Avoiding "TypeError: string indices must be integers"

When attempting to manipulate data from a JSON file into a comprehensible CSV format, you may encounter the "TypeError: string indices must be integers" error. This error arises when accessing fields of a string as if it were a dictionary. Let's explore the solution.

Understanding the Error

To understand the error, it's important to note that strings in Python cannot be indexed like dictionaries. In dictionaries, keys can be accessed as strings, e.g., dictionary["key"]. In contrast, accessing fields of a string must be done using integer indices, as shown in the following example:

mystring = "helloworld"
print(mystring[0])  # Outputs 'h', as '0' refers to the first character

Applying the Solution

In your code, you are trying to access fields of the item variable, which is of type string:

csv_file.writerow([item["gravatar_id"], item["position"], item["number"]])

To resolve the issue, convert the item variable to a dictionary before accessing its fields:

csv_file.writerow([item.get("gravatar_id"), item.get("position"), item.get("number")])

Alternatively, you can use the json module's loads() function to convert the item string directly to a dictionary:

item_dict = json.loads(item)
csv_file.writerow([item_dict["gravatar_id"], item_dict["position"], item_dict["number")])

These modifications will ensure that you access fields using integer indices, resolving the "TypeError: string indices must be integers" error.