Search code examples
pythondictionaryconfigparser

Can I use configparser to make a dictionary of dictionaries?

Currently, I am using configparser to make a dictionary of Person-class objects from a .ini file, which looks like this (in the real dictionary, there are many more people):

[Pers1]
name = Alice
sex = female

[Pers2]
name = Bob
sex = male

This parsed dictionary is called people, so people['Pers1'].name is the name attribute of Pers1, "Alice". people['Pers2'].sex is "male", and so on.

Now, let's say I want Alice to have another attribute, called tags. tags would be a dictionary, with a structure like this:

people['Pers1'].tags = {
'Employed':
    {COMPANY: 'Macrosoft',
     EMPLOYEE_SINCE: '1/5/2005'
     },
'LicensedPilot':
    {LICENSE_ISSUED: '6/7/2007',
     EXPIRATION_DATE: '12/11/2017'
     }
}

tags is a dictionary that may be empty, or may contain more dictionaries (though only nested one-deep, so no dictionaries-of-dictionaries-of-dictionaries... in tags).

Is there a way to set up configparser to read a .ini and create these dictionaries?

Solution

  • INI by itself is a flat format. If you want to store nested data in it, you will need to handle that.

    For example, qualified property names:

    [Pers1]
name = Alice
sex = female
tags.COMPANY = Macrosoft
tags.EMPLOYEE_SINCE = 1/5/2005

    Note, these will still be returned as a 'flat' options list, e.g. the first tag will have a key of "tags.COMPANY". You would need split the option names on . and handle the results yourself.

    Another approach would be to use a format that is meant to store nested data and be translated directly to lists and dictionaries, such as YAML.