Unable to parse valid json file in Python

Question

I am trying to parse a json file using Python3.6 and json module. Unfortunately, I get this error:

json.decoder.JSONDecodeError: Expecting property name enclosed in double quotes: line 1 column 2 (char 1)

I tried with both json.load() and json.loads() methods, but I still have this error. I do not understand from where this error comes from, due to the fact that my JSON does not have single quotes.

The JSON is the next one:

{
    "stats": {
        "host1": {
            "changed": 0,
            "failures": 0,
            "ok": 1,
            "skipped": 0,
            "unreachable": 0
        },
        "host2": {
            "changed": 0,
            "failures": 0,
            "ok": 1,
            "skipped": 0,
            "unreachable": 0
        },
        "host3": {
            "changed": 0,
            "failures": 0,
            "ok": 1,
            "skipped": 0,
            "unreachable": 0
        },
        "host4": {
            "changed": 0,
            "failures": 0,
            "ok": 0,
            "skipped": 0,
            "unreachable": 1
        }
    }
}

And my python code is the next one:

import json

json_file = open("example.json", "r")
data = json.load(json_file)

I tried other solutions found here, but no one worked for me. Any suggestion/solution is highly apreciated.

I can't reproduce this error. It works fine for me, using Python 3.6 — user3483203
– user3483203, Commented Mar 6, 2018 at 21:40
You say your JSON looks "something" like that, can you post the actual thing? — user3483203
– user3483203, Commented Mar 6, 2018 at 21:41
The error message says the error is in the first line. Can you at least post the actual first line? Additionally, if you are on Linux/UNIX can you post hd example.json | head -1 — Robᵩ
– Robᵩ, Commented Mar 6, 2018 at 21:47
@chrisz I just updated the post with the original json. I didn`t realized that the initial one was actually working. — robertg
– robertg, Commented Mar 6, 2018 at 21:54

Robᵩ · Accepted Answer · 2018-03-06 22:03:09Z

5

Your JSON file is encoded UTF-16-LE, but you are reading it with the default encoding.

Try this:

json_file = open("example.json", "r", encoding='utf_16_le')

edited Mar 6, 2018 at 22:03

answered Mar 6, 2018 at 21:57

Robᵩ

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1 Comment

jhpratt Over a year ago

Great catch! For the curious, I imagine this is how he knew: column 2 (char 1). The only way this would be the case is if it's encoded in UTF-16.

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