feat(core): resource overrides (escape hatch) (#784)

Adds capabilities and documentation to allow users to add overrides
to synthesized resource definitions in case of gaps in L2s.

- resource.addOverride(path, value)
- resource.addPropertyOverride(propertyPath, value)
- resource.addDeletionOverride(p, v)
- resource.addPropertyDeletionOVerride(pp, v)
- xxxResource.propertyOverrides (of type XxxResourceProps)

Documented under the AWS Construct Library topic.

Fixes #606

Author: Elad Ben-Israel

docs/src/aws-construct-lib.rst

@@ -103,9 +103,274 @@ were part of your app.
 
 .. _cloudformation_layer:
 
-AWS CloudFormation Layer
-========================
+Access the AWS CloudFormation Layer
+===================================
+
+This topic discusses ways to directly modify the underlying CloudFormation
+resources at the AWS Construct Library. We also call this technique an "escape
+hatch", as it allows users to "escape" from the abstraction boundary defined by
+the AWS Construct and patch the underlying resources.
+
+.. important::
+
+   **We do not recommend this method, as it breaks the abstraction layer and
+   might produce unexpected results**.
+
+   Furthermore, the internal implementation of an AWS construct is not part of
+   the API compatibility guarantees that we can make. This means that updates to
+   the construct library may break your code without a major version bump.
+
+AWS constructs, such as :py:class:`Topic <@aws-cdk/aws-sns.Topic>`, encapsulate
+one or more AWS CloudFormation resources behind their APIs. These resources are
+also represented as constructs under the ``cloudformation`` namespace in each
+library. For example, the :py:class:`@aws-cdk/aws-s3.Bucket` construct
+encapsulates the :py:class:`@aws-cdk/aws-s3.cloudformation.BucketResource`. When
+a stack that includes an AWS construct is synthesized, the CloudFormation
+definition of the underlying resources are included in the resulting template.
+
+Eventually, the APIs provided by AWS constructs are expected to support all the
+services and capabilities offered by AWS, but we are aware that the library
+still has many gaps both at the service level (some services don't have any
+constructs yet) and at the resource level (an AWS construct exists, but some
+features are missing).
+
+.. note::
+
+   If you encounter a missing capability in the AWS Construct Library, whether
+   it is an entire library, a specific resource or a feature,
+   `raise an issue <https://github.com/awslabs/aws-cdk/issues/new>`_ on GitHub,
+   and letting us know.
+
+This topic covers the following use cases:
+
+- How to access the low-level CloudFormation resources encapsulated by an AWS construct
+- How to specify resource options such as metadata, dependencies on resources
+- How to add overrides to a CloudFormation resource and property definitions
+- How to directly define low-level CloudFormation resources without an AWS construct
+
+You can also find more information on how to work directly with the AWS
+CloudFormation layer under :py:doc:`cloudformation`.
+
+Accessing Low-level Resources
+-----------------------------
+
+You can use :py:meth:`construct.findChild(id) <@aws-cdk/cdk.Construct.findChild>`
+to access any child of this construct by its construct ID. By convention, the "main"
+resource of any AWS Construct is called ``"Resource"``.
+
+The following example shows how to access the underlying S3 bucket resource
+given an :py:class:`s3.Bucket <@aws-cdk/s3.Bucket>` construct:
+
+.. code-block:: ts
+
+   // let's create an AWS bucket construct
+   const bucket = new s3.Bucket(this, 'MyBucket');
+
+   // we use our knowledge that the main construct is called "Resource" and
+   // that it's actual type is s3.cloudformation.BucketResource; const
+   const bucketResource = bucket.findResource('Resource') as s3.cloudformation.BucketResource;
+
+At this point, ``bucketResource`` represents the low-level CloudFormation resource of type
+:py:class:`s3.cloudformation.BucketResource <@aws-cdk/aws-s3.cloudformation.BucketResource>`
+encapsulated by our bucket.
+
+:py:meth:`construct.findChild(id) <@aws-cdk/cdk.Construct.findChild>` will fail
+if the child could not be located, which means that if the underlying |l2| changes
+the IDs or structure for some reason, synthesis fails.
+
+It is also possible to use :py:meth:`construct.children <@aws-cdk/cdk.Construct.children>` for more
+advanced queries. For example, we can look for a child that has a certain CloudFormation resource
+type:
+
+.. code-block:: ts
+
+   const bucketResource =
+      bucket.children.find(c => (c as cdk.Resource).resourceType === 'AWS::S3::Bucket')
+      as s3.cloudformation.BucketResource;
+
+From that point, users are interacting with CloudFormation resource classes
+(which extend :py:class:`cdk.Resource <@aws-cdk/cdk.Resource>`), so we will look
+into how to use their APIs in order to modify the behavior of the AWS construct
+at hand.
+
+Resource Options
+----------------
+
+:py:class:`cdk.Resource <@aws-cdk/cdk.Resource>` has a few facilities for
+setting resource options such as ``Metadata``, ``DependsOn``, etc.
+
+For example, this code:
+
+.. code-block:: ts
+
+   const bucketResource = bucket.findChild('Resource') as s3.cloudformation.BucketResource;
+
+   bucketResource.options.metadata = { MetadataKey: 'MetadataValue' };
+   bucketResource.options.updatePolicy = {
+      autoScalingRollingUpdate: {
+         pauseTime: '390'
+      }
+   };
+
+   bucketResource.addDependency(otherBucket.findChild('Resource') as cdk.Resource);
+
+Synthesizes the following template:
+
+.. code-block:: json
+
+   {
+      "Type": "AWS::S3::Bucket",
+      "DependsOn": [ "Other34654A52" ],
+      "UpdatePolicy": {
+         "AutoScalingRollingUpdate": {
+               "PauseTime": "390"
+         }
+      },
+      "Metadata": {
+         "MetadataKey": "MetadataValue"
+      }
+   }
+
+Overriding Resource Properties
+------------------------------
+
+Each low-level resource in the CDK has a strongly-typed property called
+``propertyOverrides``. It allows users to apply overrides that adhere to the
+CloudFormation schema of the resource, and use code-completion and
+type-checking.
+
+You will normally use this mechanism when a certain feature is available at the
+CloudFormation layer but is not exposed by the AWS Construct.
+
+The following example sets a bucket's analytics configuration:
+
+.. code-block:: ts
+
+   bucketResource.propertyOverrides.analyticsConfigurations = [
+      {
+            id: 'config1',
+            storageClassAnalysis: {
+               dataExport: {
+                  outputSchemaVersion: '1',
+                  destination: {
+                        format: 'html',
+                        bucketArn: otherBucket.bucketArn // use tokens freely
+                  }
+               }
+            }
+      }
+   ];
+
+Raw Overrides
+-------------
+
+In cases the strongly-typed overrides are not sufficient, or, for example, if
+the schema defined in CloudFormation is not up-to-date, the method
+:py:meth:`cdk.Resource.addOverride(path, value) <@aws-cdk/cdk.Resource.addOverride>`
+can be used to define an override that will by applied to the resource
+definition during synthesis.
+
+For example:
+
+.. code-block:: ts
+
+   // define an override at the resource definition root, you can even modify the "Type"
+   // of the resource if needed.
+   bucketResource.addOverride('Type', 'AWS::S3::SpecialBucket');
+
+   // define an override for a property (both are equivalent operations):
+   bucketResource.addPropertyOverride('VersioningConfiguration.Status', 'NewStatus');
+   bucketResource.addOverride('Properties.VersioningConfiguration.Status', 'NewStatus');
+
+   // use dot-notation to define overrides in complex structures which will be merged
+   // with the values set by the higher-level construct
+   bucketResource.addPropertyOverride('LoggingConfiguration.DestinationBucketName', otherBucket.bucketName);
+
+   // it is also possible to assign a `null` value
+   bucketResource.addPropertyOverride('Foo.Bar', null);
+
+Synthesizes to:
+
+.. code-block:: json
+
+   {
+      "Type": "AWS::S3::SpecialBucket",
+      "Properties": {
+         "Foo": {
+            "Bar": null
+         },
+         "VersioningConfiguration": {
+            "Status": "NewStatus"
+         },
+         "LoggingConfiguration": {
+            "DestinationBucketName": {
+               "Ref": "Other34654A52"
+            }
+        }
+      }
+   }
+
+Use ``undefined``, :py:meth:`cdk.Resource.addDeletionOverride <@aws-cdk/cdk.Resource.addDeletionOverride>`
+or :py:meth:`cdk.Resource.addPropertyDeletionOverride <@aws-cdk/cdk.Resource.addPropertyDeletionOverride>`
+to delete values:
+
+.. code-block:: ts
+
+   const bucket = new s3.Bucket(this, 'MyBucket', {
+      versioned: true,
+      encryption: s3.BucketEncryption.KmsManaged
+   });
+
+   const bucketResource = bucket.findChild('Resource') as s3.cloudformation.BucketResource;
+   bucketResource.addPropertyOverride('BucketEncryption.ServerSideEncryptionConfiguration.0.EncryptEverythingAndAlways', true);
+   bucketResource.addPropertyDeletionOverride('BucketEncryption.ServerSideEncryptionConfiguration.0.ServerSideEncryptionByDefault');
+
+Synthesizes to:
+
+.. code-block:: json
+
+   "MyBucketF68F3FF0": {
+      "Type": "AWS::S3::Bucket",
+      "Properties": {
+         "BucketEncryption": {
+            "ServerSideEncryptionConfiguration": [
+               {
+                  "EncryptEverythingAndAlways": true
+               }
+            ]
+         },
+         "VersioningConfiguration": {
+            "Status": "Enabled"
+         }
+      }
+   }
+
+Directly Defining CloudFormation Resources
+-------------------------------------------
+
+It is also possible to explicitly define CloudFormation resources in your stack.
+To that end, instantiate one of the constructs under the ``cloudformation``
+namespace of the dedicated library.
+
+.. code-block:: ts
+
+   new s3.cloudformation.BucketResource(this, 'MyBucket', {
+      analyticsConfigurations: [
+         // ...
+      ]
+   });
+
+In the rare case where you want to define a resource that doesn't have a
+corresponding ``cloudformation`` class (such as a new resource that was not yet
+published in the CloudFormation resource specification), you can instantiate the
+:py:class:`cdk.Resource <@aws-cdk/cdk.Resource>` object:
+
+.. code-block:: ts
+
+   new cdk.Resource(this, 'MyBucket', {
+      type: 'AWS::S3::Bucket',
+      properties: {
+         AnalyticsConfiguration: [ /* ... */ ] // note the PascalCase here
+      }
+   });
 
-Every module in the AWS Construct Library includes a ``cloudformation`` namespace which contains
-low-level constructs which represent the low-level AWS CloudFormation semantics of this service.
-See :py:doc:`cloudformation` for details.

examples/cdk-examples-typescript/resource-overrides/cdk.json

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+{
+  "app": "node index",
+  "context": {
+    "availability-zones:993655754359:us-east-1": [
+      "us-east-1a",
+      "us-east-1b",
+      "us-east-1c",
+      "us-east-1d",
+      "us-east-1e",
+      "us-east-1f"
+    ],
+    "availability-zones:585695036304:us-east-1": [
+      "us-east-1a",
+      "us-east-1b",
+      "us-east-1c",
+      "us-east-1d",
+      "us-east-1e",
+      "us-east-1f"
+    ],
+    "ssm:585695036304:us-east-1:/aws/service/ami-amazon-linux-latest/amzn-ami-hvm-x86_64-gp2": "ami-0ff8a91507f77f867"
+  }
+}