Get specific list of dict from json content using Ansible - json

Question

I spend a lot of times to finally didn't get what I need, my request is so complicated then I prefer share with you my concern::
I have this json.content to pars it:
"json": {
"content": [
{
"name": "machine1",
"hasChildren": false,
"resourceData": {
"entries": [
{
"value": {
"type": "string",
"value": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (64-bit)"
},
"key": "MachineGuestOperatingSystem"
},
{
"value": {
"type": "string",
"value": "Folder1"
},
"key": "VMware.VirtualCenter.Folder"
},
{
"value": {
"type": "boolean",
"value": true
},
"key": "Destroy"
}
]
}
},
{
"name": "machine2",
"hasChildren": false,
"resourceData": {
"entries": [
{
"value": {
"type": "string",
"value": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (64-bit)"
},
"key": "MachineGuestOperatingSystem"
},
{
"value": {
"type": "string",
"value": "Folder2"
},
"key": "VMware.VirtualCenter.Folder"
},
{
"value": {
"type": "boolean",
"value": false
},
"key": "Destroy"
}
]
}
},
{
"name": "machine3",
"hasChildren": false,
"resourceData": {
"entries": [
{
"value": {
"type": "string",
"value": "Windows Server 2016 or later (64-bit)"
},
"key": "MachineGuestOperatingSystem"
},
{
"value": {
"type": "string",
"value": "Folder3"
},
"key": "VMware.VirtualCenter.Folder"
},
{
"value": {
"type": "boolean",
"value": true
},
"key": "Destroy"
}
]
}
}
]
}
and I'd like to have as output Something like:
[{"name":"machine1", "OsName": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (64-bit)", "Folder": "Folder1"}, {"name":"machine2", "OsName": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (64-bit)", "Folder": "Folder2"},
{"name":"machine3", "OsName": "Windows Server 2016 or later (64-bit)", "Folder": "Folder3"}]
I tried all the solutions but no way, all result not what I want to expect. someone can help me to find a solution to get this attended result

Answer 1

The task below does the job
- set_fact:
_list: "{{ json.content|json_query(query) }}"
vars:
query: "[].{name: name,
OsName: resourceData.entries[0].value.value,
Folder: resourceData.entries[1].value.value}"
gives
_list:
- Folder: Folder1
OsName: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (64-bit)
name: machine1
- Folder: Folder2
OsName: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (64-bit)
name: machine2
- Folder: Folder3
OsName: Windows Server 2016 or later (64-bit)
name: machine
Q: "It changes the order of (key, value), so referencing by [0] or [1] will be not the same."
A: Select the items by the keys. You'll have to pipe the results and select the first items of the selected lists, e.g. the task below gives the same results
- set_fact:
_list: "{{ json.content|json_query(query) }}"
vars:
query: "[].{name: name,
OsName: resourceData.entries[?key==`MachineGuestOperatingSystem`].value.value|[0],
Folder: resourceData.entries[?key==`VMware.VirtualCenter.Folder`].value.value|[0]}"
Q: "Filter 'Red Hat ...' Get output"
- Folder: Folder1
OsName: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (64-bit)
name: machine1
- Folder: Folder2
OsName: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (64-bit)
name: machine2
A: Use selectattr, e.g. the task below does the job
- debug:
msg: "{{ _list|
selectattr('OsName', 'eq', 'Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (64-bit)')|
list }}"
Q: "Where I can learn this kind of search?"
A: There are examples in JMESPath Specification. As a hint, see the code below on how to translate these examples into Ansible json_query
Example1
- name: 'search(foo, {"foo": "value"}) -> "value"'
debug:
msg: "{{ _dict|json_query(_query) }}"
vars:
_dict: {"foo": "value"}
_query: "foo"
Example2
- name: 'search(foo[?bar==`10`], {"foo": [{"bar": 1}, {"bar": 10}]}) -> [{"bar": 10}]'
debug:
msg: "{{ _dict|json_query(_query) }}"
vars:
_dict: {"foo": [{"bar": 1}, {"bar": 10}]}
_query: "foo[?bar==`10`]"
Example3
- name: 'search(foo | bar, {"foo": {"bar": "baz"}}) -> "baz"'
debug:
msg: "{{ _dict|json_query(_query) }}"
vars:
_dict: {"foo": {"bar": "baz"}}
_query: "foo | bar"