Finding a key recursively in a dictionary
Question:
I’m trying to write a very simple function to recursively search through a possibly nested (in the most extreme cases ten levels deep) Python dictionary and return the first value it finds from the given key.
I cannot understand why my code doesn’t work for nested dictionaries.
def _finditem(obj, key):
if key in obj: return obj[key]
for k, v in obj.items():
if isinstance(v,dict):
_finditem(v, key)
print _finditem({"B":{"A":2}},"A")
It returns None.
It does work, however, for _finditem({"B":1,"A":2},"A"), returning 2.
I’m sure it’s a simple mistake but I cannot find it. I feel like there already might be something for this in the standard library or collections, but I can’t find that either.
If you are looking for a general explanation of what is wrong with code like this, the canonical is Why does my recursive function return None?. The answers here are mostly specific to the task of searching in a nested dictionary.
Answers:
when you recurse, you need to return the result of _finditem
def _finditem(obj, key):
if key in obj: return obj[key]
for k, v in obj.items():
if isinstance(v,dict):
return _finditem(v, key) #added return statement
To fix the actual algorithm, you need to realize that _finditem returns None if it didn’t find anything, so you need to check that explicitly to prevent an early return:
def _finditem(obj, key):
if key in obj: return obj[key]
for k, v in obj.items():
if isinstance(v,dict):
item = _finditem(v, key)
if item is not None:
return item
Of course, that will fail if you have None values in any of your dictionaries. In that case, you could set up a sentinel object() for this function and return that in the case that you don’t find anything — Then you can check against the sentinel to know if you found something or not.
Here’s a function that searches a dictionary that contains both nested dictionaries and lists. It creates a list of the values of the results.
def get_recursively(search_dict, field):
"""
Takes a dict with nested lists and dicts,
and searches all dicts for a key of the field
provided.
"""
fields_found = []
for key, value in search_dict.iteritems():
if key == field:
fields_found.append(value)
elif isinstance(value, dict):
results = get_recursively(value, field)
for result in results:
fields_found.append(result)
elif isinstance(value, list):
for item in value:
if isinstance(item, dict):
more_results = get_recursively(item, field)
for another_result in more_results:
fields_found.append(another_result)
return fields_found
Here is a way to do this using a “stack” and the “stack of iterators” pattern (credits to Gareth Rees):
def search(d, key, default=None):
"""Return a value corresponding to the specified key in the (possibly
nested) dictionary d. If there is no item with that key, return
default.
"""
stack = [iter(d.items())]
while stack:
for k, v in stack[-1]:
if isinstance(v, dict):
stack.append(iter(v.items()))
break
elif k == key:
return v
else:
stack.pop()
return default
The print(search({"B": {"A": 2}}, "A")) would print 2.
I couldn’t add a comment to the accepted solution proposed by @mgilston because of lack of reputation. The solution doesn’t work if the key being searched for is inside a list.
Looping through the elements of the lists and calling the recursive function should extend the functionality to find elements inside nested lists:
def _finditem(obj, key):
if key in obj: return obj[key]
for k, v in obj.items():
if isinstance(v,dict):
item = _finditem(v, key)
if item is not None:
return item
elif isinstance(v,list):
for list_item in v:
item = _finditem(list_item, key)
if item is not None:
return item
print(_finditem({"C": {"B": [{"A":2}]}}, "A"))
I had to create a general-case version that finds a uniquely-specified key (a minimal dictionary that specifies the path to the desired value) in a dictionary that contains multiple nested dictionaries and lists.
For the example below, a target dictionary is created to search, and the key is created with the wildcard “???”. When run, it returns the value “D”
def lfind(query_list:List, target_list:List, targ_str:str = "???"):
for tval in target_list:
#print("lfind: tval = {}, query_list[0] = {}".format(tval, query_list[0]))
if isinstance(tval, dict):
val = dfind(query_list[0], tval, targ_str)
if val:
return val
elif tval == query_list[0]:
return tval
def dfind(query_dict:Dict, target_dict:Dict, targ_str:str = "???"):
for key, qval in query_dict.items():
tval = target_dict[key]
#print("dfind: key = {}, qval = {}, tval = {}".format(key, qval, tval))
if isinstance(qval, dict):
val = dfind(qval, tval, targ_str)
if val:
return val
elif isinstance(qval, list):
return lfind(qval, tval, targ_str)
else:
if qval == targ_str:
return tval
if qval != tval:
break
def find(target_dict:Dict, query_dict:Dict):
result = dfind(query_dict, target_dict)
return result
target_dict = {"A":[
{"key1":"A", "key2":{"key3": "B"}},
{"key1":"C", "key2":{"key3": "D"}}]
}
query_dict = {"A":[{"key1":"C", "key2":{"key3": "???"}}]}
result = find(target_dict, query_dict)
print("result = {}".format(result))
Just trying to make it shorter:
def get_recursively(search_dict, field):
if isinstance(search_dict, dict):
if field in search_dict:
return search_dict[field]
for key in search_dict:
item = get_recursively(search_dict[key], field)
if item is not None:
return item
elif isinstance(search_dict, list):
for element in search_dict:
item = get_recursively(element, field)
if item is not None:
return item
return None
Thought I’d throw my hat in the ring, this will allow for recursive requests on anything that implements a __getitem__ method.
def _get_recursive(obj, args, default=None):
"""Apply successive requests to an obj that implements __getitem__ and
return result if something is found, else return default"""
if not args:
return obj
try:
key, *args = args
_obj = object.__getitem__(obj, key)
return _get_recursive(_obj, args, default=default)
except (KeyError, IndexError, AttributeError):
return default
Here’s a Python 3.3+ solution which can handle lists of lists of dicts.
It also uses duck typing, so it can handle any iterable, or object implementing the ‘items’ method.
from typing import Iterator
def deep_key_search(obj, key: str) -> Iterator:
""" Do a deep search of {obj} and return the values of all {key} attributes found.
:param obj: Either a dict type object or an iterator.
:return: Iterator of all {key} values found"""
if isinstance(obj, str):
# When duck-typing iterators recursively, we must exclude strings
return
try:
# Assume obj is a like a dict and look for the key
for k, v in obj.items():
if k == key:
yield v
else:
yield from deep_key_search(v, key)
except AttributeError:
# Not a dict type object. Is it iterable like a list?
try:
for v in obj:
yield from deep_key_search(v, key)
except TypeError:
pass # Not iterable either.
Pytest:
@pytest.mark.parametrize(
"data, expected, dscr", [
({}, [], "Empty dict"),
({'Foo': 1, 'Bar': 2}, [1], "Plain dict"),
([{}, {'Foo': 1, 'Bar': 2}], [1], "List[dict]"),
([[[{'Baz': 3, 'Foo': 'a'}]], {'Foo': 1, 'Bar': 2}], ['a', 1], "Deep list"),
({'Foo': 1, 'Bar': {'Foo': 'c'}}, [1, 'c'], "Dict of Dict"),
(
{'Foo': 1, 'Bar': {'Foo': 'c', 'Bar': 'abcdef'}},
[1, 'c'], "Contains a non-selected string value"
),
])
def test_deep_key_search(data, expected, dscr):
assert list(deep_key_search(data, 'Foo')) == expected
I’m trying to write a very simple function to recursively search through a possibly nested (in the most extreme cases ten levels deep) Python dictionary and return the first value it finds from the given key.
I cannot understand why my code doesn’t work for nested dictionaries.
def _finditem(obj, key):
if key in obj: return obj[key]
for k, v in obj.items():
if isinstance(v,dict):
_finditem(v, key)
print _finditem({"B":{"A":2}},"A")
It returns None.
It does work, however, for _finditem({"B":1,"A":2},"A"), returning 2.
I’m sure it’s a simple mistake but I cannot find it. I feel like there already might be something for this in the standard library or collections, but I can’t find that either.
If you are looking for a general explanation of what is wrong with code like this, the canonical is Why does my recursive function return None?. The answers here are mostly specific to the task of searching in a nested dictionary.
when you recurse, you need to return the result of _finditem
def _finditem(obj, key):
if key in obj: return obj[key]
for k, v in obj.items():
if isinstance(v,dict):
return _finditem(v, key) #added return statement
To fix the actual algorithm, you need to realize that _finditem returns None if it didn’t find anything, so you need to check that explicitly to prevent an early return:
def _finditem(obj, key):
if key in obj: return obj[key]
for k, v in obj.items():
if isinstance(v,dict):
item = _finditem(v, key)
if item is not None:
return item
Of course, that will fail if you have None values in any of your dictionaries. In that case, you could set up a sentinel object() for this function and return that in the case that you don’t find anything — Then you can check against the sentinel to know if you found something or not.
Here’s a function that searches a dictionary that contains both nested dictionaries and lists. It creates a list of the values of the results.
def get_recursively(search_dict, field):
"""
Takes a dict with nested lists and dicts,
and searches all dicts for a key of the field
provided.
"""
fields_found = []
for key, value in search_dict.iteritems():
if key == field:
fields_found.append(value)
elif isinstance(value, dict):
results = get_recursively(value, field)
for result in results:
fields_found.append(result)
elif isinstance(value, list):
for item in value:
if isinstance(item, dict):
more_results = get_recursively(item, field)
for another_result in more_results:
fields_found.append(another_result)
return fields_found
Here is a way to do this using a “stack” and the “stack of iterators” pattern (credits to Gareth Rees):
def search(d, key, default=None):
"""Return a value corresponding to the specified key in the (possibly
nested) dictionary d. If there is no item with that key, return
default.
"""
stack = [iter(d.items())]
while stack:
for k, v in stack[-1]:
if isinstance(v, dict):
stack.append(iter(v.items()))
break
elif k == key:
return v
else:
stack.pop()
return default
The print(search({"B": {"A": 2}}, "A")) would print 2.
I couldn’t add a comment to the accepted solution proposed by @mgilston because of lack of reputation. The solution doesn’t work if the key being searched for is inside a list.
Looping through the elements of the lists and calling the recursive function should extend the functionality to find elements inside nested lists:
def _finditem(obj, key):
if key in obj: return obj[key]
for k, v in obj.items():
if isinstance(v,dict):
item = _finditem(v, key)
if item is not None:
return item
elif isinstance(v,list):
for list_item in v:
item = _finditem(list_item, key)
if item is not None:
return item
print(_finditem({"C": {"B": [{"A":2}]}}, "A"))
I had to create a general-case version that finds a uniquely-specified key (a minimal dictionary that specifies the path to the desired value) in a dictionary that contains multiple nested dictionaries and lists.
For the example below, a target dictionary is created to search, and the key is created with the wildcard “???”. When run, it returns the value “D”
def lfind(query_list:List, target_list:List, targ_str:str = "???"):
for tval in target_list:
#print("lfind: tval = {}, query_list[0] = {}".format(tval, query_list[0]))
if isinstance(tval, dict):
val = dfind(query_list[0], tval, targ_str)
if val:
return val
elif tval == query_list[0]:
return tval
def dfind(query_dict:Dict, target_dict:Dict, targ_str:str = "???"):
for key, qval in query_dict.items():
tval = target_dict[key]
#print("dfind: key = {}, qval = {}, tval = {}".format(key, qval, tval))
if isinstance(qval, dict):
val = dfind(qval, tval, targ_str)
if val:
return val
elif isinstance(qval, list):
return lfind(qval, tval, targ_str)
else:
if qval == targ_str:
return tval
if qval != tval:
break
def find(target_dict:Dict, query_dict:Dict):
result = dfind(query_dict, target_dict)
return result
target_dict = {"A":[
{"key1":"A", "key2":{"key3": "B"}},
{"key1":"C", "key2":{"key3": "D"}}]
}
query_dict = {"A":[{"key1":"C", "key2":{"key3": "???"}}]}
result = find(target_dict, query_dict)
print("result = {}".format(result))
Just trying to make it shorter:
def get_recursively(search_dict, field):
if isinstance(search_dict, dict):
if field in search_dict:
return search_dict[field]
for key in search_dict:
item = get_recursively(search_dict[key], field)
if item is not None:
return item
elif isinstance(search_dict, list):
for element in search_dict:
item = get_recursively(element, field)
if item is not None:
return item
return None
Thought I’d throw my hat in the ring, this will allow for recursive requests on anything that implements a __getitem__ method.
def _get_recursive(obj, args, default=None):
"""Apply successive requests to an obj that implements __getitem__ and
return result if something is found, else return default"""
if not args:
return obj
try:
key, *args = args
_obj = object.__getitem__(obj, key)
return _get_recursive(_obj, args, default=default)
except (KeyError, IndexError, AttributeError):
return default
Here’s a Python 3.3+ solution which can handle lists of lists of dicts.
It also uses duck typing, so it can handle any iterable, or object implementing the ‘items’ method.
from typing import Iterator
def deep_key_search(obj, key: str) -> Iterator:
""" Do a deep search of {obj} and return the values of all {key} attributes found.
:param obj: Either a dict type object or an iterator.
:return: Iterator of all {key} values found"""
if isinstance(obj, str):
# When duck-typing iterators recursively, we must exclude strings
return
try:
# Assume obj is a like a dict and look for the key
for k, v in obj.items():
if k == key:
yield v
else:
yield from deep_key_search(v, key)
except AttributeError:
# Not a dict type object. Is it iterable like a list?
try:
for v in obj:
yield from deep_key_search(v, key)
except TypeError:
pass # Not iterable either.
Pytest:
@pytest.mark.parametrize(
"data, expected, dscr", [
({}, [], "Empty dict"),
({'Foo': 1, 'Bar': 2}, [1], "Plain dict"),
([{}, {'Foo': 1, 'Bar': 2}], [1], "List[dict]"),
([[[{'Baz': 3, 'Foo': 'a'}]], {'Foo': 1, 'Bar': 2}], ['a', 1], "Deep list"),
({'Foo': 1, 'Bar': {'Foo': 'c'}}, [1, 'c'], "Dict of Dict"),
(
{'Foo': 1, 'Bar': {'Foo': 'c', 'Bar': 'abcdef'}},
[1, 'c'], "Contains a non-selected string value"
),
])
def test_deep_key_search(data, expected, dscr):
assert list(deep_key_search(data, 'Foo')) == expected