Convert nested Python dict to object?

Question

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:

Answer 1

Here is another way to implement SilentGhost's original suggestion:

def dict2obj(d):
  if isinstance(d, dict):
    n = {}
    for item in d:
      if isinstance(d[item], dict):
        n[item] = dict2obj(d[item])
      elif isinstance(d[item], (list, tuple)):
        n[item] = [dict2obj(elem) for elem in d[item]]
      else:
        n[item] = d[item]
    return type('obj_from_dict', (object,), n)
  else:
    return d

Answer 2

I know there's already a lot of answers here already and I'm late to the party but this method will recursively and 'in place' convert a dictionary to an object-like structure... Works in 3.x.x

def dictToObject(d):
    for k,v in d.items():
        if isinstance(v, dict):
            d[k] = dictToObject(v)
    return namedtuple('object', d.keys())(*d.values())

# Dictionary created from JSON file
d = {
    'primaryKey': 'id', 
    'metadata': 
        {
            'rows': 0, 
            'lastID': 0
        }, 
    'columns': 
        {
            'col2': {
                'dataType': 'string', 
                'name': 'addressLine1'
            }, 
            'col1': {
                'datatype': 'string', 
                'name': 'postcode'
            }, 
            'col3': {
                'dataType': 'string', 
                'name': 'addressLine2'
            }, 
            'col0': {
                'datatype': 'integer', 
                'name': 'id'
            }, 
            'col4': {
                'dataType': 'string', 
                'name': 'contactNumber'
            }
        }, 
        'secondaryKeys': {}
}

d1 = dictToObject(d)
d1.columns.col1 # == object(datatype='string', name='postcode')
d1.metadata.rows # == 0

Answer 3

Old Q&A, but I get something more to talk. Seems no one talk about recursive dict. This is my code:

#!/usr/bin/env python

class Object( dict ):
    def __init__( self, data = None ):
        super( Object, self ).__init__()
        if data:
            self.__update( data, {} )

    def __update( self, data, did ):
        dataid = id(data)
        did[ dataid ] = self

        for k in data:
            dkid = id(data[k])
            if did.has_key(dkid):
                self[k] = did[dkid]
            elif isinstance( data[k], Object ):
                self[k] = data[k]
            elif isinstance( data[k], dict ):
                obj = Object()
                obj.__update( data[k], did )
                self[k] = obj
                obj = None
            else:
                self[k] = data[k]

    def __getattr__( self, key ):
        return self.get( key, None )

    def __setattr__( self, key, value ):
        if isinstance(value,dict):
            self[key] = Object( value )
        else:
            self[key] = value

    def update( self, *args ):
        for obj in args:
            for k in obj:
                if isinstance(obj[k],dict):
                    self[k] = Object( obj[k] )
                else:
                    self[k] = obj[k]
        return self

    def merge( self, *args ):
        for obj in args:
            for k in obj:
                if self.has_key(k):
                    if isinstance(self[k],list) and isinstance(obj[k],list):
                        self[k] += obj[k]
                    elif isinstance(self[k],list):
                        self[k].append( obj[k] )
                    elif isinstance(obj[k],list):
                        self[k] = [self[k]] + obj[k]
                    elif isinstance(self[k],Object) and isinstance(obj[k],Object):
                        self[k].merge( obj[k] )
                    elif isinstance(self[k],Object) and isinstance(obj[k],dict):
                        self[k].merge( obj[k] )
                    else:
                        self[k] = [ self[k], obj[k] ]
                else:
                    if isinstance(obj[k],dict):
                        self[k] = Object( obj[k] )
                    else:
                        self[k] = obj[k]
        return self

def test01():
    class UObject( Object ):
        pass
    obj = Object({1:2})
    d = {}
    d.update({
        "a": 1,
        "b": {
            "c": 2,
            "d": [ 3, 4, 5 ],
            "e": [ [6,7], (8,9) ],
            "self": d,
        },
        1: 10,
        "1": 11,
        "obj": obj,
    })
    x = UObject(d)


    assert x.a == x["a"] == 1
    assert x.b.c == x["b"]["c"] == 2
    assert x.b.d[0] == 3
    assert x.b.d[1] == 4
    assert x.b.e[0][0] == 6
    assert x.b.e[1][0] == 8
    assert x[1] == 10
    assert x["1"] == 11
    assert x[1] != x["1"]
    assert id(x) == id(x.b.self.b.self) == id(x.b.self)
    assert x.b.self.a == x.b.self.b.self.a == 1

    x.x = 12
    assert x.x == x["x"] == 12
    x.y = {"a":13,"b":[14,15]}
    assert x.y.a == 13
    assert x.y.b[0] == 14

def test02():
    x = Object({
        "a": {
            "b": 1,
            "c": [ 2, 3 ]
        },
        1: 6,
        2: [ 8, 9 ],
        3: 11,
    })
    y = Object({
        "a": {
            "b": 4,
            "c": [ 5 ]
        },
        1: 7,
        2: 10,
        3: [ 12 , 13 ],
    })
    z = {
        3: 14,
        2: 15,
        "a": {
            "b": 16,
            "c": 17,
        }
    }
    x.merge( y, z )
    assert 2 in x.a.c
    assert 3 in x.a.c
    assert 5 in x.a.c
    assert 1 in x.a.b
    assert 4 in x.a.b
    assert 8 in x[2]
    assert 9 in x[2]
    assert 10 in x[2]
    assert 11 in x[3]
    assert 12 in x[3]
    assert 13 in x[3]
    assert 14 in x[3]
    assert 15 in x[2]
    assert 16 in x.a.b
    assert 17 in x.a.c

if __name__ == '__main__':
    test01()
    test02()

Answer 4

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

Answer 5

This also works well too

class DObj(object):
    pass

dobj = Dobj()
dobj.__dict__ = {'a': 'aaa', 'b': 'bbb'}

print dobj.a
>>> aaa
print dobj.b
>>> bbb

Answer 6

Typically you want to mirror dict hierarchy into your object but not list or tuples which are typically at lowest level. So this is how I did this:

class defDictToObject(object):

    def __init__(self, myDict):
        for key, value in myDict.items():
            if type(value) == dict:
                setattr(self, key, defDictToObject(value))
            else:
                setattr(self, key, value)

So we do:

myDict = { 'a': 1,
           'b': { 
              'b1': {'x': 1,
                    'y': 2} },
           'c': ['hi', 'bar'] 
         }

and get:

x.b.b1.x 1

x.c ['hi', 'bar']