Trouble on parsing JSON data within a Python script

Question

I wrote my first Python script (note: I am new to Python) and I am trying to parse some JSON string in order to retrieve a value related to a particular JSON key but I am in trouble.

In my script.py file I have the following:

data = '{ "key1": "152", "key2": "da8fb07ace5512", "key3": "cfed379e13aebc" }'
data_decoded = json.load(data)
data["key1"]

When I run the above script with the command python script.py then I get:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/script.py", line 2, in <module>
    data_decoded = json.load(data)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/json/__init__.py", line 274, in load
    return loads(fp.read(),
AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'read'

How can I solve the problem? I expect that the returned value is 152.

UPDATE (after commenting)

If I use loads() then I get:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/script.py", line 3, in <module>
    data["key1"]
TypeError: string indices must be integers, not str

I don't care if it is a string or a integer. I would like just to retrieve the value.

Try using json.loads() instead of json.load() - parses a string instead of a file stream. — Dietrich
– Dietrich, Commented Apr 12, 2014 at 12:06
"I don't care if it is a string or a integer." - it's not a value that is a string or integer. You see the "indices" word in the error message? You are supposed to read and understand error messages, that's why they are here. They help you. — The Paramagnetic Croissant
– The Paramagnetic Croissant, Commented Apr 12, 2014 at 12:20

The Paramagnetic Croissant · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-12 12:06:42Z

1

For strings, you have to use json.loads(), not json.load(), because load is for files and file-like objects.

answered Apr 12, 2014 at 12:06

The Paramagnetic Croissant

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3 Comments

The Paramagnetic Croissant Over a year ago

@Backo Now read your code carefully. What are you indexing? What should you be indexing instead?

Backo Over a year ago

I don't understand your question. What do you mean exactly?

The Paramagnetic Croissant Over a year ago

@Backo I mean you should read your code and think about what it is doing. data["key1"] doesn't make sense. data_decoded["key1"] does. Please show a bit of effort debugging your own code, especially since this is a trivial error.

Sam Mikes · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-12 12:19:50Z

0

json.load expects a ~~filename~~ file-like object. You want to use json.loads which loads from a string.

See also: https://docs.python.org/2/library/json.html

Edit: Try data_decoded['152']. You're still trying to access data, the JSON string

edited Apr 12, 2014 at 12:19

answered Apr 12, 2014 at 12:07

Sam Mikes

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1 Comment

The Paramagnetic Croissant Over a year ago

json.load does not expect a filename. It takes a file object.

user3614014 · Accepted Answer · 2014-06-30 15:26:22Z

0

You are already declaring your dictionary object, just take it out of quotation marks:

data = { "key1": "152", "key2": "da8fb07ace5512", "key3": "cfed379e13aebc" }

Because you already have a dictionary there is no need to do a json function, just simply reference the data:

data['key1']

However, if I am misunderstanding your question and you are passing in the data as a json, python will recognize it as a string and you need to use a json.loads function on the data:

Note that after you issue the data_decoded = json.loads(data), your dictionary object is no longer data, it is actually now data_decoded. Did you try:

data_decoded['key1']

???

Good luck!

answered Jun 30, 2014 at 15:26

user3614014

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