Python: I have a list of dictionaries but when I try to call a specific Key and Value it is throwing a error

Question

def readParksFile(fileName="national_parks(1).csv"):
    nationalParks = open(fileName)
    headers = nationalParks.readline()
    keys = headers.split(",")
    numKeys = len(keys)
    parksList = []
    values = nationalParks.readlines()
    rowsList = []
    parksDictionary = {}
    for row in values:
        rowsList.append(row.split(","))
    for item in rowsList:
        parksDictionary = {}
        for i in range(numKeys):
            parksDictionary[keys[i]] = item[i]
        parksList.append(parksDictionary)
    for i in range(len(parksList)):
        return(parksList[i])

    nationalParks.close()

I created a list of dictionaries using the code above

def printParksInState(parksList):
    state = getStateAbbr()
    for parksDictionary in parksList:
        if state in parksDictionary["State"]:
            print(parksDictionary["Name"] + " (" + parksDictionary["Code"] + ")")
            print("\t" + "Location:" + parksDictionary["State"])
            print("\t" + "Area:" + parksDictionary["Acres"] + " acres")
            print("\t" + "Date Established:" + tasks.convertDate(parksDictionary["Date"]))
        else:
            print("There are no national parks in " + state + " or it is not a valid state")

I have functions that uses the list of dictionaries to print information

def main():
    print("National Parks")

    parksList = tasks.readParksFile()
    menuDict = interface.getMenuDict()

    choice = ("")
    while choice != "Q":
        print(interface.displayMenu(menuDict))
        choice = interface.getUserChoice(menuDict)
        if choice == "A":
            interface.printAllParks(parksList)
        elif choice == "B":
            interface.printParksInState(parksList)
        elif choice == "C":
            interface.printLargestPark(parksList)
        elif choice == "D":
            interface.printParksForSearch(parksList)
        else:
            print("This is not an option")

In my main function I call the other functions that uses the list of dictionaries

Error However no matter what function I call it throws the error that string indices must be integers and I am not sure what this error is or how to fix it. Please help!

Answer 1

The error is telling you that parksDictionary isn't a dict, it's a str.

The bug is in readParksFile, which is only returning a single item:

    for i in range(len(parksList)):
        return(parksList[i])

It should instead just do:

    nationalParks.close()
    return parksList

As soon as you return, the function is done, so you can only return one thing, and you should close() the file before then.