|BuildStatus| |License|

|BoxImage|

.. code:: python

    from box import Box

    movie_box = Box({ "Robin Hood: Men in Tights": { "imdb stars": 6.7, "length": 104 } })

    movie_box.Robin_Hood_Men_in_Tights.imdb_stars
    # 6.7

Box will automatically make otherwise inaccessible keys safe to access as an attribute. You can always pass conversion_box=False to Box to disable that behavior. Also, all new dict and lists added to a Box or BoxList object are converted automatically.

There are over a half dozen ways to customize your Box and make it work for you.

Check out the new Box github wiki <https://github.com/cdgriffith/Box/wiki>_ for more details and examples!

Install

Version Pin Your Box!

If you aren't in the habit of version pinning your libraries, it will eventually bite you. Box has a list of breaking change <https://github.com/cdgriffith/Box/wiki/Major-Version-Breaking-Changes>_ between major versions you should always check out before updating.

requirements.txt

.. code:: text

    python-box[all]~=7.0

As Box adheres to semantic versioning (aka API changes will only occur on between major version), it is best to use Compatible release <https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0440/#compatible-release>_ matching using the ~= clause.

Install from command line

.. code:: bash

    python -m pip install --upgrade pip
    pip install python-box[all]~=7.0 --upgrade

Install with selected dependencies

Box does not install external dependencies such as yaml and toml writers. Instead you can specify which you want, for example, [all] is shorthand for:

.. code:: bash

    pip install python-box[ruamel.yaml,tomli_w,msgpack]~=7.0 --upgrade

But you can also sub out ruamel.yaml for PyYAML.

Check out more details <https://github.com/cdgriffith/Box/wiki/Installation>_ on installation details.

Box 7 is tested on python 3.7+, if you are upgrading from previous versions, please look through any breaking changes and new features <https://github.com/cdgriffith/Box/wiki/Major-Version-Breaking-Changes>_.

Optimized Version

Box has introduced Cython optimizations for major platforms by default. Loading large data sets can be up to 10x faster!

If you are not on a x86_64 supported system you will need to do some extra work to install the optimized version. There will be an warning of "WARNING: Cython not installed, could not optimize box" during install. You will need python development files, system compiler, and the python packages Cython and wheel.

Linux Example:

First make sure you have python development files installed (python3-dev or python3-devel in most repos). You will then need Cython and wheel installed and then install (or re-install with --force) python-box.

.. code:: bash

    pip install Cython wheel
    pip install python-box[all]~=7.0 --upgrade --force

If you have any issues please open a github issue with the error you are experiencing!

Overview

Box is designed to be a near transparent drop in replacements for dictionaries that add dot notation access and other powerful feature.

There are a lot of types of boxes <https://github.com/cdgriffith/Box/wiki/Types-of-Boxes>_ to customize it for your needs, as well as handy converters <https://github.com/cdgriffith/Box/wiki/Converters>_!

Keep in mind any sub dictionaries or ones set after initiation will be automatically converted to a Box object, and lists will be converted to BoxList, all other objects stay intact.

Check out the Quick Start <https://github.com/cdgriffith/Box/wiki/Quick-Start>_ for more in depth details.

Box can be instantiated the same ways as dict.

.. code:: python

    Box({'data': 2, 'count': 5})
    Box(data=2, count=5)
    Box({'data': 2, 'count': 1}, count=5)
    Box([('data', 2), ('count', 5)])

    # All will create
    # <Box: {'data': 2, 'count': 5}>

Box is a subclass of dict which overrides some base functionality to make sure everything stored in the dict can be accessed as an attribute or key value.

.. code:: python

  small_box = Box({'data': 2, 'count': 5})
  small_box.data == small_box['data'] == getattr(small_box, 'data')

All dicts (and lists) added to a Box will be converted on insertion to a Box (or BoxList), allowing for recursive dot notation access.

Box also includes helper functions to transform it back into a dict, as well as into JSON, YAML, TOML, or msgpack strings or files.

Thanks

A huge thank you to everyone that has given features and feedback over the years to Box! Check out everyone that has contributed_.

A big thanks to Python Software Foundation, and PSF-Trademarks Committee, for official approval to use the Python logo on the Box logo!

Also special shout-out to PythonBytes_, who featured Box on their podcast.

License

MIT License, Copyright (c) 2017-2023 Chris Griffith. See LICENSE_ file.

.. |BoxImage| image:: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cdgriffith/Box/master/box_logo.png :target: https://github.com/cdgriffith/Box .. |BuildStatus| image:: https://github.com/cdgriffith/Box/workflows/Tests/badge.svg?branch=master :target: https://github.com/cdgriffith/Box/actions?query=workflow%3ATests .. |License| image:: https://img.shields.io/pypi/l/python-box.svg :target: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/python-box/

.. _PythonBytes: https://pythonbytes.fm/episodes/show/19/put-your-python-dictionaries-in-a-box-and-apparently-python-is-really-wanted .. _contributed: AUTHORS.rst .. _Wrapt Documentation: https://wrapt.readthedocs.io/en/latest .. _reusables: https://github.com/cdgriffith/reusables#reusables .. _created: https://github.com/cdgriffith/Reusables/commit/df20de4db74371c2fedf1578096f3e29c93ccdf3#diff-e9a0f470ef3e8afb4384dc2824943048R51 .. _LICENSE: https://github.com/cdgriffith/Box/blob/master/LICENSE