Python: Data Serialization using XML, YAML, JSON
Data Serialization using XML, YAMl, JSON
Here is a sample YAML file, named myYAMLdemo.yml
---
# This is a sample YAML file describing a Juniper SRX configuration
vendor: "Juniper"
model: "SRX380"
version: "24.4R2"
hostname: "mySRX"
# vlan list
vlans:
- 101
- 102
- 103
# list of dictionaries
vlan_settings:
- id: 201
name: employee_vlan
- id: 202
name: contractor_vlan
- id: 203
name: guest_vlan
# dictionary
vlans_dict:
301: engg
302: qa
303: it
zones:
- trust
- untrust
- dmz
interfaces: [ge-0/0/1, ge-0/0/2, ge-0/0/3]
security_settings:
- trust: ge-0/0/1
- untrust: ge-0/0/2
- dmz: ge-0/0/3
host_inbound_traffic:
- trust: all
- untrust: ping
- dmz: https
# root_key
snmp:
# sub-key and its value
rw: public
# sub-key and its value
ro: private
login:
users:
- alice
- bob
classes:
- super-user
- operator
message: "Welcome!"
idle_timeout: 30
and a Python script to play with this YAML file
#! /Users/pradeep/opt/anaconda3/bin/python3
print("Hello!\nWelcome to Data Serialization in Networking.\n")
import os
import yaml
import json
if __name__ == "__main__":
if os.path.exists('myYAMLdemo.yml'):
fd=open('myYAMLdemo.yml', 'r')
data=yaml.safe_load(fd)
print(json.dumps(data, indent=4))
else:
print("There is no input file!")
# define a dictionary called device_facts, with the output from the script so far
device_facts= {
"vendor": "Juniper",
"model": "SRX380",
"version": "24.4R2",
"hostname": "mySRX",
"vlans": [
101,
102,
103
],
"vlan_settings": [
{
"id": 201,
"name": "employee_vlan"
},
{
"id": 202,
"name": "contractor_vlan"
},
{
"id": 203,
"name": "guest_vlan"
}
],
"vlans_dict": {
"301": "engg",
"302": "qa",
"303": "it"
},
"zones": [
"trust",
"untrust",
"dmz"
],
"interfaces": [
"ge-0/0/1",
"ge-0/0/2",
"ge-0/0/3"
],
"security_settings": [
{
"trust": "ge-0/0/1"
},
{
"untrust": "ge-0/0/2"
},
{
"dmz": "ge-0/0/3"
}
],
"host_inbound_traffic": [
{
"trust": "all"
},
{
"untrust": "ping"
},
{
"dmz": "https"
}
],
"snmp": {
"rw": "public",
"ro": "private"
},
"login": {
"users": [
"alice",
"bob"
],
"classes": [
"super-user",
"operator"
],
"message": "Welcome!",
"idle_timeout": 30
}
}
print(type(device_facts)) # dict
print(device_facts["hostname"]) #mySRX
print(device_facts) # all in one line
device_facts_str=json.dumps(device_facts)
print(type(device_facts_str)) # string, because, json.dumps converts dict to str
print(json.dumps(device_facts))
print(json.dumps(device_facts, indent=4))
another_device_facts = '{"hostname": "R1", "uptime": "365 days", "serial_number": "ABC1234"}'
print(another_device_facts)
print(type(another_device_facts)) # str
another_device_facts_dict=json.loads(another_device_facts)
print(type(another_device_facts_dict)) # dict, becuase json.loads converts str to dict
print(another_device_facts_dict["uptime"])
and here is the output:
Hello!
Welcome to Data Serialization in Networking.
{
"vendor": "Juniper",
"model": "SRX380",
"version": "24.4R2",
"hostname": "mySRX",
"vlans": [
101,
102,
103
],
"vlan_settings": [
{
"id": 201,
"name": "employee_vlan"
},
{
"id": 202,
"name": "contractor_vlan"
},
{
"id": 203,
"name": "guest_vlan"
}
],
"vlans_dict": {
"301": "engg",
"302": "qa",
"303": "it"
},
"zones": [
"trust",
"untrust",
"dmz"
],
"interfaces": [
"ge-0/0/1",
"ge-0/0/2",
"ge-0/0/3"
],
"security_settings": [
{
"trust": "ge-0/0/1"
},
{
"untrust": "ge-0/0/2"
},
{
"dmz": "ge-0/0/3"
}
],
"host_inbound_traffic": [
{
"trust": "all"
},
{
"untrust": "ping"
},
{
"dmz": "https"
}
],
"snmp": {
"rw": "public",
"ro": "private"
},
"login": {
"users": [
"alice",
"bob"
],
"classes": [
"super-user",
"operator"
],
"message": "Welcome!",
"idle_timeout": 30
}
}
<class 'dict'>
mySRX
{'vendor': 'Juniper', 'model': 'SRX380', 'version': '24.4R2', 'hostname': 'mySRX', 'vlans': [101, 102, 103], 'vlan_settings': [{'id': 201, 'name': 'employee_vlan'}, {'id': 202, 'name': 'contractor_vlan'}, {'id': 203, 'name': 'guest_vlan'}], 'vlans_dict': {'301': 'engg', '302': 'qa', '303': 'it'}, 'zones': ['trust', 'untrust', 'dmz'], 'interfaces': ['ge-0/0/1', 'ge-0/0/2', 'ge-0/0/3'], 'security_settings': [{'trust': 'ge-0/0/1'}, {'untrust': 'ge-0/0/2'}, {'dmz': 'ge-0/0/3'}], 'host_inbound_traffic': [{'trust': 'all'}, {'untrust': 'ping'}, {'dmz': 'https'}], 'snmp': {'rw': 'public', 'ro': 'private'}, 'login': {'users': ['alice', 'bob'], 'classes': ['super-user', 'operator'], 'message': 'Welcome!', 'idle_timeout': 30}}
<class 'str'>
{"vendor": "Juniper", "model": "SRX380", "version": "24.4R2", "hostname": "mySRX", "vlans": [101, 102, 103], "vlan_settings": [{"id": 201, "name": "employee_vlan"}, {"id": 202, "name": "contractor_vlan"}, {"id": 203, "name": "guest_vlan"}], "vlans_dict": {"301": "engg", "302": "qa", "303": "it"}, "zones": ["trust", "untrust", "dmz"], "interfaces": ["ge-0/0/1", "ge-0/0/2", "ge-0/0/3"], "security_settings": [{"trust": "ge-0/0/1"}, {"untrust": "ge-0/0/2"}, {"dmz": "ge-0/0/3"}], "host_inbound_traffic": [{"trust": "all"}, {"untrust": "ping"}, {"dmz": "https"}], "snmp": {"rw": "public", "ro": "private"}, "login": {"users": ["alice", "bob"], "classes": ["super-user", "operator"], "message": "Welcome!", "idle_timeout": 30}}
{
"vendor": "Juniper",
"model": "SRX380",
"version": "24.4R2",
"hostname": "mySRX",
"vlans": [
101,
102,
103
],
"vlan_settings": [
{
"id": 201,
"name": "employee_vlan"
},
{
"id": 202,
"name": "contractor_vlan"
},
{
"id": 203,
"name": "guest_vlan"
}
],
"vlans_dict": {
"301": "engg",
"302": "qa",
"303": "it"
},
"zones": [
"trust",
"untrust",
"dmz"
],
"interfaces": [
"ge-0/0/1",
"ge-0/0/2",
"ge-0/0/3"
],
"security_settings": [
{
"trust": "ge-0/0/1"
},
{
"untrust": "ge-0/0/2"
},
{
"dmz": "ge-0/0/3"
}
],
"host_inbound_traffic": [
{
"trust": "all"
},
{
"untrust": "ping"
},
{
"dmz": "https"
}
],
"snmp": {
"rw": "public",
"ro": "private"
},
"login": {
"users": [
"alice",
"bob"
],
"classes": [
"super-user",
"operator"
],
"message": "Welcome!",
"idle_timeout": 30
}
}
{"hostname": "R1", "uptime": "365 days", "serial_number": "ABC1234"}
<class 'str'>
<class 'dict'>
365 days
Here is a sample XML file
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<inventory xmlns="https://www.acme.com/ns/routers"
xmlns:qa="https://www.acme.com/ns/routers/qa"
xmlns:dev="https://www.acme.com/ns/routers/dev">
<qa:device name="R1">
<qa:osversion>25.01</qa:osversion>
<qa:uptime>2 days</qa:uptime>
<qa:vendor>acme</qa:vendor>
<qa:serial>ABC12341</qa:serial>
<qa:snmp name="public" permission="ro"/>
<qa:snmp name="private" permission="rw"/>
</qa:device>
<qa:device name="R2">
<qa:osversion>25.01</qa:osversion>
<qa:uptime>14 days</qa:uptime>
<qa:vendor>acme</qa:vendor>
<qa:serial>ABC12342</qa:serial>
<qa:snmp name="public" permission="ro"/>
<qa:snmp name="private" permission="rw"/>
</qa:device>
<dev:device name="R3">
<dev:osversion>25.01</dev:osversion>
<dev:uptime>182 days</dev:uptime>
<dev:vendor>acme</dev:vendor>
<dev:serial>ABC12343</dev:serial>
<dev:snmp name="public" permission="ro"/>
<dev:snmp name="private" permission="rw"/>
</dev:device>
</inventory>
and the Python program
#! /Users/pradeep/opt/anaconda3/bin/python3
print("Hello!\nWelcome to Data Serialization in Networking.\n")
import os
import yaml
import json
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
import xmltodict
tree = ET.parse('myXMLdemo.xml')
myroot = tree.getroot()
print(myroot.tag)
for child in myroot:
print(child.tag, child.attrib)
for serial in myroot.iter('{https://www.acme.com/ns/routers/qa}serial'):
print(serial.text)
for serial in myroot.iter('{https://www.acme.com/ns/routers/dev}serial'):
print(serial.text)
for device in myroot.findall('{https://www.acme.com/ns/routers/qa}device'):
name=device.attrib['name']
serial=device.find('{https://www.acme.com/ns/routers/qa}serial').text
print(name, serial)
for snmp in myroot.iter('{https://www.acme.com/ns/routers/dev}snmp'):
print(snmp.attrib)
with open('myXMLdemo.xml') as xml_file:
xml = xmltodict.parse(xml_file.read())
print("Our XML file in Dictionary format\n")
print(json.dumps(xml, indent=4))
print("This time, without the @ attribute prefix:\n")
print(json.dumps(xml, indent=4).replace("@", "")) # to get rid of @ attr_prefix
and the output:
Hello!
Welcome to Data Serialization in Networking.
{https://www.acme.com/ns/routers}inventory
{https://www.acme.com/ns/routers/qa}device {'name': 'R1'}
{https://www.acme.com/ns/routers/qa}device {'name': 'R2'}
{https://www.acme.com/ns/routers/dev}device {'name': 'R3'}
ABC12341
ABC12342
ABC12343
R1 ABC12341
R2 ABC12342
{'name': 'public', 'permission': 'ro'}
{'name': 'private', 'permission': 'rw'}
Our XML file in Dictionary format
{
"inventory": {
"@xmlns": "https://www.acme.com/ns/routers",
"@xmlns:qa": "https://www.acme.com/ns/routers/qa",
"@xmlns:dev": "https://www.acme.com/ns/routers/dev",
"qa:device": [
{
"@name": "R1",
"qa:osversion": "25.01",
"qa:uptime": "2 days",
"qa:vendor": "acme",
"qa:serial": "ABC12341",
"qa:snmp": [
{
"@name": "public",
"@permission": "ro"
},
{
"@name": "private",
"@permission": "rw"
}
]
},
{
"@name": "R2",
"qa:osversion": "25.01",
"qa:uptime": "14 days",
"qa:vendor": "acme",
"qa:serial": "ABC12342",
"qa:snmp": [
{
"@name": "public",
"@permission": "ro"
},
{
"@name": "private",
"@permission": "rw"
}
]
}
],
"dev:device": {
"@name": "R3",
"dev:osversion": "25.01",
"dev:uptime": "182 days",
"dev:vendor": "acme",
"dev:serial": "ABC12343",
"dev:snmp": [
{
"@name": "public",
"@permission": "ro"
},
{
"@name": "private",
"@permission": "rw"
}
]
}
}
}
This time, without the @ attribute prefix:
{
"inventory": {
"xmlns": "https://www.acme.com/ns/routers",
"xmlns:qa": "https://www.acme.com/ns/routers/qa",
"xmlns:dev": "https://www.acme.com/ns/routers/dev",
"qa:device": [
{
"name": "R1",
"qa:osversion": "25.01",
"qa:uptime": "2 days",
"qa:vendor": "acme",
"qa:serial": "ABC12341",
"qa:snmp": [
{
"name": "public",
"permission": "ro"
},
{
"name": "private",
"permission": "rw"
}
]
},
{
"name": "R2",
"qa:osversion": "25.01",
"qa:uptime": "14 days",
"qa:vendor": "acme",
"qa:serial": "ABC12342",
"qa:snmp": [
{
"name": "public",
"permission": "ro"
},
{
"name": "private",
"permission": "rw"
}
]
}
],
"dev:device": {
"name": "R3",
"dev:osversion": "25.01",
"dev:uptime": "182 days",
"dev:vendor": "acme",
"dev:serial": "ABC12343",
"dev:snmp": [
{
"name": "public",
"permission": "ro"
},
{
"name": "private",
"permission": "rw"
}
]
}
}
}
