Convert JSON to CSV

Question

In python I have a complex object hierarchy made of lists and dictionaries. I want to spit it all out to CSV or some other kind of database format. Any answers in Python or Javascript very much appreciated.

I understand that one CSV file (or table) can only represent one 'level' of object in my hierarchy, so the solution would need to create multiple files.

Here is an example:

{
    "Person" : [{"name":"Greg","age":"35","car":["honda civic","ford focus"]},
                {"name":"Steve","age":"28", "car":["mazda 323", "toyota camry"]}]
}

would become

Person.csv:
id,name,age
1,Greg,35
2,Steve,28

car.csv:
id,Person_id,value
1,1,honda civic
2,1,ford focus
3,2,mazda 323
4,2,toyota camry

Basically the only thing interesting going on here is the assignment of new ids so that the rows in the tables can be associated.

Cheers, Dave

Answer 1

try something like this.

json_dict = {
    "Person" : [{"name":"Greg","age":"35","car":["honda civic","ford focus"]},
                {"name":"Steve","age":"28", "car":["mazda 323", "toyota camry"]}]
}

for entity in json_dict:
    csv_file = open('%s.csv' % entity, 'wb')
    headers = a[entity][0].keys()
    csv_writer = csv.DictWriter(csv_file, headers)
    map(csv_writer.writerow, json_dict[entity])
    csv_file.close()

# Now you have your json to csv file for formatting you can use awk;

awk  -F , '{print NR ", " $2 ", " $3 }' Person.csv > person.csv

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