How do I get specific keys and their values from nested dict in python?

Question

I need help, please be kind I'm a beginner. I have a nested dict like this:

dict_ = {
 "timestamp": "2022-11-18T10: 10: 49.301Z",
 "name" : "example",
 "person":{
    "birthyear": "2002"
    "birthname": "Examply"
 },
 "order":{
    "orderId": "1234"
    "ordername": "onetwothreefour"
 }
}

How do I get a new dict like:

new_dict = {"timestamp": "2022-11-18T10: 10: 49.301Z", "birthyear": "2002", "birthname": "Examply", "orderId": "1234"}

I tried the normal things I could google. But I only found solutions like getting the values without the keys back or it only works for flatten dicts. Last thing I tried:

new_dict = {key: msg[key] for key in msg.keys() & {'timestamp', 'birthyear', 'birthname', 'orderId'}

This do not work for the nested dict. May someone has an easy option for it.

If the path (keys) to the values is always the same you can access them directly — Dani Mesejo, Nov 21 '22 at 09:23
I tried but I only get the values mostly or it only worked for flatten dicts. Do you have any code example maybe? — JazCodes, Nov 21 '22 at 09:25

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 21 '22 at 09:35

A general approach:

dict_ = {
    "timestamp": "2022-11-18T10: 10: 49.301Z",
    "name": "example",
    "person": {
        "birthyear": "2002",
        "birthname": "Examply"
    },
    "order": {
        "orderId": "1234",
        "ordername": "onetwothreefour"
    }
}


def nested_getitem(d, keys):
    current = d
    for key in keys:
        current = current[key]
    return current


new_dict = {"timestamp": nested_getitem(dict_, ["timestamp"]),
            "birthyear": nested_getitem(dict_, ["person", "birthyear"]),
            "birthname": nested_getitem(dict_, ["person", "birthname"]),
            "orderId": nested_getitem(dict_, ["order", "orderId"]),
            }
print(new_dict)

Output

{'timestamp': '2022-11-18T10: 10: 49.301Z', 'birthyear': '2002', 'birthname': 'Examply', 'orderId': '1234'}

Thank you so much, this solved my problem ! I didn't know how to access it directly. — JazCodes, Nov 21 '22 at 09:48

Jamiu S. · Answer 2 · 2022-11-21T10:10:50.127

dict_ = {
 "timestamp": "2022-11-18T10: 10: 49.301Z",
 "name" : "example",
 "person":{
    "birthyear": "2002",
    "birthname": "Examply"
 },
 "order":{
    "orderId": "1234",
    "ordername": "onetwothreefour"
 }
}


def get_new_dict(valid_dict):
    new_dict = {'timestamp': valid_dict['timestamp'],
                'birthyear': valid_dict['person']['birthyear'], 
                'birthname': valid_dict['person']['birthname'], 
                'orderId': valid_dict['order']['orderId']
               }
    
    return new_dict
    
new_dict = get_new_dict(dict_)

print(new_dict)

output:

{'timestamp': '2022-11-18T10: 10: 49.301Z', 'birthyear': '2002', 'birthname': 'Examply', 'orderId': '1234'}

How do I get specific keys and their values from nested dict in python?

2 Answers2