How to print out a dictionary nicely in Python?

Question

I've just started to learn python and I'm building a text game. I want an inventory system, but I can't seem to print out the dictionary without it looking ugly.

This is what I have so far:

def inventory():
    for numberofitems in len(inventory_content.keys()):
        inventory_things = list(inventory_content.keys())
        inventory_amounts = list(inventory_content.values())
        print(inventory_things[numberofitems])

_"nicely"_ is a subjective term, but perhaps you are looking for something like [this](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3229419/pretty-printing-nested-dictionaries-in-python). — Christian Dean, Jun 22 '17 at 03:19
FYI, this sample code doesn't work at all. The `for` loop here will be an error. I think you meant to use a `range`. Also, `inventory_amounts` isn't used, so you aren't printing the values. — sudo, Jun 22 '17 at 03:19
related: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3229419/how-to-pretty-print-nested-dictionaries — Ciro Santilli OurBigBook.com, Nov 28 '19 at 16:13

score 173 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 16 '21 at 18:45

173

I like the pprint module (Pretty Print) included in Python. It can be used to either print the object, or format a nice string version of it.

import pprint

# Prints the nicely formatted dictionary
pprint.pprint(dictionary)

# Sets 'pretty_dict_str' to the formatted string value
pretty_dict_str = pprint.pformat(dictionary)

But it sounds like you are printing out an inventory, which users will likely want shown as something more like the following:

def print_inventory(dct):
    print("Items held:")
    for item, amount in dct.items():  # dct.iteritems() in Python 2
        print("{} ({})".format(item, amount))

inventory = {
    "shovels": 3,
    "sticks": 2,
    "dogs": 1,
}

print_inventory(inventory)

which prints:

Items held:
shovels (3)
sticks (2)
dogs (1)

edited Feb 16 '21 at 18:45

StackzOfZtuff

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answered Jun 22 '17 at 04:25

foslock

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12

or `from pprint import pprint; pprint(dictionary)` ... +1 – SpinUp __ A Davis Oct 16 '18 at 03:08
1

Had to use: for item, amount in dct.items(): instead of: for item, amount in dct.iteritems(): – Abisdad Nov 20 '19 at 22:06
Hi, does this work if I want to save the output as a .txt file? Will it be saved in that format? – Jalkhov Jun 02 '20 at 18:18
1

to keep the printing format of pprint, you can use `import pprint as pp` the n call `pp.pformat(object)` to keep its string structure for logging, saving, etc... – dtlam26 Jun 07 '22 at 09:03
You may need to use `pprint.pprint(dictionary, sort_dicts=False)` if dictionary order matters. – Laurent Lyaudet Sep 27 '22 at 15:50

score 107 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 22 '17 at 03:26

107

My favorite way:

import json
print(json.dumps(dictionary, indent=4, sort_keys=True))

answered Jun 22 '17 at 03:26

Ofer Sadan

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Note that `sort_keys=True` throws an error if there are keys that are of different types (eg. integer and string keys). – Kevin May 08 '18 at 05:58
5

Your dictionary must only contain JSON-serializable objects, which are strings, various numbers, and booleans, for this to work. If that's the case, this is the easiest way with the nicest formatting. – sudo Jul 31 '18 at 18:31
15

@sudo you can use `default=str` so if something is not JSON-serializable it is first converted to a string – arod Dec 05 '18 at 20:30
Can it be sorted based on values? – alper Jan 01 '21 at 15:01

sudo · Answer 3 · 2021-01-13T04:21:54.287

30

Here's the one-liner I'd use. (Edit: works for things that aren't JSON-serializable too)

print("\n".join("{}\t{}".format(k, v) for k, v in dictionary.items()))

Explanation: This iterates through the keys and values of the dictionary, creating a formatted string like key + tab + value for each. And "\n".join(... puts newlines between all those strings, forming a new string.

Example:

>>> dictionary = {1: 2, 4: 5, "foo": "bar"}
>>> print("\n".join("{}\t{}".format(k, v) for k, v in dictionary.items()))
1   2
4   5
foo bar
>>>

Edit 2: Here's a sorted version.

"\n".join("{}\t{}".format(k, v) for k, v in sorted(dictionary.items(), key=lambda t: str(t[0])))

edited Jan 13 '21 at 04:21

answered Jun 22 '17 at 03:22

sudo

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Can it be sorted based on the values? – alper Jan 01 '21 at 15:00
1

@alper Yes, with something like `"\n".join("{}\t{}".format(k, v) for k, v in sorted(dictionary.items(), key=lambda t: str(t[0])))` – sudo Jan 13 '21 at 04:21

score 7 · Answer 4 · edited May 10 '20 at 19:38

7

I would suggest to use beeprint instead of pprint.

Examples:

pprint

{'entities': {'hashtags': [],
              'urls': [{'display_url': 'github.com/panyanyany/beeprint',
                        'indices': [107, 126],
                        'url': 'https://github.com/panyanyany/beeprint'}],
              'user_mentions': []}}

beeprint

{
  'entities': {
    'hashtags': [],
    'urls': [
      {
        'display_url': 'github.com/panyanyany/beeprint',
        'indices': [107, 126],
        'url': 'https://github.com/panyanyany/beeprint'}],
      },
    ],
    'user_mentions': [],
  },
}

edited May 10 '20 at 19:38

Simon

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answered Nov 03 '19 at 09:20

dtar

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but how do you use it? I tried `from beeprint import pp` just like in the doc, then tried calling pp(dictionary_name) but it doesn't work. – fayssal el ansari Mar 12 '22 at 09:24

Shital Shah · Answer 5 · 2019-12-15T09:07:41.700

3

Yaml is typically much more readable, especially if you have complicated nested objects, hierarchies, nested dictionaries etc:

First make sure you have pyyaml module:

pip install pyyaml

Then,

import yaml
print(yaml.dump(my_dict))

edited Dec 15 '19 at 09:07

answered Dec 15 '19 at 09:00

Shital Shah

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`sudo apt install python-yaml` for Ubuntu 16.04 users. There is a small flaw when a dictionary value string contains `,` but that is minor output flaw. Otherwise a great tool. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Sep 27 '20 at 22:49

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 15 '23 at 05:55

2

Since Python 3.6 you can use f-strings to write @sudo's one-liner even more compact

print("\n".join(f"{k}\t{v}" for k, v in dictionary.items()))

answered Apr 15 '23 at 05:55

Robert

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score 0 · Answer 7 · edited Jul 03 '19 at 10:15

0

Agree, "nicely" is very subjective. See if this helps, which I have been using to debug dict

for i in inventory_things.keys():
    logger.info('Key_Name:"{kn}", Key_Value:"{kv}"'.format(kn=i, kv=inventory_things[i]))

edited Jul 03 '19 at 10:15

adiga

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answered Jun 22 '17 at 03:33

Balaji Narayanaswamy

1
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score 0 · Answer 8 · edited Jul 03 '19 at 10:15

0

I wrote this function to print simple dictionaries:

def dictToString(dict):
  return str(dict).replace(', ','\r\n').replace("u'","").replace("'","")[1:-1]

edited Jul 03 '19 at 10:15

adiga

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answered Jul 03 '19 at 10:10

Nautilus

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In some cases, such as `{"abc, abc": 123, "def": 456}`, will work incorrectly. – dimmoborgir Nov 21 '19 at 12:05

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Dec 31 '21 at 09:07

0

I did create function (in Python 3):

def print_dict(dict):
    print(

    str(dict)
    .replace(', ', '\n')
    .replace(': ', ':\t')
    .replace('{', '')
    .replace('}', '')

    )

answered Dec 31 '21 at 09:07

Sebastian Chetroni

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score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Apr 25 '22 at 15:29

Maybe it doesn't fit all the needs but I just tried this and it got a nice formatted output So just convert the dictionary to Dataframe and that's pretty much all

pd.DataFrame(your_dic.items())

You can also define columns to assist even more the readability

pd.DataFrame(your_dic.items(),columns={'Value','key'})

So just give a try :

print(pd.DataFrame(your_dic.items(),columns={'Value','key'}))

How to print out a dictionary nicely in Python?

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