CODEWITHSUNDEEP
ansible
hiddenicon
hiddenicon

Reputation: 581

Ansible list of lists - flattening

I am using a set_fact in a playbook to gather data using a regex_findall(). I'm pulling out two groups with the regex and the ending result becomes a list of lists. 

set_fact: nestedList="{{ myOutput.stdout[0] | regex_findall('(.*?)\n markerText(.*)')}}"

A example dump of the list looks like:

[[a,b],[c,d],[e,f],[g,h]]

I need to iterate through the parent list, and take the two parts of each sub-list and use them together. I tried with_items, and with_nested but do not get the results I'm looking for.

Using the example above, in one loop pass I need to work with 'a' and 'b'. An example could be item.0 = 'a' and item.1 = 'b'. On the next loop pass, item.0 = 'c' and item.1 = 'd'.

I can't seem to get it correct when it is a list of lists like that. If I take the list above and just output it, the 'item' iterates through every item in all of the sub-lists.

- debug:
    msg: "{{ item }}"
    with_items: "{{ nestedList }}"

The result from this looks like:

a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h

How can I iterate through the parent list, and use the items in the sub-lists?

Upvotes: 3

Views: 8170

Answers (1)

Konstantin Suvorov
Konstantin Suvorov

Reputation: 68239

You want to use with_list instead of with_items.

with_items forcefully flattens nested lists, while with_list feeds argument as is.

---
- hosts: localhost
  gather_facts: no
  vars:
    nested_list: [[a,b],[c,d],[e,f],[g,h]]
  tasks:
    - debug: msg="{{ item[0] }} {{ item[1] }}"
      with_list: "{{ nested_list }}"

Upvotes: 6

Related Questions