How to check if DynamoDB table exists

Question

I'm a new user in boto3 and i'm using DynamoDB.

I went through over the DynamoDB api and I couldn't find any method which tell me if a table is already exists.

What is the best approach dealing this issue?

Should I try to create a new table and wrap it using try catch ?

Answer 1

import boto3
	class tableCreate(object):
	def __init__(self, **kwargs):
	self.__dict__.update(kwargs)
	# Query client and list_tables to see if table exists or not
	def queryCreate(self):
	# Instantiate your dynamo client object
	client = boto3.client('dynamodb')
	# Get an array of table names associated with the current account and endpoint.
	response = client.list_tables()
	if 'followers' in response['TableNames']:
	table_found = True
	else:
	table_found = False
	# Get the service resource.
	dynamodb = boto3.resource('dynamodb')
	# Create the DynamoDB table called followers
	table = dynamodb.create_table(
	TableName ='followers',
	KeySchema =
	[
	{
	'AttributeName': 'follower_id',
	'KeyType': 'HASH'
	}
	],
	AttributeDefinitions =
	[
	{
	'AttributeName': 'follower_id',
	'AttributeType': 'N'
	}
	],
	ProvisionedThroughput =
	{
	'ReadCapacityUnits': 5,
	'WriteCapacityUnits': 5
	}
	)
	# Wait until the table exists.
	table.meta.client.get_waiter('table_exists').wait(TableName='followers')
	return table_found According to the documentation, there are three techniques for determining whether or not a table exists. If the table already exists, the CreateTable API produces a ResourceInUseException exception. To catch this, wrap the create table method in try except. To receive a list of table names linked with the current account and endpoint, use the ListTables API. Check to see if the table name is in the response's list of table names. If the table name you request does not exist, the DescribeTable API will return a ResourceNotFoundException.

Answer 2

You could just do this

def checkTableExists(client, tableName): 
    try:
        response = client.describe_table(TableName=tableName)
        return True
    except client.exceptions.ResourceNotFoundException:
        return False