json: nesting outputs the correct way - json

Question

I'm using json to output a bunch of classes.
The problem that i am trying to solve is what is the best way to output json for a nested class. The following simple example highlights the problem.
# python 3.x
import json
class Class1:
def __init__(self):
self.a = 'this'
self.b = 33
def toJSON(self):
return json.dumps({'a': self.a,
'b': self.b},
sort_keys=False, indent=2, separators=(',', ': '))
class Class2:
def __init__(self):
self.x = 'hello'
self.y = Class1()
self.z = 'world'
def toJSON(self):
return json.dumps({'x': self.x,
'y': self.y.toJSON(),
'z': self.z},
sort_keys=False, indent=2, separators=(',', ': '))
if __name__ == '__main__':
a = Class2()
print(a.toJSON())
This is the output I'm getting. Which contains control characters
{
"x": "hello",
"y": "{\n \"a\": \"this\",\n \"b\": 33\n}",
"z": "world"
}
This is the output I want would look something like this
{
"x":"hello",
"y":{
"a":"this",
"b":33
},
"z":"world"
}
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

I think you could implement cls encoder and then pass cls to json.dumps function like the following example.
import json
class Class1:
def __init__(self):
self.a = 'this'
self.b = 33
class Class2:
def __init__(self):
self.x = 'hello'
self.y = Class1()
self.z = 'world'
class ComplexEncoder(json.JSONEncoder):
def default(self, obj):
if hasattr(obj, '__dict__'):
return obj.__dict__
else:
return json.JSONEncoder.default(self, obj)
if __name__ == '__main__':
a = Class2()
print(json.dumps(a, cls=ComplexEncoder, sort_keys=False, indent=2, separators=(',', ': ')))

Answer 2

You are dumping a JSON as string. Loading it as JSON and then returning would help
# python 3.x
import json
class Class1:
def __init__(self):
self.a = 'this'
self.b = 33
def toJSON(self):
return json.loads(json.dumps({'a': self.a,
'b': self.b},
sort_keys=False, indent=4, separators=(',', ': ')))
class Class2:
def __init__(self):
self.x = 'hello'
self.y = Class1()
self.z = 'world'
def toJSON(self):
return json.loads(json.dumps({'x': self.x,
'y': self.y.toJSON(),
'z': self.z},
sort_keys=False, indent=2, separators=(',', ': ')))
if __name__ == '__main__':
a = Class2()
print(a.toJSON())
Output :
{'x': 'hello', 'y': {'a': 'this', 'b': 33}, 'z': 'world'}