reading JSON stored in txt file with Python

Question

i wand to save some config values to a text file so i can use them later on in my code, so i decided on saving it into a text file in a JSON format but when i try and read the value from the file i get an error

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

the text file content is:

"{'EditDate': 1497014759002}"

import json
import os
cPath = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))
configPath = cPath+'/tt.txt'
ConfigStr = {"EditDate" : 1497014759002}
print(ConfigStr)
print("-----------")
with open(configPath, 'w') as outfile:
    json.dump(repr(ConfigStr), outfile)
with open(configPath) as json_data:
    d = json.load(json_data)
    jstr = d
    print(jstr)
    print("-----------")
    a = json.loads(jstr)
    lastedit = a['EditDate']
    print(lastedit)

This isn't valid JSON. You should've dumped str(ConfigStr) instead. Also, notice that ConfigStr is a dictionary, not a string, so the name is misleading. — ForceBru
– ForceBru, Commented Jun 9, 2017 at 16:04
Why are you attempting to just.dump() a Python representation of ConfigStr, just pass the dict to json.dump() as it is. — zwer
– zwer, Commented Jun 9, 2017 at 16:07

Oluwafemi Sule · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-09 16:16:14Z

2

You should use json.dump to dump into the file. Pass it the object to write and a file-like object.

...


with open(configPath, 'w') as outfile:
    json.dump(ConfigStr, outfile)
with open(configPath) as json_data:
    d = json.load(json_data)

print(d)
print("-----------")

lastedit = d['EditDate']
print(lastedit)

Reference:

https://docs.python.org/2/library/json.html#json.dump

edited Jun 9, 2017 at 16:16

answered Jun 9, 2017 at 16:08

Oluwafemi Sule

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1 Comment

StuartAM Over a year ago

thanks for the quick reply worked a treat, i'm very new to python to its a bit of a learning curve

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