Schemas
With Amazon Cloud Directory, schemas define what types of objects can be created within a directory (users, devices, and organizations), enforce validation of data for each object class, and handle changes to the schema over time. More specifically, a schema defines the following:
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One or more types of facets that may be mapped to objects within a directory (such as Person, Organization_Person)
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Attributes that may be mapped to objects within a directory (such as Name, Description). Attributes can be required or made optional on various types of facets, and are defined within the context of a facet.
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Constraints that may be enforced on object attributes (such as Required, Integer, String)
When a schema has been applied to a directory, all data within that directory must then conform to that applied schema. In this way, the schema definition is essentially a blueprint that can be used to construct multiple directories with applied schemas. Once built, those applied schemas may vary from the original blueprint, each in different ways.
Applied schemas can later be updated using versioning and then reapplied to all the directories that use it. For more information, see In-Place Schema Upgrade.
Cloud Directory provides API operations to create, read, update, and delete schemas. This allows the contents of the schema to be easily consumed by programmatic agents. Such agents access the directory to discover the full set of facets, attributes, and constraints that apply to data within the directory. For more information about the schema APIs, see the Amazon Cloud Directory API Reference Guide.
Cloud Directory supports uploading a compliant JSON file for schema creation. You can also create and manage schemas using the AWS Directory Services console. For more information, see Create an Amazon Cloud Directory.
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