Error when Inserting data with numerical keys into mongodb (GPS data in a python dictionary)

Question

I'm trying to store some image metadata into MongoDB using pymongo . But I'm getting an error when inserting.

#Data in Dictionary
gps = {'GPSInfo': {1: 'N', 2: ((38, 1), (54, 1), (3540, 100)), 3: 'E', 4: ((1, 1), (26, 1), (1920, 100)), 5: b'\x00', 6: (0, 1), 7: ((11, 1), (7, 1), (47, 1)), 16: 'T', 17: (5338, 65), 29: '2011:09:04'}}


import pymongo
mng_client = pymongo.MongoClient('localhost', 27017)
mng_db = mng_client['pic_db'] 
collection_name = 'pic_audit_log2' 
db_cm = mng_db[collection_name]


# Insert data from a dictionary
db_cm.remove()
db_cm.insert(gps)

Error

InvalidDocument: documents must have only string keys, key was 1

Do I have to change all numerical dictionary keys into strings? It works when I do so.

d = {str(a):{str(c):d for c,d in b.items()} if isinstance(b,dict) else b for a,b in gps.items()}

# Insert data from dictionary
db_cm.remove()
db_cm.insert(d)

Is there any other better option?

Answer 1

The mongo shell will convert the integers into strings for you when inserting data, but pymongo won't. Your workaround is likely as good as any.