296

I am trying to pass in a JSON file and convert the data into a dictionary.

So far, this is what I have done:

import json
json1_file = open('json1')
json1_str = json1_file.read()
json1_data = json.loads(json1_str)

I'm expecting json1_data to be a dict type but it actually comes out as a list type when I check it with type(json1_data).

What am I missing? I need this to be a dictionary so I can access one of the keys.

5
  • 5
    Can you show us an example of your JSON file?
    – Mac
    Commented Oct 20, 2013 at 21:58
  • I am trying to access the 'datapoints' key graphite.sdsc.edu:8443/render/…
    – lawchit
    Commented Oct 20, 2013 at 22:03
  • 5
    Your base item is a list. try json1_data[0]['datapoints'].
    – g.d.d.c
    Commented Oct 20, 2013 at 22:05
  • at a guess I would say your json is a list not a dictionary Commented Oct 20, 2013 at 22:05
  • 2
    From what our instructor showed us, when he did type(json1_data) his came up as a 'dict' type. Thank you for the help everyone!
    – lawchit
    Commented Oct 20, 2013 at 22:11

6 Answers 6

360

Your JSON is an array with a single object inside, so when you read it in you get a list with a dictionary inside. You can access your dictionary by accessing item 0 in the list, as shown below:

json1_data = json.loads(json1_str)[0]

Now you can access the data stored in datapoints just as you were expecting:

datapoints = json1_data['datapoints']

I have one more question if anyone can bite: I am trying to take the average of the first elements in these datapoints(i.e. datapoints[0][0]). Just to list them, I tried doing datapoints[0:5][0] but all I get is the first datapoint with both elements as opposed to wanting to get the first 5 datapoints containing only the first element. Is there a way to do this?

datapoints[0:5][0] doesn't do what you're expecting. datapoints[0:5] returns a new list slice containing just the first 5 elements, and then adding [0] on the end of it will take just the first element from that resulting list slice. What you need to use to get the result you want is a list comprehension:

[p[0] for p in datapoints[0:5]]

Here's a simple way to calculate the mean:

sum(p[0] for p in datapoints[0:5])/5. # Result is 35.8

If you're willing to install NumPy, then it's even easier:

import numpy
json1_file = open('json1')
json1_str = json1_file.read()
json1_data = json.loads(json1_str)[0]
datapoints = numpy.array(json1_data['datapoints'])
avg = datapoints[0:5,0].mean()
# avg is now 35.8

Using the , operator with the slicing syntax for NumPy's arrays has the behavior you were originally expecting with the list slices.

4
  • Thank you for this! I have one more question if anyone can bite: I am trying to take the average of the first elements in these datapoints(i.e. datapoints[0][0]). Just to list them, I tried doing datapoints[0:5][0] but all I get is the first datapoint with both elements as opposed to wanting to get the first 5 datapoints containing only the first element. Is there a way to do this?
    – lawchit
    Commented Oct 20, 2013 at 22:40
  • 2
    @lawchit - See my updated answer. If you're going to be doing math with this data I'd highly recommend using NumPy.
    – DaoWen
    Commented Oct 21, 2013 at 0:35
  • This one deserves another 100 points :-) I have been looking for this solution for 1 full day
    – Mamun
    Commented Feb 4, 2020 at 19:22
  • I wasted hours in figuring out why my read json data is so much mess. This answer saved me. Thanks for sharing.
    – Raymond
    Commented Feb 1, 2022 at 17:52
29

Here is a simple snippet that read's in a json text file from a dictionary. Note that your json file must follow the json standard, so it has to have " double quotes rather then ' single quotes.

Your JSON dump.txt File:

{"test":"1", "test2":123}

Python Script:

import json
with open('/your/path/to/a/dict/dump.txt') as handle:
    dictdump = json.loads(handle.read())
18

You can use the following:

import json

 with open('<yourFile>.json', 'r') as JSON:
       json_dict = json.load(JSON)

 # Now you can use it like dictionary
 # For example:

 print(json_dict["username"])
3

The best way to Load JSON Data into Dictionary is You can user the inbuilt json loader.

Below is the sample snippet that can be used.

import json
f = open("data.json")
data = json.load(f))
f.close()
type(data)
print(data[<keyFromTheJsonFile>])
3
  • does the 'open' command automatically close the json file in this case? I've noticed you are not using a context manager.
    – Moondra
    Commented May 3, 2018 at 18:36
  • 1
    @Moondra U have to use the close() to close the files Commented May 8, 2018 at 10:47
  • 2
    @Moondra you could also use the with() operator instead of having to open and close the file From the site: with open("welcome.txt") as file: See: pythonforbeginners.com/files/with-statement-in-python Commented Sep 22, 2018 at 13:30
1

I am working with a Python code for a REST API, so this is for those who are working on similar projects.

I extract data from an URL using a POST request and the raw output is JSON. For some reason the output is already a dictionary, not a list, and I'm able to refer to the nested dictionary keys right away, like this:

datapoint_1 = json1_data['datapoints']['datapoint_1']

where datapoint_1 is inside the datapoints dictionary.

-2

pass the data using javascript ajax from get methods

    **//javascript function    
    function addnewcustomer(){ 
    //This function run when button click
    //get the value from input box using getElementById
            var new_cust_name = document.getElementById("new_customer").value;
            var new_cust_cont = document.getElementById("new_contact_number").value;
            var new_cust_email = document.getElementById("new_email").value;
            var new_cust_gender = document.getElementById("new_gender").value;
            var new_cust_cityname = document.getElementById("new_cityname").value;
            var new_cust_pincode = document.getElementById("new_pincode").value;
            var new_cust_state = document.getElementById("new_state").value;
            var new_cust_contry = document.getElementById("new_contry").value;
    //create json or if we know python that is call dictionary.        
    var data = {"cust_name":new_cust_name, "cust_cont":new_cust_cont, "cust_email":new_cust_email, "cust_gender":new_cust_gender, "cust_cityname":new_cust_cityname, "cust_pincode":new_cust_pincode, "cust_state":new_cust_state, "cust_contry":new_cust_contry};
    //apply stringfy method on json
            data = JSON.stringify(data);
    //insert data into database using javascript ajax
            var send_data = new XMLHttpRequest();
            send_data.open("GET", "http://localhost:8000/invoice_system/addnewcustomer/?customerinfo="+data,true);
            send_data.send();

            send_data.onreadystatechange = function(){
              if(send_data.readyState==4 && send_data.status==200){
                alert(send_data.responseText);
              }
            }
          }

django views

    def addNewCustomer(request):
    #if method is get then condition is true and controller check the further line
        if request.method == "GET":
    #this line catch the json from the javascript ajax.
            cust_info = request.GET.get("customerinfo")
    #fill the value in variable which is coming from ajax.
    #it is a json so first we will get the value from using json.loads method.
    #cust_name is a key which is pass by javascript json. 
    #as we know json is a key value pair. the cust_name is a key which pass by javascript json
            cust_name = json.loads(cust_info)['cust_name']
            cust_cont = json.loads(cust_info)['cust_cont']
            cust_email = json.loads(cust_info)['cust_email']
            cust_gender = json.loads(cust_info)['cust_gender']
            cust_cityname = json.loads(cust_info)['cust_cityname']
            cust_pincode = json.loads(cust_info)['cust_pincode']
            cust_state = json.loads(cust_info)['cust_state']
            cust_contry = json.loads(cust_info)['cust_contry']
    #it print the value of cust_name variable on server
            print(cust_name)
            print(cust_cont)
            print(cust_email)
            print(cust_gender)
            print(cust_cityname)
            print(cust_pincode)
            print(cust_state)
            print(cust_contry)
            return HttpResponse("Yes I am reach here.")**
1
  • 2
    is this an answer to the question? Commented May 10, 2019 at 12:33

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