Safe method to get value of nested dictionary

Question

I have a nested dictionary. Is there only one way to get values out safely?

try:
    example_dict['key1']['key2']
except KeyError:
    pass

Or maybe python has a method like get() for nested dictionary ?

Answer 1

You could use get twice:

example_dict.get('key1', {}).get('key2')

This will return None if either key1 or key2 does not exist.

Note that this could still raise an AttributeError if example_dict['key1'] exists but is not a dict (or a dict-like object with a get method). The try..except code you posted would raise a TypeError instead if example_dict['key1'] is unsubscriptable.

Another difference is that the try...except short-circuits immediately after the first missing key. The chain of get calls does not.

---

If you wish to preserve the syntax, example_dict['key1']['key2'] but do not want it to ever raise KeyErrors, then you could use the Hasher recipe:

class Hasher(dict):
    # https://stackoverflow.com/a/3405143/190597
    def __missing__(self, key):
        value = self[key] = type(self)()
        return value

example_dict = Hasher()
print(example_dict['key1'])
# {}
print(example_dict['key1']['key2'])
# {}
print(type(example_dict['key1']['key2']))
# <class '__main__.Hasher'>

Note that this returns an empty Hasher when a key is missing.

Since Hasher is a subclass of dict you can use a Hasher in much the same way you could use a dict. All the same methods and syntax is available, Hashers just treat missing keys differently.

You can convert a regular dict into a Hasher like this:

hasher = Hasher(example_dict)

and convert a Hasher to a regular dict just as easily:

regular_dict = dict(hasher)

---

Another alternative is to hide the ugliness in a helper function:

def safeget(dct, *keys):
    for key in keys:
        try:
            dct = dct[key]
        except KeyError:
            return None
    return dct

So the rest of your code can stay relatively readable:

safeget(example_dict, 'key1', 'key2')

Answer 2

By combining all of these answer here and small changes that I made, I think this function would be useful. its safe, quick, easily maintainable.

def deep_get(dictionary, keys, default=None):
    return reduce(lambda d, key: d.get(key, default) if isinstance(d, dict) else default, keys.split("."), dictionary)

Example :

from functools import reduce
def deep_get(dictionary, keys, default=None):
    return reduce(lambda d, key: d.get(key, default) if isinstance(d, dict) else default, keys.split("."), dictionary)

person = {'person':{'name':{'first':'John'}}}
print(deep_get(person, "person.name.first"))    # John

print(deep_get(person, "person.name.lastname")) # None

print(deep_get(person, "person.name.lastname", default="No lastname"))  # No lastname

Answer 3

You could also use python reduce:

def deep_get(dictionary, *keys):
    return reduce(lambda d, key: d.get(key) if d else None, keys, dictionary)

Answer 4

You can .get an empty dictionary, in the first stage.

example_dict.get('key1',{}).get('key2')

Answer 5

Building up on Yoav's answer, an even safer approach:

def deep_get(dictionary, *keys):
    return reduce(lambda d, key: d.get(key, None) if isinstance(d, dict) else None, keys, dictionary)

Answer 6

A recursive solution. It's not the most efficient but I find it a bit more readable than the other examples and it doesn't rely on functools.

def deep_get(d, keys):
    if not keys or d is None:
        return d
    return deep_get(d.get(keys[0]), keys[1:])

Example

d = {'meta': {'status': 'OK', 'status_code': 200}}
deep_get(d, ['meta', 'status_code'])     # => 200
deep_get(d, ['garbage', 'status_code'])  # => None

---

A more polished version

def deep_get(d, keys, default=None):
    """
    Example:
        d = {'meta': {'status': 'OK', 'status_code': 200}}
        deep_get(d, ['meta', 'status_code'])          # => 200
        deep_get(d, ['garbage', 'status_code'])       # => None
        deep_get(d, ['meta', 'garbage'], default='-') # => '-'
    """
    assert type(keys) is list
    if d is None:
        return default
    if not keys:
        return d
    return deep_get(d.get(keys[0]), keys[1:], default)

Answer 7

I suggest you to try python-benedict.

It is a dict subclass that provides keypath support and much more.

Installation: pip install python-benedict

from benedict import benedict

example_dict = benedict(example_dict, keypath_separator='.')

now you can access nested values using keypath:

val = example_dict['key1.key2']

# using 'get' method to avoid a possible KeyError:
val = example_dict.get('key1.key2')

or access nested values using keys list:

val = example_dict['key1', 'key2']

# using get to avoid a possible KeyError:
val = example_dict.get(['key1', 'key2'])

---

It is well tested and open-source on GitHub:

https://github.com/fabiocaccamo/python-benedict

Note: I am the author of this project

Answer 8

While the reduce approach is neat and short, I think a simple loop is easier to grok. I've also included a default parameter.

def deep_get(_dict, keys, default=None):
    for key in keys:
        if isinstance(_dict, dict):
            _dict = _dict.get(key, default)
        else:
            return default
    return _dict

As an exercise to understand how the reduce one-liner worked, I did the following. But ultimately the loop approach seems more intuitive to me.

def deep_get(_dict, keys, default=None):

    def _reducer(d, key):
        if isinstance(d, dict):
            return d.get(key, default)
        return default

    return reduce(_reducer, keys, _dict)

Usage

nested = {'a': {'b': {'c': 42}}}

print deep_get(nested, ['a', 'b'])
print deep_get(nested, ['a', 'b', 'z', 'z'], default='missing')

Answer 9

You can use pydash:

import pydash as _  #NOTE require `pip install pydash`

_.get(example_dict, 'key1.key2', default='Default')

https://pydash.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api.html

Answer 10

glom is a nice library that can into dotted queries too:

In [1]: from glom import glom

In [2]: data = {'a': {'b': {'c': 'd'}}}

In [3]: glom(data, "a.b.c")
Out[3]: 'd'

A query failure has a nice stack trace, indicating the exact failure spot:

In [4]: glom(data, "a.b.foo")
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
PathAccessError                           Traceback (most recent call last)
<ipython-input-4-2a3467493ac4> in <module>
----> 1 glom(data, "a.b.foo")

~/.cache/pypoetry/virtualenvs/neural-knapsack-dE7ihQtM-py3.8/lib/python3.8/site-packages/glom/core.py in glom(target, spec, **kwargs)
   2179 
   2180     if err:
-> 2181         raise err
   2182     return ret
   2183 

PathAccessError: error raised while processing, details below.
 Target-spec trace (most recent last):
 - Target: {'a': {'b': {'c': 'd'}}}
 - Spec: 'a.b.foo'
glom.core.PathAccessError: could not access 'foo', part 2 of Path('a', 'b', 'foo'), got error: KeyError('foo')

Safeguard with default:

In [5]: glom(data, "a.b.foo", default="spam")
Out[5]: 'spam'

The beauty of glom is in the versatile spec parameter. For example, one can easily extract all first names from the following data:

In [8]: data = {
   ...:     "people": [
   ...:         {"first_name": "Alice", "last_name": "Adams"},
   ...:         {"first_name": "Bob", "last_name": "Barker"}
   ...:     ]
   ...: }

In [9]: glom(data, ("people", ["first_name"]))
Out[9]: ['Alice', 'Bob']

Read the glom docs for more examples.

Answer 11

Starting with Python 3.4 you may use with suppress (KeyError) to access nested json objects without worrying of Keyerror

from contextlib import suppress

with suppress(KeyError):
    a1 = json_obj['key1']['key2']['key3']
    a2 = json_obj['key4']['key5']['key6']
    a3 = json_obj['key7']['key8']['key9']

Courtesy of Techdragon. Have a look at his answer for further details: https://stackoverflow.com/a/45874251/1189659

Answer 12

for a second level key retrieving, you can do this:

key2_value = (example_dict.get('key1') or {}).get('key2')

Answer 13

A simple class that can wrap a dict, and retrieve based on a key:

class FindKey(dict):
    def get(self, path, default=None):
        keys = path.split(".")
        val = None

        for key in keys:
            if val:
                if isinstance(val, list):
                    val = [v.get(key, default) if v else None for v in val]
                else:
                    val = val.get(key, default)
            else:
                val = dict.get(self, key, default)

            if not val:
                break

        return val

For example:

person = {'person':{'name':{'first':'John'}}}
FindDict(person).get('person.name.first') # == 'John'

If the key doesn't exist, it returns None by default. You can override that using a default= key in the FindDict wrapper -- for example`:

FindDict(person, default='').get('person.name.last') # == doesn't exist, so ''

Answer 14

I adapted GenesRus and unutbu's answer in this very simple:

class new_dict(dict):
    def deep_get(self, *args, default=None):
        _empty_dict = {}
        out = self
        for key in args:
            out = out.get(key, _empty_dict)
        return out if out else default

it works with:

d = new_dict(some_data)
d.deep_get("key1", "key2", "key3", ..., default=some_value)

Answer 15

After seeing this for deeply getting attributes, I made the following to safely get nested dict values using dot notation. This works for me because my dicts are deserialized MongoDB objects, so I know the key names don't contain .s. Also, in my context, I can specify a falsy fallback value (None) that I don't have in my data, so I can avoid the try/except pattern when calling the function.

from functools import reduce # Python 3
def deepgetitem(obj, item, fallback=None):
    """Steps through an item chain to get the ultimate value.

    If ultimate value or path to value does not exist, does not raise
    an exception and instead returns `fallback`.

    >>> d = {'snl_final': {'about': {'_icsd': {'icsd_id': 1}}}}
    >>> deepgetitem(d, 'snl_final.about._icsd.icsd_id')
    1
    >>> deepgetitem(d, 'snl_final.about._sandbox.sbx_id')
    >>>
    """
    def getitem(obj, name):
        try:
            return obj[name]
        except (KeyError, TypeError):
            return fallback
    return reduce(getitem, item.split('.'), obj)

Answer 16

An adaptation of unutbu's answer that I found useful in my own code:

example_dict.setdefaut('key1', {}).get('key2')

It generates a dictionary entry for key1 if it does not have that key already so that you avoid the KeyError. If you want to end up a nested dictionary that includes that key pairing anyway like I did, this seems like the easiest solution.

Answer 17

Yet another function for the same thing, also returns a boolean to represent whether the key was found or not and handles some unexpected errors.

'''
json : json to extract value from if exists
path : details.detail.first_name
            empty path represents root

returns a tuple (boolean, object)
        boolean : True if path exists, otherwise False
        object : the object if path exists otherwise None

'''
def get_json_value_at_path(json, path=None, default=None):

    if not bool(path):
        return True, json
    if type(json) is not dict :
        raise ValueError(f'json={json}, path={path} not supported, json must be a dict')
    if type(path) is not str and type(path) is not list:
        raise ValueError(f'path format {path} not supported, path can be a list of strings like [x,y,z] or a string like x.y.z')

    if type(path) is str:
        path = path.strip('.').split('.')
    key = path[0]
    if key in json.keys():
        return get_json_value_at_path(json[key], path[1:], default)
    else:
        return False, default

example usage:

my_json = {'details' : {'first_name' : 'holla', 'last_name' : 'holla'}}
print(get_json_value_at_path(my_json, 'details.first_name', ''))
print(get_json_value_at_path(my_json, 'details.phone', ''))

(True, 'holla')

(False, '')

Answer 18

There are already lots of good answers but I have come up with a function called get similar to lodash get in JavaScript land that also supports reaching into lists by index:

def get(value, keys, default_value = None):
'''
    Useful for reaching into nested JSON like data
    Inspired by JavaScript lodash get and Clojure get-in etc.
'''
  if value is None or keys is None:
      return None
  path = keys.split('.') if isinstance(keys, str) else keys
  result = value
  def valid_index(key):
      return re.match('^([1-9][0-9]*|[0-9])$', key) and int(key) >= 0
  def is_dict_like(v):
      return hasattr(v, '__getitem__') and hasattr(v, '__contains__')
  for key in path:
      if isinstance(result, list) and valid_index(key) and int(key) < len(result):
          result = result[int(key)] if int(key) < len(result) else None
      elif is_dict_like(result) and key in result:
          result = result[key]
      else:
          result = default_value
          break
  return result

def test_get():
  assert get(None, ['foo']) == None
  assert get({'foo': 1}, None) == None
  assert get(None, None) == None
  assert get({'foo': 1}, []) == {'foo': 1}
  assert get({'foo': 1}, ['foo']) == 1
  assert get({'foo': 1}, ['bar']) == None
  assert get({'foo': 1}, ['bar'], 'the default') == 'the default'
  assert get({'foo': {'bar': 'hello'}}, ['foo', 'bar']) == 'hello'
  assert get({'foo': {'bar': 'hello'}}, 'foo.bar') == 'hello'
  assert get({'foo': [{'bar': 'hello'}]}, 'foo.0.bar') == 'hello'
  assert get({'foo': [{'bar': 'hello'}]}, 'foo.1') == None
  assert get({'foo': [{'bar': 'hello'}]}, 'foo.1.bar') == None
  assert get(['foo', 'bar'], '1') == 'bar'
  assert get(['foo', 'bar'], '2') == None

Answer 19

Here is a solution based on the unutbu's function answer plus:

1. python naming guidelines
2. default value as a parameter
3. not using try but just checking if key is on object

def safe_get(dictionary, *keys, default=None):
    for key in keys:
        if key not in dictionary:
            return default
        dictionary = dictionary[key]
    return dictionary

Answer 20

The simplest way to do it without using libraries or writing functions and for a small number quick uses, the simplest way to do it is to use the get(..., {}) pattern as many times as needed, for example:

example_dict.get('key1', {}).get('key2', {}).get('key3', {}).get('key4', {})

Answer 21

Since raising an key error if one of keys is missing is a reasonable thing to do, we can even not check for it and get it as single as that:

def get_dict(d, kl):
  cur = d[kl[0]]
  return get_dict(cur, kl[1:]) if len(kl) > 1 else cur

Answer 22

Little improvement to reduce approach to make it work with list. Also using data path as string divided by dots instead of array.

def deep_get(dictionary, path):
    keys = path.split('.')
    return reduce(lambda d, key: d[int(key)] if isinstance(d, list) else d.get(key) if d else None, keys, dictionary)

Answer 23

A solution I've used that is similar to the double get but with the additional ability to avoid a TypeError using if else logic:

    value = example_dict['key1']['key2'] if example_dict.get('key1') and example_dict['key1'].get('key2') else default_value

However, the more nested the dictionary the more cumbersome this becomes.

Answer 24

For nested dictionary/JSON lookups, you can use dictor

pip install dictor

dict object

{
    "characters": {
        "Lonestar": {
            "id": 55923,
            "role": "renegade",
            "items": [
                "space winnebago",
                "leather jacket"
            ]
        },
        "Barfolomew": {
            "id": 55924,
            "role": "mawg",
            "items": [
                "peanut butter jar",
                "waggy tail"
            ]
        },
        "Dark Helmet": {
            "id": 99999,
            "role": "Good is dumb",
            "items": [
                "Shwartz",
                "helmet"
            ]
        },
        "Skroob": {
            "id": 12345,
            "role": "Spaceballs CEO",
            "items": [
                "luggage"
            ]
        }
    }
}

to get Lonestar's items, simply provide a dot-separated path, ie

import json
from dictor import dictor

with open('test.json') as data: 
    data = json.load(data)

print dictor(data, 'characters.Lonestar.items')

>> [u'space winnebago', u'leather jacket']

you can provide fallback value in case the key isnt in path

theres tons more options you can do, like ignore letter casing and using other characters besides '.' as a path separator,

https://github.com/perfecto25/dictor

Answer 25

I little changed this answer. I added checking if we're using list with numbers. So now we can use it whichever way. deep_get(allTemp, [0], {}) or deep_get(getMinimalTemp, [0, minimalTemperatureKey], 26) etc

def deep_get(_dict, keys, default=None):
    def _reducer(d, key):
        if isinstance(d, dict):
            return d.get(key, default)
        if isinstance(d, list):
            return d[key] if len(d) > 0 else default
        return default
    return reduce(_reducer, keys, _dict)

Answer 26

Recursive method (мб пригодится)

Example dict:

foo = [{'feature_name': 'Sample Creator > Contract Details > Elements of the page',
  'scenarios': [{'scenario_name': 'SC, CD, Elements of the page',
                 'scenario_status': 'failed',
                 'scenario_tags': None,
                 'steps': [{'duration': 0,
                            'name': 'I open application Stage and login by '
                                    'SPT_LOGIN and password SPT_PWD',
                            'status': 'untested'},
                           {'duration': 0,
                            'name': 'I open Sample Creator query page',
                            'status': 'untested'},
                           {'duration': 7.78166389465332,
                            'name': 'I open application Stage and login by '
                                    'SPT_LOGIN and password SPT_PWD',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 3.985326051712036,
                            'name': 'I open Sample Creator query page',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 2.9063704013824463,
                            'name': 'Enter value: '
                                    'X-2008-CON-007,X-2011-CON-016 in '
                                    'textarea: project_text_area sleep: 1',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 4.4447715282440186,
                            'name': 'I press on GET DATA',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 1.1209557056427002,
                            'name': 'Verify the top table on Contract Details',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 3.8173601627349854,
                            'name': 'I export contract_details table by offset '
                                    'x:100, y:150',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 1.032956600189209,
                            'name': 'Check data of '
                                    'sc__cd_elements_of_the_page_1 and skip '
                                    'cols None',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 0.04593634605407715,
                            'name': "Verify 'Number of Substances' column "
                                    'values',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 0.10199904441833496,
                            'name': 'Substance Sample Details bottom table '
                                    'columns',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 0.0009999275207519531,
                            'name': 'Verify the Substance Sample Details '
                                    'bottom table',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 3.8558616638183594,
                            'name': 'I export substance_sample_details table '
                                    'by offset x:100, y:150',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 1.0329277515411377,
                            'name': 'Check data of '
                                    'sc__cd_elements_of_the_page_2 and skip '
                                    'cols None',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 0.2879970073699951,
                            'name': 'Click on AG-13369',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 3.800830364227295,
                            'name': 'I export substance_sample_details table '
                                    'by offset x:100, y:150',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 1.0169551372528076,
                            'name': 'Check data of '
                                    'sc__cd_elements_of_the_page_3 and skip '
                                    'cols None',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 1.7484464645385742,
                            'name': 'Select all cells, table: 2',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 3.812828779220581,
                            'name': 'I export substance_sample_details table '
                                    'by offset x:100, y:150',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 1.0029594898223877,
                            'name': 'Check data of '
                                    'sc__cd_elements_of_the_page_2 and skip '
                                    'cols None',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 1.6729373931884766,
                            'name': 'Set window size x:800, y:600',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 30.145705699920654,
                            'name': 'All scrollers are placed on top 6 and far '
                                    'left 8',
                            'status': 'failed'}]}]},
  {'feature_name': 'Sample Creator > Substance Sample History > Elements of the '
                  'page',
  'scenarios': [{'scenario_name': 'SC, SSH, Elements of the page',
                 'scenario_status': 'passed',
                 'scenario_tags': None,
                 'steps': [{'duration': 0,
                            'name': 'I open application Stage and login by '
                                    'SPT_LOGIN and password SPT_PWD',
                            'status': 'untested'},
                           {'duration': 0,
                            'name': 'I open Sample Creator query page',
                            'status': 'untested'},
                           {'duration': 7.305850505828857,
                            'name': 'I open application Stage and login by '
                                    'SPT_LOGIN and password SPT_PWD',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 3.500955104827881,
                            'name': 'I open Sample Creator query page',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 3.0419492721557617,
                            'name': 'Enter value: NOA401800 SYN-NOA '
                                    'A,S4A482070C SYN-ISN-OLD '
                                    'O,S04A482167T,S04A482190Y,CSAA796564,CSCD106701 '
                                    'in textarea: id_text_area sleep: 1',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 49.567158460617065,
                            'name': 'I press on GET DATA',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 0.13904356956481934,
                            'name': 'Open substance_sample_history',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 1.1039845943450928,
                            'name': 'Columns displayed',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 3.881945848464966,
                            'name': 'I export export_parent_table table by '
                                    'offset x:100, y:150',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 1.0334820747375488,
                            'name': 'Check data of '
                                    'sc__ssh_elements_of_the_page_1 and skip '
                                    'cols None',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 0.0319981575012207,
                            'name': "Title is 'Additional Details for Marked "
                                    "Rows'",
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 0.08897256851196289,
                            'name': 'Columns displayed (the same as in top '
                                    'table)',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 25.192569971084595,
                            'name': 'Verify the content of the bottom table',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 4.308935880661011,
                            'name': 'I export '
                                    'additional_details_for_marked_rows table '
                                    'by offset x:100, y:150',
                            'status': 'passed'},
                           {'duration': 1.0089836120605469,
                            'name': 'Check data of '
                                    'sc__ssh_elements_of_the_page_1 and skip '
                                    'cols None',
                            'status': 'passed'}]}]}]

Code:

def get_keys(_dict: dict, prefix: list):
    prefix += list(_dict.keys())
    return prefix


def _loop_elements(elems:list, prefix=None, limit=None):
    prefix = prefix or []
    limit = limit or 9
    try:
        if len(elems) != 0 and isinstance(elems, list):
            for _ in elems:
                if isinstance(_, dict):
                    get_keys(_, prefix)
                    for item in _.values():
                        _loop_elements(item, prefix, limit)
        return prefix[:limit]
    except TypeError:
        return


>>>goo = _loop_elements(foo,limit=9)
>>>goo
['feature_name', 'scenarios', 'scenario_name', 'scenario_status', 'scenario_tags', 'steps', 'duration', 'name', 'status']

Answer 27

def safeget(_dct, *_keys):
    if not isinstance(_dct, dict): raise TypeError("Is not instance of dict")
    def foo(dct, *keys):
        if len(keys) == 0: return dct
        elif not isinstance(_dct, dict): return None
        else: return foo(dct.get(keys[0], None), *keys[1:])
    return foo(_dct, *_keys)

assert safeget(dict()) == dict()
assert safeget(dict(), "test") == None
assert safeget(dict([["a", 1],["b", 2]]),"a", "d") == None
assert safeget(dict([["a", 1],["b", 2]]),"a") == 1
assert safeget({"a":{"b":{"c": 2}},"d":1}, "a", "b")["c"] == 2

Answer 28

I have written a package deepextract that does exactly what you want: https://github.com/ya332/deepextract You can do

from deepextract import deepextract
# Demo: deepextract.extract_key(obj, key)
deeply_nested_dict = {
    "items": {
        "item": {
            "id": {
                "type": {
                    "donut": {
                        "name": {
                            "batters": {
                                "my_target_key": "my_target_value"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
print(deepextract.extract_key(deeply_nested_dict, "my_target_key") == "my_target_value")

returns

True

Answer 29

My implementation that descends into sub-dicts, ignores None values, but fails with a TypeError if anything else is discovered

def deep_get(d: dict, *keys, default=None):
    """ Safely get a nested value from a dict

    Example:
        config = {'device': None}
        deep_get(config, 'device', 'settings', 'light')
        # -> None
        
    Example:
        config = {'device': True}
        deep_get(config, 'device', 'settings', 'light')
        # -> TypeError

    Example:
        config = {'device': {'settings': {'light': 'bright'}}}
        deep_get(config, 'device', 'settings', 'light')
        # -> 'light'

    Note that it returns `default` is a key is missing or when it's None.
    It will raise a TypeError if a value is anything else but a dict or None.
    
    Args:
        d: The dict to descend into
        keys: A sequence of keys to follow
        default: Custom default value
    """
    # Descend while we can
    try:
        for k in keys:
            d = d[k]
    # If at any step a key is missing, return default
    except KeyError:
        return default
    # If at any step the value is not a dict...
    except TypeError:
        # ... if it's a None, return default. Assume it would be a dict.
        if d is None:
            return default
        # ... if it's something else, raise
        else:
            raise
    # If the value was found, return it
    else:
        return d

Answer 30

If you want to use another library for a solution, this is work best

https://github.com/maztohir/dict-path

from dict-path import DictPath

data_dict = {
  "foo1": "bar1",
  "foo2": "bar2",
  "foo3": {
     "foo4": "bar4",
     "foo5": {
        "foo6": "bar6",
        "foo7": "bar7",
     },
  }
}

data_dict_path = DictPath(data_dict)
data_dict_path.get('key1/key2/key3')

Answer 31

You could use a NestedDict from the open-source ndicts package (I am the author), which has a safe get method exactly like dictionaries.

>>> from ndicts import NestedDict
>>> nd = NestedDict({"key1": {"key2": 0}}
>>> nd.get(("key1", "key2))
0
>>> nd.get("asd")

Answer 32

There is no need in external python module, a single function is enough. There is no need to join keys in one string, if argument passing by *args is available.

def key_chain(data, *args, default=None): 
    for key in args:
        if isinstance(data, dict):
            data = data.get(key, default)
        elif isinstance(data, (list, tuple)) and isinstance(key, int):
            try:
                data = data[key]
            except IndexError:
                return default
        else:
            return default
    return data

So just call

key_chain(example_dict, "key1", "key2")

It doesn't crash with TypeError on the dictonary example_dict = {'key1': 1} unlike the highest score answer. It supports integer keys for lists and tuples and default value if any key is missed.

More examples of usage https://gist.github.com/yaznahar/26bd3442467aff5d126d345cca0efcad

Answer 33

You can use dotted:

pip install dotted

from dotted.collection import DottedDict

assert DottedDict(dict(foo=dict(bar="baz")))["foo"]["bar"] == "baz"
assert DottedDict(dict(foo=dict(bar="baz")))["foo.bar"] == "baz"
assert DottedDict(dict(foo=dict(bar="baz"))).get("lorem.ipsum", None) is None
assert DottedDict(dict(foo=dict(bar="baz"))).get("lorem.ipsum", "default") == "default"