Ever had an enormous dict you needed to search for a simple string?

search_dict.py

import re


def search(d, pattern, name='root'):
    if not hasattr(pattern, 'match'):
        pattern = re.compile(re.escape(pattern), re.I)
    results = []
    _keystr = lambda key, item: '%s[%r]' % (key, item)

    def _value(v, key):
        # TODO: how to key set?
        if isinstance(v, (list, tuple, set)):
            for i, c in enumerate(v):
                _value(c, _keystr(key, i))
        elif isinstance(v, dict):
            for k, v in v.iteritems():
                _value(v, _keystr(key, k))
        else:
            v = str(v)
            _check(v, key)

    def _check(s, key):
        match = pattern.search(s)
        if match:
            results.append((key, s))

    _value(d, name)
    return results