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JSON text as command line argument when running python script

I have read similar questions relating to passing JSON text as a command line argument with python, but none of the solutions have worked with my case.

I am automating a python script, and the automation runs a powershell script that takes a JSON object generated from a power automate flow. Everything works great until it comes to processing the JSON in my python script.

My goal is to convert the JSON to a dictionary so that I can use the key value pairs in my code.

My powershell script looks like this:


Python script.py {"Items":[{"Name":"foo","File":"\\files\foo\foo.csv"},{"Name":"bar","File":"\\files\bar\bar.csv"},{"Name":"baz","File":"\\files\baz\baz.csv"}]}

My JSON looks like this:

{
    "Items": [
        {
            "Name": "foo",
            "File": "\\files\foo\foo.csv"
        },
        {
            "Name": "bar",
            "File": "\\files\bar\bar.csv"
        },
        {
            "Name": "baz",
            "File": "\\files\baz\baz.csv"
        }
    ]
}

I tried this solution from SO:

if len(sys.argv) > 1:
        d = json.loads(sys.argv[1])
        print(d)

but it returns this error:

Unexpected token ':' in expression or statement.
    + CategoryInfo          : ParserError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnexpectedToken

I am unsure how to solve this problem, any suggestions would help!

Tags:

2

Answers


  1. 0

    Depending on the PowerShell version you’re using, you will need to handle it differently, if using pwsh 7.3+ the solution is as simple as wrapping your Json string with single-quotes. Otherwise, if using below that, you would need to escape the double-quotes with , otherwise those get eaten when passed thru your Python script.

    Using this can handle it dynamically:

    $json = @'
{
    "Items": [
        {
            "Name": "foo",
            "File": "\\files\foo\foo.csv"
        },
        {
            "Name": "bar",
            "File": "\\files\bar\bar.csv"
        },
        {
            "Name": "baz",
            "File": "\\files\baz\baz.csv"
        }
    ]
}
'@

if ($PSVersionTable.PSVersion -ge '7.3') {
    Python script.py $json
}
else {
    Python script.py $json.Replace('"', '"')
}

    Then assuming your Python code would be:

    import json
import sys

if len(sys.argv) > 1:
    d = json.loads(sys.argv[1])
    for i in d['Items']:
        print(i)

    Then the output in your PowerShell console would be:

    {'Name': 'foo', 'File': '\\files\foo\foo.csv'}
{'Name': 'bar', 'File': '\\files\bar\bar.csv'}
{'Name': 'baz', 'File': '\\files\baz\baz.csv'}
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  2. 0

    In this situation, you’d either want to pass the dictionary in as a string:

    python script.py '{"Items":[{"Name":"foo","File":"\\files\foo\foo.csv"},{"Name":"bar","File":"\\files\bar\bar.csv"},{"Name":"baz","File":"\\files\baz\baz.csv"}]}'

    or pass in the file that contains the json and read that file in python:

    python script.py test.json

    where test.json is your json. The associated python code would look something like:

    def main():
    file_path = sys.argv[1]

    with open(file_path, 'r') as file:
        d = json.load(file)

    print(d)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()
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