Generate Random Json Structure Permutations For A Data Set

I want to generate many different permutations of JSON structures as a representation of the same data set, preferably without having to hard code the implementation. For example,

Solution 1:

For ordering, just use ordered dicts:

>>> data = OrderedDict(foo='bar', bacon='eggs', bar='foo', eggs='bacon')
>>> for p in itertools.permutations(data.items()):
...     test_data = json.dumps(OrderedDict(p))
... print(test_data)
... assert json.loads(test_data) == data, 'Oops! {} != {}'.format(test_data, data)

{"foo": "bar", "bacon": "eggs", "bar": "foo", "eggs": "bacon"}
{"foo": "bar", "bacon": "eggs", "eggs": "bacon", "bar": "foo"}
{"foo": "bar", "bar": "foo", "bacon": "eggs", "eggs": "bacon"}
{"foo": "bar", "bar": "foo", "eggs": "bacon", "bacon": "eggs"}
{"foo": "bar", "eggs": "bacon", "bacon": "eggs", "bar": "foo"}
{"foo": "bar", "eggs": "bacon", "bar": "foo", "bacon": "eggs"}
{"bacon": "eggs", "foo": "bar", "bar": "foo", "eggs": "bacon"}
{"bacon": "eggs", "foo": "bar", "eggs": "bacon", "bar": "foo"}
{"bacon": "eggs", "bar": "foo", "foo": "bar", "eggs": "bacon"}
{"bacon": "eggs", "bar": "foo", "eggs": "bacon", "foo": "bar"}
{"bacon": "eggs", "eggs": "bacon", "foo": "bar", "bar": "foo"}
{"bacon": "eggs", "eggs": "bacon", "bar": "foo", "foo": "bar"}
{"bar": "foo", "foo": "bar", "bacon": "eggs", "eggs": "bacon"}
{"bar": "foo", "foo": "bar", "eggs": "bacon", "bacon": "eggs"}
{"bar": "foo", "bacon": "eggs", "foo": "bar", "eggs": "bacon"}
{"bar": "foo", "bacon": "eggs", "eggs": "bacon", "foo": "bar"}
{"bar": "foo", "eggs": "bacon", "foo": "bar", "bacon": "eggs"}
{"bar": "foo", "eggs": "bacon", "bacon": "eggs", "foo": "bar"}
{"eggs": "bacon", "foo": "bar", "bacon": "eggs", "bar": "foo"}
{"eggs": "bacon", "foo": "bar", "bar": "foo", "bacon": "eggs"}
{"eggs": "bacon", "bacon": "eggs", "foo": "bar", "bar": "foo"}
{"eggs": "bacon", "bacon": "eggs", "bar": "foo", "foo": "bar"}
{"eggs": "bacon", "bar": "foo", "foo": "bar", "bacon": "eggs"}
{"eggs": "bacon", "bar": "foo", "bacon": "eggs", "foo": "bar"}

The same principle can be applied for key/value permutations:

>>> for p in itertools.permutations(data.keys()):
...:     test_data = json.dumps(OrderedDict(zip(p, data.values())))
...:     print(test_data)
...:     
{"foo": "bar", "bacon": "eggs", "bar": "foo", "eggs": "bacon"}
{"foo": "bar", "bacon": "eggs", "eggs": "foo", "bar": "bacon"}
{"foo": "bar", "bar": "eggs", "bacon": "foo", "eggs": "bacon"}
{"foo": "bar", "bar": "eggs", "eggs": "foo", "bacon": "bacon"}
{"foo": "bar", "eggs": "eggs", "bacon": "foo", "bar": "bacon"}
{"foo": "bar", "eggs": "eggs", "bar": "foo", "bacon": "bacon"}
{"bacon": "bar", "foo": "eggs", "bar": "foo", "eggs": "bacon"}
{"bacon": "bar", "foo": "eggs", "eggs": "foo", "bar": "bacon"}
{"bacon": "bar", "bar": "eggs", "foo": "foo", "eggs": "bacon"}
{"bacon": "bar", "bar": "eggs", "eggs": "foo", "foo": "bacon"}
{"bacon": "bar", "eggs": "eggs", "foo": "foo", "bar": "bacon"}
{"bacon": "bar", "eggs": "eggs", "bar": "foo", "foo": "bacon"}
{"bar": "bar", "foo": "eggs", "bacon": "foo", "eggs": "bacon"}
{"bar": "bar", "foo": "eggs", "eggs": "foo", "bacon": "bacon"}
{"bar": "bar", "bacon": "eggs", "foo": "foo", "eggs": "bacon"}
{"bar": "bar", "bacon": "eggs", "eggs": "foo", "foo": "bacon"}
{"bar": "bar", "eggs": "eggs", "foo": "foo", "bacon": "bacon"}
{"bar": "bar", "eggs": "eggs", "bacon": "foo", "foo": "bacon"}
{"eggs": "bar", "foo": "eggs", "bacon": "foo", "bar": "bacon"}
{"eggs": "bar", "foo": "eggs", "bar": "foo", "bacon": "bacon"}
{"eggs": "bar", "bacon": "eggs", "foo": "foo", "bar": "bacon"}
{"eggs": "bar", "bacon": "eggs", "bar": "foo", "foo": "bacon"}
{"eggs": "bar", "bar": "eggs", "foo": "foo", "bacon": "bacon"}
{"eggs": "bar", "bar": "eggs", "bacon": "foo", "foo": "bacon"}

And so on... You can just use a predefined set of keys/values if you don't need all combinations. You can also use a for loop with random.choice to flip a coin in order to skip some combinations or use random.shuffle at the risk of repeating combinations.

For the template thing I guess you must create a list (or a list of lists if you want nested structures) of different templates and then iterate over it in order to create your data. In order to give a better suggestion we need a more constrained specification of what you want.

Note that there are several libraries that generate test data in Python:

>>> from faker import Faker
>>> faker = Faker()
>>> faker.credit_card_full().strip().split('\n')
['VISA 13 digit', 'Jerry Gutierrez', '4885274641760 04/24', 'CVC: 583']

Faker has several schemas and it is easy to create your own custom fake data providers.

Solution 2:

Since the shuffle for the dict order has already been answered, I'll skip that.

I'll add to this answer as new things come to mind.

from random import randint
from collections import OrderedDict

#Randomly shuffles the key-value pairs of a dictionarydefrandom_dict_items(input_dict):
    items = input_dict.items()
    new_dict = OrderedDict()
    for i in items:
        rand = randint(0, 1)
        if rand == 0:
            new_dict[i[0]] = i[1]
        else:
            new_dict[i[1]] = i[0]
    return new_dict