Convert nested Python dict to object?
I'm searching for an elegant way to get data using attribute access on a dict with some nested dicts and lists (i.e. javascript-style object syntax).
For example:
>>> d = {'a': 1, 'b': {'c': 2}, 'd': ["hi", {'foo': "bar"}]}
Should be accessible in this way:
>>> x = dict2obj(d)
>>> x.a
1
>>> x.b.c
2
>>> x.d[1].foo
bar
I think, this is not possible without recursion, but what would be a nice way to get an object style for dicts?
Update: In Python 2.6 and onwards, consider whether the namedtuple
data structure suits your needs:
>>> from collections import namedtuple
>>> MyStruct = namedtuple('MyStruct', 'a b d')
>>> s = MyStruct(a=1, b={'c': 2}, d=['hi'])
>>> s
MyStruct(a=1, b={'c': 2}, d=['hi'])
>>> s.a
1
>>> s.b
{'c': 2}
>>> s.c
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
AttributeError: 'MyStruct' object has no attribute 'c'
>>> s.d
['hi']
The alternative (original answer contents) is:
class Struct:
def __init__(self, **entries):
self.__dict__.update(entries)
Then, you can use:
>>> args = {'a': 1, 'b': 2}
>>> s = Struct(**args)
>>> s
<__main__.Struct instance at 0x01D6A738>
>>> s.a
1
>>> s.b
2
Surprisingly no one has mentioned Bunch. This library is exclusively meant to provide attribute style access to dict objects and does exactly what the OP wants. A demonstration:
>>> from bunch import bunchify
>>> d = {'a': 1, 'b': {'c': 2}, 'd': ["hi", {'foo': "bar"}]}
>>> x = bunchify(d)
>>> x.a
1
>>> x.b.c
2
>>> x.d[1].foo
'bar'
A Python 3 library is available at https://github.com/Infinidat/munch - Credit goes to codyzu
>>> from munch import DefaultMunch
>>> d = {'a': 1, 'b': {'c': 2}, 'd': ["hi", {'foo': "bar"}]}
>>> obj = DefaultMunch.fromDict(d)
>>> obj.b.c
2
>>> obj.a
1
>>> obj.d[1].foo
'bar'
class obj(object):
def __init__(self, d):
for a, b in d.items():
if isinstance(b, (list, tuple)):
setattr(self, a, [obj(x) if isinstance(x, dict) else x for x in b])
else:
setattr(self, a, obj(b) if isinstance(b, dict) else b)
>>> d = {'a': 1, 'b': {'c': 2}, 'd': ["hi", {'foo': "bar"}]}
>>> x = obj(d)
>>> x.b.c
2
>>> x.d[1].foo
'bar'
x = type('new_dict', (object,), d)
then add recursion to this and you're done.
edit this is how I'd implement it:
>>> d
{'a': 1, 'b': {'c': 2}, 'd': ['hi', {'foo': 'bar'}]}
>>> def obj_dic(d):
top = type('new', (object,), d)
seqs = tuple, list, set, frozenset
for i, j in d.items():
if isinstance(j, dict):
setattr(top, i, obj_dic(j))
elif isinstance(j, seqs):
setattr(top, i,
type(j)(obj_dic(sj) if isinstance(sj, dict) else sj for sj in j))
else:
setattr(top, i, j)
return top
>>> x = obj_dic(d)
>>> x.a
1
>>> x.b.c
2
>>> x.d[1].foo
'bar'