python: sorting list of dicts by one key OR another

Question

Have a list of dict objects where 50% will have a key name and 50% will have a key full_name and I'd like it sorted alphabetically based on either key.

Some sort function like:

if 'name' in a:
    a_name = a['name']
elif 'full_name' in a:
    a_name = a['full_name']
# repeat with a b in the compare, sort based on value

Is there a more efficient way here?

That’s not really a duplicate of this. This one has the added complication that you need to select one of two keys. — Tom Zych, Jan 30 '16 at 19:00
@Padraic Cunningham, IMHO, this is not a duplicate. The question you mentioned did tell about multiple keys, but this question is different. — Ahsanul Haque, Jan 30 '16 at 19:04

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 30 '16 at 18:53

1

I think it should work:

sorts = sorted(data, key= lambda x: x.get('name') or x.get('full_name'))

answered Jan 30 '16 at 18:53

Ahsanul Haque

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May I know the reason of downvoting? I think it works. – Ahsanul Haque Jan 30 '16 at 18:57
Yes, it’s a good approach, I think, as long as there aren’t any empty strings in the data. Possibly slightly faster than my answer. – Tom Zych Jan 30 '16 at 18:58

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 30 '16 at 18:52

0

Concatenate both strings, substituting an empty string for the missing one:

lst.sort(key=lambda d: d.get('name', '') + d.get('full_name', ''))

answered Jan 30 '16 at 18:52

Tom Zych

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score -1 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 30 '16 at 18:55

-1

Have you tried a lambda based functional approach:

testList = sorted(testList, key=lambda name: a_name['name'] if 'name'   in a_name else a_name['full_name'])

answered Jan 30 '16 at 18:55

NotsoDarkMatters

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python: sorting list of dicts by one key OR another

3 Answers3