Flutter

Key Basics

Overview #

To store data, atPlatform utilizes a straightforward key-value method. A key serves as a unique identifier in key-value pairs.

AtKey Structure:

Metadata #

Metadata In AtKey allows you to add more aspects of AtKey. If you want your data to live for a given period of time, or if you want it to be born/deleted after a set amount of time, metaData can help you with that.

Metadata Structure:

Key Creation rules

A key in atProtocol has the structure described below.

<Key Visibility>|<sharedWith>:<entity>.<namespace>@<sharedBy/owner>

A key in atProtocol should adhere to following rules:

1. Length of a key should not be more than 240 characters (Limited by the current impl of the secondary. Not a protocol limitation)
2. Max of fifty five 7-bit characters for the atSign
3. Allowed characters in an entity are: [\w._,-’”]
4. Namespace is mandatory in the current implementation of the protocol
5. If cached then the owner of the key should not be same as current atSign
6. sharedWith and sharedBy/owner cannot be same for a shared key
7. sharedWith and sharedBy/owner should be same for a self key (Private, Hidden (_), Just self)
8. Reserved keys in protocol, private keys and hidden keys cannot be notified Ex: notify:_secret@jagan:sitaram 9.Protocol prevents creation of a key with a owner/sharedBy using an atSign that’s not owned by the current user.
9. Key cannot be a reserved key.

List of reserved keys:

• privatekey:at_pkam_privatekey
• privatekey:at_pkam_publickey
• public:publickey
• privatekey:privatekey
• shared_key
• privatekey:self_encryption_key
• signing_privatekey
• public:signing_publickey
• privatekey:at_secret
• privatekey:at_secret_deleted

atPlatform CRUD operations

Create/Update Data atPlatform SDK exposes two methods to create the data. They are:

• put
• putMeta

put

Update’s value of key is if it is already present. Otherwise creates a new key.

To share a key to another atSign, use AtKey.shared() factory method or populate AtKey.sharedWith with the atSign to whom the data has to be shared. Further, notifies the sharedWith atSign that a key has been created.

Signature

Future<bool> put(AtKey key, dynamic value);

Accepts an instance of AtKey and value and stores it in the local storage(local secondary) has a key-value pair.

AtKey represents the key against which the value will be stored. It further describes to whom the data is shared and metadata of the key. key rules

The value can be either a textual information or a binary data (e.g. Images, Files etc ). Returns a boolean value that represents the status of the put method. Returns ‘TRUE’ when put is completed successfully, else returns false.

Throws AtClientException with an error code and error description that describes that cause of the exception.

putMeta

Updates the metadata of the key.

Signature

Future<bool> putMeta(AtKey key);

Accepts an Instance of AtKey. The Metadata is encapsulated in the AtKey. Set the new/updated metadata to [Atkey.Metadata].

Returns a boolean value that represents the status of the putMeta method. Returns ‘TRUE’ when putMeta is completed successfully, else returns false.

Throws AtClientException with an error code and error description that describes that cause of the exception.

Read Data

get

Get the value of the key from the user’s cloud secondary. Signature Future<AtValue> get (AtKey key);

Accepts an Instance of AtKey. The Metadata is encapsulated in the AtKey. Fetch both the value and metadata of the key.

Returns a boolean value that represents the status of the ‘get’ method. Returns ‘TRUE’ when ‘get’ is completed successfully, else returns false.

Throws AtClientException with an error code and error description that describes that cause of the exception.

getMeta

Gets the metadata of the key.

Signature

Future <bool> getMeta(AtKey key);

Accepts an Instance of AtKey. The Metadata is encapsulated in the AtKey. Gets the metadata of the key.

Returns a boolean value that represents the status of the putMeta method. Returns ‘TRUE’ when getMeta is completed successfully, else returns false.

Throws AtClientException with an error code and error description that describes that cause of the exception.

Delete Data

Deletes the key.

Signature Future<bool> delete(AtKey key);

Accepts an Instance of AtKey. Deletes the key from the storage. If the key is shared with another atSign, notifies the other atSign on the deletion of the key.

Returns a boolean value that represents the status of the delete method. Returns ‘TRUE’ when delete is completed successfully, else returns false.

Throws AtClientException with an error code and error description that describes that cause of the exception.

List of Keys

getKeys

Get all the keys stored in the user’s secondary in string format.

Signature

Future <<List<String>> getKeys({String? regex, String? sharedBy, String? sharedWith});

If regex is specified only matching keys are returned, giving you the flexibility to use different regexes for different types of data.

getAtKeys

Get all the keys stored in the user’s secondary in [AtKey] format.

Signature

Future <<List<AtKey>> getAtKeys({String? regex, String? sharedBy, String? sharedWith});

If regex is specified only matching keys are returned, giving you the flexibility to use different regexes for different types of data.

Notification

atProtocol data visibility

The atProtocol saves data created in a key-value pair format. atProtocol lets you create data with three levels of visibility. They are public, shared and self data. In the atProtocol a piece of data is identified as a certain data type based on the key structure. In the SDK, AtKey exposes abstractions to create keys for the various data types. Below sections describe this in detail.

Public data

Public data can be looked up without authentication. I.e. if @bob wants to lookup public data in the secondary server of @alice, @bob does not need to prove to @alice that he is @bob to see the data publicly shared by @alice. Public view of the @alice’s data will be the same for any user on the atPlatform. I.e. if @jane and @john look up some public data from @alice, it will be exactly the same as what @bob sees.

Good examples of public data in the real world are “first name” and the “last name”. We often don’t mind sharing our name with people, even random strangers.

Signing of public data Public data is signed with the “private keys” of the user. Which means when @alice looks up @bob’s public data, @alice knows for sure that the data is indeed from @bob.

Creating a public key

var publicKey = AtKey.public('phone', namespace: 'wavi')
                .build();

Persisting public data

final atClientManager = await AtClientManager.getInstance()
   .setCurrentAtSign(‘@alice, 'me', AtClientPreference());
var atClient = atClientManager.atClient;
var phoneKey = AtKey.public('phone', namespace: 'wavi')
             .build();;
var value = '+1 100 200 300';
var putResult = await atClient.put(phoneKey, value);

Shared data

Shared data does exactly what it says it does! It is created in order to share it with other people. These are the people we typically know and trust. When @bob shares his phone number with @alice, then only @alice can see that piece of data. Good examples of shared data in the real world are “phone number” and “email”. We only share these details with the people we know and trust.

Encryption of shared data

When @bob shares data to @alice, @bob generates a shared key for @alice and encrypts the data with the shared key. Further, the shared key is encrypted with the @alice public key. So the data shared is cryptographically secure.

Creating a shared key

var sharedKey = AtKey.shared('phone', namespace: 'wavi')
                ..sharedWith('@bob').build();

Persisting shared data

final atClientManager = await AtClientManager.getInstance()
   .setCurrentAtSign(‘@alice, 'me', AtClientPreference());
var atClient = atClientManager.atClient;
var phoneKey = AtKey.shared('phone', namespace: 'wavi')
             ..sharedWith('@bob')
             .build();
var value = '+1 100 200 300';
var putResult = await atClient.put(phoneKey, value);

Self data Self data is created for self. If @bob creates data for self, only @bob and no one else can see the data.

Good examples of self data are “passwords” and “financial data”. We keep these details to ourselves.

Encryption of self data

When @bob creates data for self it is encrypted using @bob’s self encryption key.

Creating a self key

var selfKey = AtKey.self('phone', namespace: 'wavi')
              .build();

Persisting self data

final atClientManager = await AtClientManager.getInstance()
   .setCurrentAtSign(‘@alice, 'me', AtClientPreference());
var atClient = atClientManager.atClient;
var phoneKey = AtKey.self('phone', namespace: 'wavi')
             .build();
var value = '+1 100 200 300';
var putResult = await atClient.put(phoneKey, value);

   All of the above rules are implemented and exposed using the validate() method on AtKey. These rules are enforced during creation of the data.

// Below key expires in 1 minute

var phoneKey = (AtKey.shared('phone', namespace: 'wavi')
               ..sharedWith('bob')
               ..timeToLive(60000))
               .build();
var value = '+1 100 200 300';
var putResult = await atClient.put(phoneKey, value);

// Below key is available after 1 minute

var phoneKey = (AtKey.shared('phone', namespace: 'wavi')
               ..sharedWith('bob')
               ..timeToBirth(60000))
               .build();
var value = '+1 100 200 300';
var putResult = await atClient.put(phoneKey, value);

// Below key refreshes everyday
// TTR accepts time units in seconds

var phoneKey = (AtKey.shared('phone', namespace: 'wavi')
               ..sharedWith('bob')
               ..cache(86400, true))
               .build();
var value = '+1 100 200 300';
var putResult = await atClient.put(phoneKey, value);