Python Edit/Rename Key Names in .json

Question

Is there a way to change the Key name? I need to change the name "Class123" like it is in the Example. I can change the Value but I don't know how to change the key name.

Example .json :

{
    "Class123": "classvalue", 
    "name1": {
        "name2": {
            "name3": {
                "Y": 158.8, 
                "X": 201.46
            }, 
            "name4": {
                "Y": 159.68, 
                "X": 200.32
            }
        }
    }
}

Starting like this:

with open('my.json') as json1:
    data = json.load(json1)
    for item in data:

Your data is a dictionary. help(dict). Then maybe dump the JSON back. — pawamoy
– pawamoy, Commented Apr 11, 2018 at 14:46

DeepSpace · Accepted Answer · 2018-04-11 14:39:14Z

36

There is no way to "change" a key name. The best you can do is to copy the value to another key by using pop:

d = {'old_name': 1}
d['new_name'] = d.pop('old_name')
print(d)
# {'new_name': 1}

answered Apr 11, 2018 at 14:39

DeepSpace

82.1k12 gold badges119 silver badges166 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Kaira Asia Over a year ago

d['new_name'] = d.pop('old_name') Thank you so much it worked

Amir.S Over a year ago

seems strange :)

Mike G · Accepted Answer · 2018-12-06 07:52:18Z

I'd like to add my method here since it expands the singular naming to using a dict of keys.

Lets say you have a sample JSON list ga_list and you would like to change all the names with a dict key names_key :

names_key = { 'ga:date'            : 'date' ,
              'ga:bounceRate'      : 'bounce' ,
              'ga:newUsers'        : 'new_users', 
              'ga:pageviews'       : 'page_views',
              'ga:sessions'        : 'sessions',
              'ga:uniquePageviews' : 'unique_page_views',
              'ga:users'           : 'users'
              }

ga_list = [{
      'ga:bounceRate': 34.478408,
      'ga:date': '20151203',
      'ga:newUsers': 1679,
      'ga:pageviews': 550,
      'ga:sessions': 307,
      'ga:uniquePageviews': 467,
      'ga:users': 256},
    {'ga:bounceRate': 21.28534,
      'ga:date': '20151204',
      'ga:newUsers': 164,
      'ga:pageviews': 594,
      'ga:sessions': 305,
      'ga:uniquePageviews': 476,
      'ga:users': 252},
    {'ga:bounceRate': 13.8372346,
      'ga:date': '20151205',
      'ga:newUsers': 152,
      'ga:pageviews': 826,
      'ga:sessions': 330,
      'ga:uniquePageviews': 241,
      'ga:users': 200}]

for row in ga_list:
  for k, v in names_key.items():
    for old_name in row:
      if k == old_name:
        row[v] = row.pop(old_name)

print(ga_list)

>>>
[{'bounce': 34.47842608,
  'date': '20151203',
  'new_users': 1679,
  'page_views': 550,
  'sessions': 307,
  'unique_page_views': 467,
  'users': 256},
 {'bounce': 21.28534,
  'date': '20151204',
  'new_users': 164,
  'page_views': 594,
  ....
  'unique_page_views': 241,
  'users': 200}]

And there you have it all the old names are renamed according to the key.

Hope this helps someone.

Freddy · Accepted Answer · 2018-04-11 14:39:25Z

3

Something like

your_dict[new_key] = your_dict.pop(old_key)

Removing the old key from your dict and creating a new one.

answered Apr 11, 2018 at 14:39

Freddy

8891 gold badge9 silver badges22 bronze badges

Comments

Saurabh Bade · Accepted Answer · 2020-05-09 04:37:52Z

2

One way you can do it is with replace() function, but make sure that you have to convert your JSON Dict in to String first as Dictionary's key cannot be changed.


json_data = json_data.replace('key_old1','Key_new1').replace('key_old2','key_new2')

Hope this helps. Cheers..!!

answered May 9, 2020 at 4:37

Saurabh Bade

1632 silver badges15 bronze badges

2 Comments

ss_rn Over a year ago

I wouldn't suggest this method because it also considers the substring & replaces it as well

fractefactos Over a year ago

This is very dangerous considering the text inside any field in the objects.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Python Edit/Rename Key Names in .json

4 Answers 4

2 Comments

1 Comment

Comments

2 Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

4 Answers 4

2 Comments

1 Comment

Comments

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related