dictify.py

import datetime
import re

def dictify( data, includeInstanceMethods = False):
	"""
		Serializes a given python object and returns an object that is safe to be converted to a JSON string
		Serializes the given data to a json serializable format.
		1. ignores methods and instance methods
		2. Serializes instance objects to a dictionary
		3. Serializes recursivley on objects and iterable data structures
	"""
	#if class instance apply dictify on data.__dict__
	cls = re.compile("<class .*>").match(str(type(data)))
	if cls:
		result =  dictify(data.__dict__, includeInstanceMethods)
		if includeInstanceMethods:
			for attr in dir(data):
				if not attr.startswith('__') and not attr.endswith('__') and attr not in result:
					result[attr]= 'Instance Method'
		return result
	if type(data) in [datetime.datetime, datetime.date, datetime.time]:
		return str(data)
	dataType = re.compile("<type .*>").match(str(type(data)))
	if dataType:
		if not '__iter__' in dir(data):
			return data
		else:
			if type(data) == dict:
				result = {}
				for key in data.keys():
					result[key]=dictify(data[key], includeInstanceMethods)
				return result	
			else: 
				return list([dictify(item, includeInstanceMethods) for item in data])