DynamoDB in step function is not able to put item with map field

Question

I am trying to put an item at dynamodb via step function. I am having issue when the item includes a map field which contains a list. For example.

My step function

```
{
  "Comment": "A description of my state machine",
  "StartAt": "DynamoDB PutItem",
  "States": {
    "DynamoDB PutItem": {
      "Type": "Task",
      "Resource": "arn:aws:states:::dynamodb:putItem",
      "Parameters": {
        "TableName": "test",
        "Item": {
          "ID": {
            "S.$": "$.input"
          },
          "Info": {
            "M.$": "$.info"
          }
        }
      },
      "End": true
    }
  }
}
```
My input to the step function

```
{
  "input": "Second",
  "info": {
    "name": "John",
    "age": "30",
    "cars": [
      "Ford",
      "BMW",
      "Fiat"
    ]
  }
}
```
The error I am recieving.

An error occurred while executing the state 'DynamoDB PutItem' (entered at the event id #2). The Parameters '{"TableName":"test","Item":{"ID":{"S":"3"},"Info":{"M":{"name":"John","age":"30","cars":["apple","pear"]}}}}' could not be used to start the Task: [Cannot deserialize value of type `com.amazonaws.services.dynamodbv2.model.AttributeValue` from Array value (token `JsonToken.START_ARRAY`)]

Eduardo · Answer

Hey tj! The MAP type need to have each property also mapped to the right type ([see this link](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazondynamodb/latest/APIReference/API_AttributeValue.html#DDB-Type-AttributeValue-M)). If the map has a well defined format, you can map each property at the PutItem.

If the format is unknown, my recommendation is to try the [ExecuteStatement](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazondynamodb/latest/APIReference/API_ExecuteStatement.html) with a [PartiQL statement](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazondynamodb/latest/developerguide/ql-reference.insert.html) as it accepts JSON like maps. Only note that you'll need to do some transformation to convert the double-quotes (") to single-quotes (').

I did the test here:

```
INSERT INTO "Teste" VALUE {
  'id': 'Second',
  'info': {
    'name': 'John',
    'age': '30',
    'cars': [
      'Ford',
      'BMW',
      'Fiat'
    ]
  }
}
```
and at the table I have:

```
{
 "id": {"S": "Second"},
 "info": {
  "M": {
   "age": {"S": "30"},
   "cars": {
    "L": [
     {"S": "Ford"},
     {"S": "BMW"},
     {"S": "Fiat"}
    ]
   },
   "name": {"S": "John"}
  }
 }
}
```

DynamoDB in step function is not able to put item with map field

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