iterate over nested dictionaries

Question

below is a dictionary that i have create for a project. I am trying to iterate over the list values but keep getting errors

moo = {'dell': {'strengths': {'dell strengths': ['http://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/swot-analyses/dell-swot-analysis.html',
    'http://www.academia.edu/3687086/Strategic_Management_case_analysis_DELL']},
  'weekness': {'dell weekness': ['http://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/swot-analyses/dell-swot-analysis.html',
    'http://www.123helpme.com/dell-strength-and-weakness-view.asp%3Fid%3D164569']}},
 'ibm': {'strengths': {'ibm strengths': ['http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/07/10/why-did-ibm-survive/',
    'http://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/swot-analyses/ibm-swot-analysis.html']},
  'weekness': {'ibm weekness': ['http://www.quora.com/IBM/What-are-the-weaknesses-of-IBM',
    'http://www.marketingteacher.com/ibm-swot/']}}}

for k in moo.keys():
#base.add_sheet(k)
    for sk in moo[k].keys():
    #print sk
        for mk in moo[k][sk].keys():
            moo[k][sk][mk] = googlelinks(mk,2)
            for v in moo[k][sk][mk].items():
                print v

Error:

AttributeError: 'list' object has no attribute 'items'

I am doing something terribly wrong here. Please help

And what does `googlelinks()` return then? – Martijn Pieters Jul 23 '14 at 14:52 — Martijn Pieters, Jul 23 '14 at 14:52

TheSoundDefense · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-23T15:16:46.837

1

It sounds like googlelinks() is returning a list, not a dictionary. You just iterate over that using for v in moo[k][sk][mk]:. No need for items() unless you're using a dictionary in particular.

EDIT: it's unclear why you're using keys() for most of the code and them items() later. The items() function will return both the key and the value for a given dictionary item, which lets you simplify your code greatly. You can eliminate nested calls like moo[k][sk][mk] by doing something like this instead (thanks Martijn):

for k, v in moo.items():  # v = moo[k]
#base.add_sheet(k)
    for sk, sv in v.items():  # sv = v[sk] = moo[k][sk]
    #print sk
        for mk, mv in sv.items():  # mv = sv[mk] = v[sk][mk] = moo[k][sk][mk]
            sv[mk] = googlelinks(mk,2)
            for gv in sv[mk]:
                print gv

On another note, you may want to give your variables less cryptic names, so your code is easier to follow. Ideally, we should know from reading your variable names what's stored in each dictionary.

edited Jul 23 '14 at 15:16

answered Jul 23 '14 at 14:54

TheSoundDefense

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The OP would be better of looping over *values* or *items*, not keys; that way the OP can assign directly back but also use the actual nested dictionary. – Martijn Pieters Jul 23 '14 at 15:10
@MartijnPieters what is OP? – Raghav Shaligram Jul 23 '14 at 15:13
[What is an OP when referring to Stack Exchange?](http://meta.stackoverflow.com/q/253162) – Martijn Pieters Jul 23 '14 at 15:14
@RaghavShaligram OP stand for original poster, in this case you. It is commonly used as a pronoun instead of the gender specfic prounons his/her. – Vulcronos Jul 23 '14 at 15:15
I have iterating over the keys since i want to write out names of sheets and rows in the worksheets. Let me still try the code. Looks simpler – Raghav Shaligram Jul 23 '14 at 15:25
@RaghavShaligram `items()` returns key/value pairs, so you can just grab the keys from the code above (`k, sk, mk`) and use them how you like. – TheSoundDefense Jul 23 '14 at 15:26

iterate over nested dictionaries

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