TypeError: string indices must be integers, why?

Question

i have

TypeError: string indices must be integers

with these code, help me find a bug please, i dont know how to fix it

from xml.etree import cElementTree as ET
from collections import defaultdict
def etree_to_dict(t):
d = {t.tag: {} if t.attrib else None}
children = list(t)
if children:
  dd = defaultdict(list)
  for dc in map(etree_to_dict, children):
    for k, v in dc.items():
      dd[k].append(v)
      d = {t.tag: {k: v[0] if len(v) == 1 else v for k, v in dd.items()}}
      if t.attrib:
        d[t.tag].update(('@' + k, v) for k, v in t.attrib.items())
      if t.text:
        text = t.text.strip()
        if children or t.attrib:
          if text:
            d[t.tag]['#text'] = text
          else:
            d[t.tag] = text
          return d

I think problem is here

e = ET.parse('adversolutions.xml')
d = etree_to_dict(e.getroot())
products = d['yml_catalog']['shop5']

for p in products:
  product = Product()
  product.name = p['name']
  product.description = p['description']
  product.price = p['price']
  product.category = p['category']
  product.external_url = p['url']
  product.category_id = p['categoryId']
  product.currencies = p['currencies']

  product.save()

all this to deserialize xml and save the data and model django all traceback:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "manage.py", line 10, in <module>
    execute_from_command_line(sys.argv)
  File "/home/alexandr/beo/lib/python3.4/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 385, in execute_from_command_line
    utility.execute()
  File "/home/alexandr/beo/lib/python3.4/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 354, in execute
    django.setup()
  File "/home/alexandr/beo/lib/python3.4/site-packages/django/__init__.py", line 21, in setup
    apps.populate(settings.INSTALLED_APPS)
  File "/home/alexandr/beo/lib/python3.4/site-packages/django/apps/registry.py", line 108, in populate
    app_config.import_models(all_models)
  File "/home/alexandr/beo/lib/python3.4/site-packages/django/apps/config.py", line 202, in import_models
    self.models_module = import_module(models_module_name)
  File "/home/alexandr/beo/lib/python3.4/importlib/__init__.py", line 109, in import_module
    return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 2254, in _gcd_import
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 2237, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 2226, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1200, in _load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1129, in _exec
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1471, in exec_module
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 321, in _call_with_frames_removed
  File "/home/alexandr/beo/posts/models.py", line 9, in <module>
    from products.models import Product
  File "/home/alexandr/beo/products/models.py", line 155, in <module>
    product.name = p['name']
TypeError: string indices must be integers

with this line all works

products = d['yml_catalog']['shop5']

problems starts here:

for p in products:
  product = Product()
  product.name = p['name']
  product.description = p['description']
  product.price = p['price']
  product.category = p['category']
  product.external_url = p['url']
  product.category_id = p['categoryId']
  product.currencies = p['currencies']

  product.save()

print(products): peace of large xml file

'@available': 'true', 'param': {'@name': 'Размер', '@unit': 'INT', '#text': 'L'}, '@id': '117213', 'name': 'Штаны Pocket Grey', 'oldprice': '1990', '@group_id': '1172', 'description': None, 'picture': 'http:///upload/iblock/559/559b4fe1c3b397bf84eb16686bd5aadf.jpg', 'url': 'http:///catalog/shtany/galife_pocket_grey/', 'currencyId': 'RUB', 'price': '1990'}, {'vendor': 'Envy Lab', '@available': 'true', 'param': {'@name': 'Размер', '@unit': 'INT', '#text': 'S'}, '@id': '117511', 'name': 'Галифе Dark Black', 'oldprice': '1990', '@group_id': '1175', 'description': None, 'picture': 'http:///upload/iblock/11d/11d1c223f4e65b347cd5823fff9e5e9b.jpg', 'url': 'http:///catalog/shtany/galife_dark_black/', 'currencyId': 'RUB', 'price': '1990'}, {'vendor': 'Envy Lab', '@available': 'true', 'param': {'@name': 'Размер', '@unit': 'INT', '#text': 'M'}, '@id': '117512', 'name': 'Галифе Dark Black', 'oldprice': '1990', '@group_id': '1175', 'description': None, 'picture': 'http:///upload/iblock/11d/11d1c223f4e65b347cd5823fff9e5e9b.jpg', 'url': 'http:///catalog/shtany/galife_dark_black/', 'currencyId': 'RUB', 'price': '1990'}, {'vendor': 'Envy Lab', '@available': 'true', 'param': {'@name': 'Размер', '@unit': 'INT', '#text': 'L'}, '@id': '117513', 'name': 'Галифе Dark Black', 'oldprice': '1990', '@group_id': '1175', 'description': None, 'picture': 'http:///upload/iblock/11d/11d1c223f4e65b347cd5823fff9e5e9b.jpg', 'url': 'http:///catalog/shtany/galife_dark_black/', 'currencyId': 'RUB', 'price': '1990'}]}, 'url': 'http://www.envylab.ru', 'name': 'Envylab', 'categories': {'category': [{'#text': 'Поло', '@id': '61'}, {'#text': 'Толстовки', '@id': '65'}, {'#text': 'Штаны', '@id': '72'}, {'#text': 'Шапки', '@id': '74'}, {'#text': 'Рубашки', '@id': '76'}]}, 'company': 'Envylab'}

print(p): one of the results

categories

print(type(products))

<class 'dict'>

normally a reported error will be reported against a specific line which you've failed to include — EdChum
print the result of this line products = d['yml_catalog']['shop5'] and add it to the question — v1k45

Jérôme Jérôme · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-31T12:33:39

You have a traceback that says

product.name = p['name']
TypeError: string indices must be integers

which means that apparently p is a string, while you're trying to use it like a dictionary.

You're right that the issue appears around here (although it probably comes from a problem before you get there):

products = d['yml_catalog']['shop5']

# Please add this print
print(products)
print(type(products))

for p in products:
    # Please add this print
    print(p)
    product = Product()
    product.name = p['name']
...

Apparently, you expect products to be a list of dictionaries, but you get a list of strings.

It should be easy to verify by printing products before the loop and/or p at the beginning of the loop.

print is a great and simple debug tool, well suited for these kind of issues.

Edit

It is unclear what products is. You may also print its type (see edited code above).

TypeError: string indices must be integers, why?

1 Answers

Edit