# Passing nested arguments to a module **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [December 9, 2013, 10:18am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-nested-arguments-to-a-module/14102 "2013-12-09T10:18:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Giorgio\_Valoti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Giorgio\_Valoti](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Giorgio_Valoti)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 10:18am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-nested-arguments-to-a-module/14102/1 "2013-12-09T10:18:20Z")
Hi, I’m trying to extend the ZFS module to add support for user properties. My plan was to add a new module argument, called (guess what) `user_properties` which accepts a list of dictionaries: [{key: 'my.module.name:key-name', value: 'whatever'}, ...] However, I get this error message: > msg: this module requires key=value arguments Even though I can pass an empty list or a list with string items, like ['a', 'b', 'c']. Is there a way to do this? Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan2)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 1:57pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-nested-arguments-to-a-module/14102/2 "2013-12-09T13:57:18Z")
(This is really a question for ansible-devel list) In the argument\_spec of the module that defines the argument, just do type=‘dict’ It will accept complex arguments as well as quoted key=value pairs. module\_name: foo: x: 1 y: “bar” baz: “glorp” Is how complex args are passed Or module\_name: ‘foo=“x=1 y=bar” baz=“glorp”’ This is exactly how the ec2 module in 1.4/1.5 processes and passes instance tags, if you want to take a look. It also knows how to parse inline JSON, so it is very much a “do what you mean” kind of input. ---
**Author:** ![Giorgio\_Valoti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Giorgio\_Valoti](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Giorgio_Valoti)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-nested-arguments-to-a-module/14102/3 "2013-12-09T16:03:39Z")
Michael DeHaan \ writes: > (This is really a question for ansible-devel list) Thank you for pointing it out, I wasn’t sure about that. > In the argument\_spec of the module that defines the argument, just do > > type='dict' > > It will accept complex arguments as well as quoted key=value pairs. > > module\_name: >   foo: >      x: 1 >      y: "bar" >   baz: "glorp" > > Is how complex args are passed > > Or > > module\_name: 'foo="x=1 y=bar" baz="glorp"' > > This is exactly how the ec2 module in 1.4/1.5 processes and passes instance > tags, if you want to take a look. > > It also knows how to parse inline JSON, so it is very much a "do what you > mean" kind of input. Super. Thanks a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Giorgio\_Valoti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Giorgio\_Valoti](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Giorgio_Valoti)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 7:28am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-nested-arguments-to-a-module/14102/4 "2013-12-10T07:28:52Z")
Michael DeHaan \ writes: > In the argument\_spec of the module that defines the argument, just do > > type='dict' > > It will accept complex arguments as well as quoted key=value pairs. > > module\_name: >   foo: >      x: 1 >      y: "bar" >   baz: "glorp" > > Is how complex args are passed > > Or > > module\_name: 'foo="x=1 y=bar" baz="glorp"' > > This is exactly how the ec2 module in 1.4/1.5 processes and passes instance > tags, if you want to take a look. > > It also knows how to parse inline JSON, so it is very much a "do what you > mean" kind of input. It works perfectly with a single item: zfs:    state: present    name: ...    ...    user\_properties:        k: v        ... But I can’t find a way to iterate over it. Ideally, I’d like to write something like: zfs: {{ item }} with\_items: [{name: 'x', state: 'present', user\_properties: {...}},              {name: 'y', state: 'present', mountpoint: '/path/to/mnt', ...} ] When the property keys are variable but properties are all strings I can write something like this: module\_name: state={{ item.state }}              name={{ item.name }}              {{ 'prop=%s' % item.prop if item.prop is defined else '' }}              ... I don’t like it, it’s verbose, and there’s probably a better way to do it, but it works, if only with simple properties. So my question becames how to iterate over a list of dictionaries, possibily nested, with different keys? Thanks a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan2)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-nested-arguments-to-a-module/14102/5 "2013-12-10T16:49:41Z")
You can definitely pass in with\_items with a list of hashes. module\_name: foo={{ [item.name](http://item.name) }} bar={{ item.value }} with\_items: - { name: ‘x’, value: ‘y’ } - { name: ‘a’, value: ‘b’ } etc or with\_items: alist\_of\_hashes etc or as you have it, with with\_items: [{ name: ‘x’, value: ‘y’ }, { name: ‘a’, value: ‘b’ }] It seems like in your question instead of zfs: {{ item }} you might need to pass something more specific? zfs: {{ item.zfs }} ?? am I misunderstanding the question ? ---
**Author:** ![Giorgio\_Valoti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Giorgio\_Valoti](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Giorgio_Valoti)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-nested-arguments-to-a-module/14102/6 "2013-12-10T17:47:04Z")
Michael DeHaan \ writes: > You can definitely pass in with\_items with a list of hashes. > > module\_name: foo={{ item.name }} bar={{ item.value }} > with\_items: >    - { name: 'x', value: 'y' } >    - { name: 'a', value: 'b' } > > etc > > or with\_items: alist\_of\_hashes > > etc > > or as you have it, with > > with\_items: [{ name: 'x', value: 'y' }, { name: 'a', value: 'b' }] > > It seems like in your question instead of > > zfs: {{ item }} > > you might need to pass something more specific? > > zfs: {{ item.zfs }} > > ?? > > am I misunderstanding the question ? Maybe or, more probably, I can’t explain myself. 🙂 Starting from your example, let’s add an attribute only in the second item: module\_name: foo={{ item.name }} bar={{ item.value }} with\_items:    - { name: 'x', value: 'y' }    - { name: 'a', value: 'b', extra: 'xtr' } How should deal with it? Is adding {{ 'extra=%s' % item.extra if item.extra is defined else '' }} the preferred way? Now let’s say that `extra` is a map: module\_name: foo={{ item.name }} bar={{ item.value }} with\_items:    - { name: 'x', value: 'y' }    - { name: 'a', value: 'b', extra: {k: 'v'} } If I use the `defined` check shown above the module gets a string, I believe. I hope I didn’t mess up too much my argument 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Giorgio\_Valoti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Giorgio\_Valoti](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Giorgio_Valoti)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-nested-arguments-to-a-module/14102/7 "2013-12-11T18:05:35Z")
Giorgio Valoti \ writes: > Michael DeHaan \ writes: > > > am I misunderstanding the question ? > > Maybe or, more probably, I can’t explain myself. 🙂 Well, I guess I really can’t explain myself! 😃 No suggestions on this? Thank you in advance.