Modify nested dict key name by its parent

Question

I have a following kind of structure to be handled:

payload = {
   "name":"Event1",
   "events":[
      {
         "name":"A",
         "data":[
            {
               "name":"subscriptionId",
               "data_id":0,
               "data":0
            },
            {
               "name":"updateCounter",
               "data_id":1,
               "data":0
            },
            {
               "name":"noOfMessages",
               "data_id":2,
               "data":0
            },
            {
               "name":"counter",
               "data_id":3,
               "data":0
            },
            {
               "name":"resourceElements",
               "data_id":4,
               "data":0
            },
            {
               "name":"type",
               "data_id":5,
               "data":0
            },
            {
               "name":"subscription",
               "data_id":6,
               "data":0
            },
            {
               "name":"element",
               "data_id":7,
               "data":[
                  {
                     "name":"type",
                     "data_id":0,
                     "data":0
                  },
                  {
                     "name":"plugLockState",
                     "data_id":1,
                     "data":{
                        "value":""
                     }
                  },
                  {
                     "name":"lockState",
                     "data_id":2,
                     "data":{
                        "value":""
                     }
                  },
                  {
                     "name":"flapState",
                     "data_id":6,
                     "data":{
                        "value":""
                     }
                  },
                  {
                     "name":"plugState",
                     "data_id":3,
                     "data":0
                  },
                  {
                     "name":"plugConnectionState",
                     "data_id":4,
                     "data":0
                  },
                  {
                     "name":"infrastructureState",
                     "data_id":5,
                     "data":0
                  }
               ]
            }
         ]
      }
   ]
}

I want to replace any key name within the nested structure by the parent, so the ideal result should look like this:

{
   "name":"Event1",
   "events":[
      {
         "name":"Event1.A",
         "data":[
            {
               "name":"Event1.A.subscriptionId",
               "data_id":0,
               "data":0
            },
            {
               "name":"Event1.A.updateCounter",
               "data_id":1,
               "data":0
            },
            {
               "name":"Event1.A.noOfMessages",
               "data_id":2,
               "data":0
            },
            {
               "name":"Event1.A.counter",
               "data_id":3,
               "data":0
            },
            {
               "name":"Event1.A.resourceElements",
               "data_id":4,
               "data":0
            },
            {
               "name":"Event1.A.type",
               "data_id":5,
               "data":0
            },
            {
               "name":"Event1.A.subscription",
               "data_id":6,
               "data":0
            },
            {
               "name":"Event1.A.element",
               "data_id":7,
               "data":[
                  {
                     "name":"Event1.A.element.type",
                     "data_id":0,
                     "data":0
                  },
                  {
                     "name":"Event1.A.element.plugLockState",
                     "data_id":1,
                     "data":{
                        "value":""
                     }
                  },
                  {
                     "name":"Event1.A.element.lockState",
                     "data_id":2,
                     "data":{
                        "value":""
                     }
                  },
                  {
                     "name":"Event1.A.element.flapState",
                     "data_id":6,
                     "data":{
                        "value":""
                     }
                  },
                  {
                     "name":"Event1.A.element.plugState",
                     "data_id":3,
                     "data":0
                  },
                  {
                     "name":"Event1.A.element.plugConnectionState",
                     "data_id":4,
                     "data":0
                  },
                  {
                     "name":"Event1.A.element.infrastructureState",
                     "data_id":5,
                     "data":0
                  }
               ]
            }
         ]
      }
   ]
}

so far I have written this recursive method:

def iterate_recursively(dictionary: dict, names=None):
    if names is None:
        names = []
    for k, v in dictionary.items():
        if isinstance(v, dict):
            iterate_recursively(v)
        elif isinstance(v, list):
            for d in v:
                if isinstance(d, dict):
                    names.append(d["name"])
                    iterate_recursively(d)

but I simply don't get it. How can the keys, based on my requirement, be changed while iterating recursively?

funnydman · Answer

You can do something like this:

def iterate_recursively(dictionary: dict, prefix_name=None):
    if 'name' in dictionary:
        if prefix_name is None:
            prefix_name = dictionary['name']
        else:
            prefix_name += '.' + dictionary['name']
        dictionary['name'] = prefix_name

    for k, v in dictionary.items():
        if isinstance(v, dict):
            iterate_recursively(v, prefix_name)
        elif isinstance(v, list):
            for d in v:
                iterate_recursively(d, prefix_name)

CristiFati · Answer

Here's a variant that returns a new dictionary (and thus leaving the original one unchanged).

code00.py:

#!/usr/bin/env python

import sys
from pprint import pprint as pp


payload = {
   "name": "Event1",
   "events": [
      {
         "name": "A",
         "data": [
            {
               "name": "subscriptionId",
               "data_id": 0,
               "data": 0
            },
            {
               "name": "updateCounter",
               "data_id": 1,
               "data": 0
            },
            {
               "name": "noOfMessages",
               "data_id": 2,
               "data": 0
            },
            {
               "name": "counter",
               "data_id": 3,
               "data": 0
            },
            {
               "name": "resourceElements",
               "data_id": 4,
               "data": 0
            },
            {
               "name": "type",
               "data_id": 5,
               "data": 0
            },
            {
               "name": "subscription",
               "data_id": 6,
               "data": 0
            },
            {
               "name": "element",
               "data_id": 7,
               "data": [
                  {
                     "name": "type",
                     "data_id": 0,
                     "data": 0
                  },
                  {
                     "name": "plugLockState",
                     "data_id": 1,
                     "data": {
                        "value": ""
                     }
                  },
                  {
                     "name": "lockState",
                     "data_id": 2,
                     "data": {
                        "value": ""
                     }
                  },
                  {
                     "name": "flapState",
                     "data_id": 6,
                     "data": {
                        "value": ""
                     }
                  },
                  {
                     "name": "plugState",
                     "data_id": 3,
                     "data": 0
                  },
                  {
                     "name": "plugConnectionState",
                     "data_id": 4,
                     "data": 0
                  },
                  {
                     "name": "infrastructureState",
                     "data_id": 5,
                     "data": 0
                  }
               ]
            }
         ]
      }
   ]
}


def concat_names(data, names=()):
    if isinstance(data, dict):
        name = data.get("name")
        new_names = names + (name,) if name is not None else names
        return {k: concat_names(v, names=new_names) if k != "name" else ".".join(new_names) for k, v in data.items()}
    elif isinstance(data, (list, tuple)):
        return [concat_names(e, names=names) for e in data]
    else:
        return data


def main(*argv):
    pp(concat_names(payload), indent=2, sort_dicts=False)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    print("Python {:s} {:03d}bit on {:s}
".format(" ".join(elem.strip() for elem in sys.version.split("
")),
                                                   64 if sys.maxsize > 0x100000000 else 32, sys.platform))
    rc = main(*sys.argv[1:])
    print("
Done.")
    sys.exit(rc)

Output:

[cfati@CFATI-5510-0:e:\Work\Dev\StackOverflow\q073621243]> "e:\Work\Dev\VEnvs\py_pc064_03.09_test0\Scripts\python.exe" ./code00.py
Python 3.9.9 (tags/v3.9.9:ccb0e6a, Nov 15 2021, 18:08:50) [MSC v.1929 64 bit (AMD64)] 064bit on win32

{ 'name': 'Event1',
  'events': [ { 'name': 'Event1.A',
                'data': [ { 'name': 'Event1.A.subscriptionId',
                            'data_id': 0,
                            'data': 0},
                          { 'name': 'Event1.A.updateCounter',
                            'data_id': 1,
                            'data': 0},
                          { 'name': 'Event1.A.noOfMessages',
                            'data_id': 2,
                            'data': 0},
                          {'name': 'Event1.A.counter', 'data_id': 3, 'data': 0},
                          { 'name': 'Event1.A.resourceElements',
                            'data_id': 4,
                            'data': 0},
                          {'name': 'Event1.A.type', 'data_id': 5, 'data': 0},
                          { 'name': 'Event1.A.subscription',
                            'data_id': 6,
                            'data': 0},
                          { 'name': 'Event1.A.element',
                            'data_id': 7,
                            'data': [ { 'name': 'Event1.A.element.type',
                                        'data_id': 0,
                                        'data': 0},
                                      { 'name': 'Event1.A.element.plugLockState',
                                        'data_id': 1,
                                        'data': {'value': ''}},
                                      { 'name': 'Event1.A.element.lockState',
                                        'data_id': 2,
                                        'data': {'value': ''}},
                                      { 'name': 'Event1.A.element.flapState',
                                        'data_id': 6,
                                        'data': {'value': ''}},
                                      { 'name': 'Event1.A.element.plugState',
                                        'data_id': 3,
                                        'data': 0},
                                      { 'name': 'Event1.A.element.plugConnectionState',
                                        'data_id': 4,
                                        'data': 0},
                                      { 'name': 'Event1.A.element.infrastructureState',
                                        'data_id': 5,
                                        'data': 0}]}]}]}

Done.

Modify nested dict key name by its parent

2 Answers