Add information to a Json file in Python using pandas

Question

I'm new to Json and Python and have been trying to update a Json file, I'm struggling with the process to read, update and save the file with the old and new information. I try it using only Json Strings but had a lot of problems with the format and I prefer to read the Json to a Pandas Dataframe, update and then save it. I am able to save and update the dataframe, but have problems reading the file to the Dataframe.

Everything is working fine except the read_json function: df = df.read_json("registryDB.json")

I am getting this error: AttributeError: 'DataFrame' object has no attribute 'read_json'

This is the function code:

df = df.read_json("registryDB.json")

 df = df.append({
'Name': 'John', 
'User': 'John123', 
'Last Name': 'Doe', 
'Age': 27, 
'Gender': 'm', 
'Location': 'US', 
'Date': timestamp
}, ignore_index=True)

file = df.to_json(orient='table')

with open("registryDB.json", "w") as dataFile:
   json.dump(file, dataFile)

I don't know if this is the best or correct way of doing this, so if you know any other, any advise would be awesome.

Thank you!

Welcome to posting on SO. :) Please always aim to include all the imports that you are using to make your code snippet minimal functional. Seems like you're already using Python's json module for writing back to the file. I'd suggest to use it also for editing the data and skip using pandas entirely. See my answer below for more info and also for a quick note on where your error comes from. — martin-martin
– martin-martin, Commented Dec 29, 2019 at 15:33

martin-martin · Accepted Answer · 2019-12-29 15:35:20Z

1

Solving the `AttributeError`

The .read_json function is a function in pandas and not a method on a pandas.DataFrame object. Therefore you'll need to call it like so:

import pandas as pd


df = pd.read_json("registryDB.json")

You are creating the df by calling the pandas read_json() function.

Easier way to work with JSON

In Python, there's an easier way to interact with JSON: the json module that is part of Python's standard library.

You can quickly read in a JSON file to a Python dictionary. Then you can work with it just like any Python dictionary. When you're ready to save it back to a JSON file, it's another straightforward call:

import json


with open("registryDB.json", "r") as fin:
    data = json.load(fin)

# do your edits on the data dict

with open("new_file.json", "w") as fout:
    json.dump(data, fout)

edited Dec 29, 2019 at 15:35

answered Dec 29, 2019 at 15:23

martin-martin

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1 Comment

David Z Over a year ago

Thank you! I already try the df = pd.read_json("registryDB.json") line and still have issues. I also try:

dict[ticket] = [     user,      appName,      path,      hostname,      state,      timestamp]  with open("registryDB.json", "r") as fin:     data = json.load(fin)          dict.update(data)      with open("registryDB.json", "w") as fout:     json.dump(dict, fout)

Do you know how to fix the ValueError: dictionary update sequence element #0 has length 1; 2 is required? Thank you so much for the help!

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