I can not decode generated string to Python dict

Question

I have a String, but I can't decode it to a dict using ast.literal_eval

FOUND THE ERROR, ENCODE THE STRING WRONG!

The string it should convert: (Link to the google Dock) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jGjIPEzB9j48i1LDKQ2__Nhg5OE4R_jeaGCFq_DFr2M/edit?usp=sharing

Fallback:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37-32\lib\tkinter\__init__.py", line 1705, in __call__
    return self.func(*args)
  File "C:/Users/user/Documents/Python/Documents/pickle_viewer/PickleViewer.py", line 444, in selectItem
    item_dict = ast.literal_eval(itemInfo["tags"][2])
  File "C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37-32\lib\ast.py", line 46, in literal_eval
    node_or_string = parse(node_or_string, mode='eval')
  File "C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37-32\lib\ast.py", line 35, in parse
    return compile(source, filename, mode, PyCF_ONLY_AST)
  File "<unknown>", line 1

Code to convert:

item_dict = ast.literal_eval(itemInfo["tags"][2])

This generates the string:

    def json_tree(tree, parent, dictionary):
                tmp_key = tree.insert(parent, 'end', uid, text=key + ' [...]', value="[...]", tag=(uid, True, dictionary[key]))

I think it's because of all the backslashes but I do not know where they're coming from

Link to reproduced code on google docs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CDSNqi3FqgRaVUv-N5eoV5R3xxS_atbSybaYXmC5cNE/edit?usp=sharing

Can someone help me? Thanks.

Possible duplicate of [Convert a python dict to a string and back](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4547274/convert-a-python-dict-to-a-string-and-back) — Karan Sethi, Oct 04 '19 at 12:38
Hello Matix, welcome! you should try and create a Minimal reproducible example so that we can help you, see: https://stackoverflow.com/help/minimal-reproducible-example — Sam F, Oct 04 '19 at 12:44
Link to google docs file with reproduced code in main question. — Matix, Oct 04 '19 at 13:35

Riverman · Answer 1 · 2019-10-04T13:06:20.653

2

Updated answer:

You need to clean up the source data, because its formatting is invalid, then parse it as a json string:

Python 3.6.0 (v3.6.0:41df79263a11, Dec 23 2016, 08:06:12) [MSC v.1900 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32
import json
source = <your_very_long_input_loaded_as_raw_string_comes_here>
source = source.replace('\\', '')
source = source.replace('\'', '"')
source = source.replace('} {"comments"', '}, {"comments"')
source = "[" + source + "]"
d = json.loads(source)

edited Oct 04 '19 at 13:06

answered Oct 04 '19 at 12:31

Riverman

503
6
17

Yeah, your source input (the one in the Google Docs document) is wrong in many ways. Keys should be in double-quotes `"` instead of `'`. Your source information is an array of objects, not one large object, but it's not enclosed in square-brackets `[]` and are not divided by commas `,`. – Riverman Oct 04 '19 at 12:59
1

I have updated my original answer with instructions to clean up your incoming data. You will be able to parse it now. – Riverman Oct 04 '19 at 13:06
Thanks for that, the problem is, that it should clean up every type and content of a raw string because the string is dynamic – Matix Oct 04 '19 at 13:08
1

This does answer the question asked. – Joshua Nixon Oct 04 '19 at 13:30
Yeah, but it's not what I am looking for. – Matix Oct 04 '19 at 13:37

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 04 '19 at 15:07

1

Sorry, that was all my fault, I decoded the start string incorrectly. Now it is properly decoded and this saves me all the rest and I can easily use ast.literal_eval(STRING) again.

Nevertheless, many thanks for your answers.

answered Oct 04 '19 at 15:07

Matix

99
2
9

I can not decode generated string to Python dict

2 Answers2