Error converting dict to json in python

Question

my dict output looks like this

What library to use to convert it to json in python?

edit 1: my code now looks like

import boto3
import json
rds_client = boto3.client('rds', 'ap-southeast-1')
db_instance_info = rds_client.describe_db_instances()
with open('result.json', 'w') as db:
    json.dump(db_instance_info, db)

and it shows this error

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "list.py", line 14, in <module>
    json.dump(db_instance_info, db)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/json/__init__.py", line 189, in dump
    for chunk in iterable:
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/json/encoder.py", line 434, in _iterencode
    for chunk in _iterencode_dict(o, _current_indent_level):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/json/encoder.py", line 408, in _iterencode_dict
    for chunk in chunks:
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/json/encoder.py", line 332, in _iterencode_list
    for chunk in chunks:
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/json/encoder.py", line 408, in _iterencode_dict
    for chunk in chunks:
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/json/encoder.py", line 442, in _iterencode
    o = _default(o)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/json/encoder.py", line 184, in default
    raise TypeError(repr(o) + " is not JSON serializable")
TypeError: datetime.datetime(2017, 6, 6, 9, 7, 33, 472000, tzinfo=tzutc()) is not JSON serializable

Please stop using images for text. We cannot copy and paste from an image to try to reproduce the problem. And the error message must be an edit to the question, not a link to another image in a comment! — Serge Ballesta, Aug 09 '18 at 10:09
The cause (and the way to fix) is explicit in the error message. But I won't answer until you edit the question with the text of the error. — Serge Ballesta, Aug 09 '18 at 10:15
@SergeBallesta sorry as the error is too big that's why I opted for posting images instead of text. It's edited now. — Proteeti Prova, Aug 09 '18 at 10:46

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 09 '18 at 11:28

The error is explicit:

TypeError: datetime.datetime(2017, 6, 6, 9, 7, 33, 472000, tzinfo=tzutc()) is not JSON serializable

By default the json module cannot serialize any of the types from the datetime module, and your dictionary contains ..., u'InstanceCreateTime': datetime.datetime(2017, 6, 6, 9, 7, 33, 472000, tzinfo=tzutc()), and other datetimes later.

The idiomatic way is to define a custom encoder to process the relevant objects. It is enough to override the default method, process the specific objects and pass everything else to the base class method:

class DateEncoder(json.JSONEncoder):
"""This encoder only use the default string convertion for the types
date, time and datetime of the datetime module"""
    def default(self, o):
        if (isinstance(o, datetime.date)
            or isinstance(o, datetime.datetime)
            or isinstance(o, datetime.time)):
            return str(o)                # specialize here the format...
        return json.JSONEncoder.default(self, o)

You can then use it to build your json:

with open('result.json', 'w') as db:
    json.dump(db_instance_info, db, cls=DateEncoder)

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 09 '18 at 09:37

0

Just use the json module:

import json
jsonarray = json.dumps(the_dict, ensure_ascii=False)

The ensure_ascii bit is there to avoid any encoding/decoding errors.

answered Aug 09 '18 at 09:37

Adi219

4,712
2
20
43

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 09 '18 at 09:39

0

You can use the json library in python

import json
x = {'s': True}
r = json.dumps(x)

This will give a json string

answered Aug 09 '18 at 09:39

rennerj2

76
8

1

see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12122007/python-json-encoder-to-support-datetime – rennerj2 Aug 09 '18 at 09:53

Error converting dict to json in python

3 Answers3