python list from string

Question

problem is self explanatory:

import simplejson as json
a = u"[(datetime.datetime(2012, 3, 13, 14, 50, 13, 996833), 'ACTIVE', [u'my.test.service', '{}'])]"
json.loads(a)

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/simplejson/__init__.py", line 384, in loads
    return _default_decoder.decode(s)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/simplejson/decoder.py", line 402, in decode
    obj, end = self.raw_decode(s, idx=_w(s, 0).end())
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/simplejson/decoder.py", line 418, in raw_decode
    obj, end = self.scan_once(s, idx)
simplejson.decoder.JSONDecodeError: Expecting object: line 1 column 1 (char 1)

Question is obvious: How can I convert my string to a list?

Umm... I don't find the problem self explanatory...

CoffeeRain
– CoffeeRain

2012-03-13 20:20:32 +00:00
Commented Mar 13, 2012 at 20:20 — CoffeeRain
– CoffeeRain, Commented Mar 13, 2012 at 20:20

Jerome Martin · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-13 20:32:04Z

2

You can't. (datetime.datetime(2012, 3, 13, 14, 50, 13, 996833) has no meaning in JSON. Conversely, if you try to do the opposite, you'll notice the problem:

json.dumps([(datetime.datetime(2012, 3, 13, 14, 50, 13, 996833), 'ACTIVE' [u'my.test.service', '{}'])])

TypeError: datetime.datetime(2012, 3, 13, 14, 50, 13, 996833) is not JSON serializable

Edit:

Actually, reading your question again made me notice you did not specify you wanted to use JSON, just "convert the string to a list". Not sure what your use case is, but this will work in your case:

In [23]: a = "[(datetime.datetime(2012, 3, 13, 14, 50, 13, 996833), 'ACTIVE', [u'my.test.service', '{}'])]"
In [24]: eval(a)
Out[24]: [(datetime.datetime(2012, 3, 13, 14, 50, 13, 996833), 'ACTIVE', [u'my.test.service', '{}'])]

edited Mar 13, 2012 at 20:32

answered Mar 13, 2012 at 20:26

Jerome Martin

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Comments

PearsonArtPhoto · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-13 20:24:14Z

0

You can't use a function inside of your code. You need to break the datetime() out of your JSON stream, or put it into the right format. Try parsing known JSON code first.

answered Mar 13, 2012 at 20:24

PearsonArtPhoto

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Comments

user1173922 · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-13 20:20:46Z

-1

The first character when you're assigning a is a 'u' but with no quotes. Try removing that and see how it goes, like this:

import simplejson as json
a = "[(datetime.datetime(2012, 3, 13, 14, 50, 13, 996833), 'ACTIVE', [u'my.test.service', '{}'])]"
json.loads(a)

answered Mar 13, 2012 at 20:20

user1173922

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1 Comment

bereal Over a year ago

Did you try it yourself? Also try type(u"string").

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