Iterating through JSON file in Python

Question

I am trying to read a JSON file and iterate through it, for instance I am trying to print the children, or the firstname, or the hobbies etc...

The JSON file looks like this:

{
    "firstName": "Jane",
    "lastName": "Doe",
    "hobbies": ["running", "sky diving", "singing"],
    "age": 35,
    "children": [
        {
            "firstName": "Alice",
            "age": 6
        },
        {
            "firstName": "Bob",
            "age": 8
        }
    ]
},
{
    "firstName": "Mike",
    "lastName": "Smith",
    "hobbies": ["bowling", "photography", "biking"],
    "age":40,
    "children": [
        {
            "firstName": "Steve",
            "age": 10
        },
        {
            "firstName": "Sara",
            "age": 18
        }
    ]
}

I'm loading the json file using the following code:

import json


with open('test.json') as f:
    data = json.load(f)

and I can print parts of the first record fine like this:

print(data['children'])
print(data['hobbies'])

[{'firstName': 'Alice', 'age': 6}, {'firstName': 'Bob', 'age': 8}]
['running', 'sky diving', 'singing']

I'd like to iterate through the records though so I can print pieces of the 2nd entry as well (or 3rd, or 20th if applicable)

When I try this however:

for key, value in data.items():
    print(key, value)

It still just returns the first entry:

firstName Jane
lastName Doe
hobbies ['running', 'sky diving', 'singing']
age 35
children [{'firstName': 'Alice', 'age': 6}, {'firstName': 'Bob', 'age': 8}]

Any ideas?

You'd have to do the same for the inner nest of dictionaries. — pissall
– pissall, Commented Aug 26, 2018 at 3:47
Each element in the list is a dictionary, so you have to loop through the loop and apply the same you did to every element — bigbounty
– bigbounty, Commented Aug 26, 2018 at 3:49
That file should not have loaded -- it's clearly intended to be a list of dictionaries, but json lists must be enclosed in [ ]. Somehow, you only got the Jane Doe record. — John Gordon
– John Gordon, Commented Aug 26, 2018 at 3:52

Arghya Saha · Accepted Answer · 2018-08-26 03:53:32Z

1

The Problem you are facing is you are having the data as a single json.

You need to make it as an array. Something like this.

[{  // notice additional [
    "firstName": "Jane",
    "lastName": "Doe",
    "hobbies": ["running", "sky diving", "singing"],
    "age": 35,
    "children": [
        {
            "firstName": "Alice",
            "age": 6
        },
        {
            "firstName": "Bob",
            "age": 8
        }
    ]
},
{
    "firstName": "Mike",
    "lastName": "Smith",
    "hobbies": ["bowling", "photography", "biking"],
    "age":40,
    "children": [
        {
            "firstName": "Steve",
            "age": 10
        },
        {
            "firstName": "Sara",
            "age": 18
        }
    ]
}]  // notice additional ]

Then you need to loop it over the list and then as per what you have written. Something like this

import json

with open('abc.json') as f:
    data = json.load(f)

for element in data:
    for key, value in element.items():
        print(key, value)

answered Aug 26, 2018 at 3:53

Arghya Saha

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2 Comments

JD2775 Over a year ago

thanks. That throws a 'str has no attribute items' error but I get the gist I think. Looks like an issue with the json file itself, and a need for a second loop...

Arghya Saha Over a year ago

Glad I could help. :)

Frank AK · Accepted Answer · 2018-08-26 04:16:34Z

1

To covert your file be more std JSON, and open it add [ and ], to make it as json list. and whole code paste below:

import json

f = open("test_json.txt", "r")
contents = f.readlines()
f.close()


contents.insert(0, "[")

f = open("test_json.txt", "w")
contents = "".join(contents)
f.write(contents)
f.write("]")
f.close()


with open("test_json.txt", "r") as fd:
    d = json.load(fd)
    for i in d:
        print(i)

answered Aug 26, 2018 at 4:16

Frank AK

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