How to read the json file using python in more generic way?

Question

I have a json file as follows:

    {
    "Alib": {
            "depends": null,
            "locked": false,
            "stage": "xyz",
            "version": "1.2.3"
        }
    "Blib": {
            "depends": null,
            "locked": false,
            "stage": "abc",
            "version": "4.3.8"
        }
    "clib": {
            "depends": null,
            "locked": false,
            "stage": "def",
            "version": "5.2.6"
        }
    }

Now i want to read this json file in a way that i get the lib name and the version with respect to that lib. Currently i have solution as follows:

    with open (jsonfile) as data_file:
                file = json.load(data_file)
            print file["alib"]["version"]
            print file["blib"]["version"]
            print file["clib"]["version"]

I do get the details of the each lib version but this is not exactly what i want. I dont want to provide the name of the lib hardcoded into the code. It should be something like :

  with open (jsonfile) as data_file:
                file = json.load(data_file)
      print file[lib]["version"]

and i get the names of the lib along with there versions independently. So, please suggest how shall i acheive this kind of solution where i don't provide the names of the libs and make more generic.

You json sample is not valid: a comma is missing after each lib attributes. — Laurent LAPORTE, Nov 06 '16 at 13:19
You should avoid using `file` as a variable because it is a built-in function (an alias of `open`). For instance, use `json_obj` instead. — Laurent LAPORTE, Nov 06 '16 at 13:20

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 06 '16 at 12:53

2

Once your json is stored into the variable "file", you can iterate through it to print each element.

for lib in file:
    print lib, file[lib]["version"]

answered Nov 06 '16 at 12:53

pablobordons

51
4

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 06 '16 at 13:23

You json file is loaded as a dict. Each key is a library name, values are dict:

import json
import io

content = '''\
{
    "Alib": {
            "depends": null,
            "locked": false,
            "stage": "xyz",
            "version": "1.2.3"
        },
    "Blib": {
            "depends": null,
            "locked": false,
            "stage": "abc",
            "version": "4.3.8"
        },
    "clib": {
            "depends": null,
            "locked": false,
            "stage": "def",
            "version": "5.2.6"
        }
}'''

fp = io.BytesIO(content)  # can be a real file
json_obj = json.load(fp)

You can display the libraries versions like this:

for lib, attrs in json_obj.items():
    print(u"{lib}: version={version}".format(lib=lib, version=attrs["version"]))

You get:

Alib: version=1.2.3
Blib: version=4.3.8
clib: version=5.2.6

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:13

0

The .keys() function should come in handy.

with open (jsonfile) as data_file:
     file = json.load(data_file)
     for key in file.keys():
         print file[key]["version"]

See related questions such as python JSON only get keys in first level for more details.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:13

Community

1
1

answered Nov 06 '16 at 12:45

wwl

2,025
2
30
51

Iterating over a dict yields its keys without having to use any method. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Nov 06 '16 at 12:56
Thanks, I completely forgot about that! – wwl Nov 06 '16 at 12:58

How to read the json file using python in more generic way?

3 Answers3