written so a read never has to count them. Use a transaction and guard against double-counting. Learn the concept →
Reindex
DynoTable’s background scan that catalogues a table’s real field and value samples to power autocomplete and stats. It runs locally and never modifies your data. In DynoTable →
Scan
A full read of every item in a table or index, filtered after the fact. Expensive on large tables — DynoTable warns you when a request falls back to a Scan. Learn the concept → In DynoTable →
Seat
One licensed user slot in a team subscription. Adding a member consumes a seat; the number of seats is what a team plan bills for. In DynoTable →
Singleton item
A single item with a fixed, hardcoded key that holds application-wide state — feature flags, a config blob, a global counter. You read it with GetItem, never a Scan. Learn the concept →
Smart Table
A DynoTable view that joins related items across one or more DynamoDB tables into a single grid, defined visually on an entity-relationship canvas. In DynoTable →
Sort key
The optional second half of a composite primary key. Items sharing a partition key are stored ordered by sort key, which makes range queries (begins_with, between, >) cheap. Learn the concept → In DynoTable →
Sparse index
A secondary index that holds only the items carrying its key attribute, so a small hot subset of a huge table becomes its own pre-filtered, ready-to-query collection. Learn the concept →
Staging area
DynoTable’s per-table buffer of pending edits. Changes accumulate locally as reviewable diffs (visible from any open view of that table) and are committed to DynamoDB as transactional batches, so you never write half-finished edits. In DynoTable →
Strongly consistent read
A read guaranteed to return the most recent committed write. Available on the table and LSIs (not GSIs), and costs twice an eventually-consistent read. Learn the concept →
Tab
An open workspace in DynoTable, browser-style. Each tab carries its own table, query pattern, filter, and results — open many and switch with the keyboard. In DynoTable →
Transaction
An all-or-nothing group of writes (or reads) across one or more tables — TransactWriteItems / TransactGetItems. Either every operation succeeds or none do. Learn the concept → In DynoTable →
Trial
A time-limited evaluation period with full functionality. When it ends, DynoTable drops to read-only until you start a subscription. In DynoTable →
TTL (Time to Live)
A per-item expiry timestamp attribute. DynamoDB automatically deletes items shortly after their TTL passes, at no cost — handy for sessions, caches, and ephemeral data. Learn the concept →
Type attribute
A plain string stamped on every item naming the entity it represents (e.g. EntityType: "Document"). It identifies rows in a mixed partition, filters an overloaded index to one entity, and eases future migrations. Learn the concept →
Update expression
The clause that says how a write modifies an item — SET, REMOVE, ADD, or DELETE on specific attributes — rather than overwriting the whole item. Learn the concept → In DynoTable →
Workbench
DynoTable’s SQL-authored tab. Write real SQL (JOIN, GROUP BY, aggregates) against your tables — operations PartiQL alone can’t express — within DynamoDB’s access-pattern rules. Learn the concept → In DynoTable →
Zero-padding
Padding a numeric sort key to a fixed width with leading zeros so its lexicographic string order matches numeric order — without it, "10" sorts before "2". Learn the concept →

Updated