How to save data to Amazon DynamoDB using Ruby on Rails

In this tutorial I will show you how to save data in a NoSQL database like Amazon DynamoDB, using Ruby on Rails framework. To make this example as useful as possible I've created the project using the following steps:

• created a new rails application and a NoSQL database in Amazon DynamoDB
• included the aws-sdk gem
• created a config file with the credentials
• implemented a method that connects to the DynamoDB table
• created a form and processing data in POST 

I have published the entire application on ASSIST Github page. So let's get started!

Create a new Rails Application through console:

rails new app_name

Open the application generated in a IDE, search for Gemfile file and add the following gem:

gem 'aws-sdk'

Run from console:

bundle install

Create a new file named: aws_dynamo.yml in config/ folder and write the credentials:

aws_dynamo:
    access_key_id: "key_id"
    secret_access_key: "access_key"
    region: "eu-west-1"

Go to config/environment.rb and add:

AWS_SETTINGS = YAML.load_file("#{Rails.root}/config/aws_dynamo.yml")

before

Rails.application.initialize!

This is for loading the aws_dynamo.yml in a constant to be available on the entire application.

Create a new file named: aws.rb in lib/ folder and add the following code:

module Aws
 require 'time'
 #a init method to be used for initialisation when the rails application start
 def self.init
   @@dynamo_table = false
   @@dynamo_db = false
   if AWS_SETTINGS["aws_dynamo"]
     @@dynamo_db = AWS::DynamoDB.new(AWS_SETTINGS["aws_dynamo"])
   end
 end
 #the method that save in aws database
 def self.save_records_to_db(params)
   return if !@@dynamo_db
   #set the table name, hash_key and range_key from the AmazonDB
   @@dynamo_table = @@dynamo_db.tables['records']
   @@dynamo_table.hash_key = [:member_id, :number]
   @@dynamo_table.range_key = [:datetime, :string]
   fields = {
       'member_id' => 1, #primary partition key
       'datetime' => Time.now.utc.iso8601, #primary sort key
   }
   fields.merge!(params[:custom_fields]) if params[:custom_fields]
   @@dynamo_table.items.create(fields)
 end
end

Create a new file named: aws.rb in config/initializers/ and add this line to make the AWS Module available on entire application:

require 'aws'

Go back to config/environment.rb and add:

Aws.init

After

Rails.application.initialize!

Generate a new controller from command line:

rails g controller save_data index

With this command will be generated save_data_controller.rb in app/controllers/ and a save_data folder in app/views/.
Create a default route for the controller and a route to process data from POST:

root 'save_data#index'
post 'save_data/save' => 'save_data#save'

Add the html code for the form in app/views/save_data/index.erb:

<div class="container">
 <div class="row">
   <div class="col-md-4">
     <div class="form_main">
       <h4 class="heading"><strong>Quick </strong> Contact <span></span></h4>
       <div class="form">
         <%= form_tag('save', method: "post", html: {class: "contactFrn"}) do %>
           <input type="text" required="" placeholder="Please input your Name" value="" name="name" class="txt">
           <input type="text" required="" placeholder="Please input your mobile No" value="" name="mob" class="txt">
           <input type="text" required="" placeholder="Please input your Email" value="" name="email" class="txt">
           <textarea placeholder="Your Message" name="mess" type="text" class="txt_3"></textarea>
           <input type="submit" value="submit" name="submit" class="txt2">
         <% end %>
       </div>
     </div>
   </div>
 </div>
</div>

HTML Form to send data to the db

For the form design I added bootstrap.css and bootstrap.js in app/views/layouts/application.html.erb. Also, I added some custom css style in app/assets/stylesheets/application.css. 
In app/controllers/save_data_controller.rb make sure you have this 2 methods:

 def index
 end
 def save
   name  = params['name']
   mob   = params['mob']
   email = params['email']
   mess  = params['mess']
   aws_params = Hash.new
   aws_params[:mob] = mob
   aws_params[:custom_fields]    = {
       'name'    => name,
       'email'   => email,
       'message' => mess,
   }
   if Aws.save_records_to_db(aws_params)
     flash[:notice] = "Message Sent!"
   else
     flash[:error] = "Error While Save to DynamoDB!"
   end
   redirect_to root_path
 end

Run the application from console with:

rails s

You can now access the application from:
http://localhost:3000
or
http://localhost:3000/save_data/index

The Amazon DynamoDB interface

You can check the app on our github page https://github.com/assist-software/dynamodb-using-rails-tutorial.

If you have any question please ask below.