old_contents: #!/usr/bin/env python
  # -*- coding:utf-8 -*-
  
  # Copyright 2015 Pablo Santiago Blum de Aguiar <scorphus@gmail.com>. All rights
  # reserved. Use of this source code is governed by Apache License, Version 2.0,
  # that can be found on https://opensource.org/licenses/Apache-2.0
  
  import sys
  
  try:
      import ujson as json
  except:
      sys.stderr.write('You better install ujson!\n')
      import json
  
  
  def usage(json_dict=None):
      print main.__doc__
      if json_dict:
          print 'Available keys:\n  {}'.format(
              '\n  '.join(sorted(json_dict.keys()))
          )
  
  
  def main(argv):
      '''Usage: extract_json.py <json-file> <key>[.<key>...]'''
  
      if len(argv) < 1:
          usage()
          return 1
  
      if not sys.stdin.isatty():
          try:
              json_dict = json.load(sys.stdin)
          except Exception as e:
              print 'Could not read from STDIN: {}'.format(e)
              return 2
          keys = [x for x in argv[1].split('.')] if len(argv) > 1 else []
      else:
          with open(sys.argv[1]) as json_file:
              try:
                  json_dict = json.load(json_file)
              except Exception as e:
                  print 'Could not read {}: {}'.format(sys.argv[1], e)
                  return 2
          keys = [x for x in argv[2].split('.')] if len(argv) > 2 else []
  
      if not keys:
          usage(json_dict)
          return 3
  
      for key in keys:
          try:
              idx = int(key)
              key = idx
          except:
              pass
          try:
              json_dict = json_dict[key]
          except:
              json_dict = ''
  
      try:
          print(json_dict.encode('utf8') if json_dict else '')
      except:
          print(json.dumps(json_dict).encode('utf8') if json_dict else '')
  
  
  if __name__ == '__main__':
      status = main(sys.argv)
      sys.exit(status)
  
new_contents: #!/usr/bin/env python
  # -*- coding:utf-8 -*-
  
  # Copyright 2015 Pablo Santiago Blum de Aguiar <scorphus@gmail.com>. All rights
  # reserved. Use of this source code is governed by Apache License, Version 2.0,
  # that can be found on https://opensource.org/licenses/Apache-2.0
  
  import sys
  
  try:
      import ujson as json
  except:
      sys.stderr.write('You better install ujson!\n')
      import json
  
  
  def usage(json_dict=None):
      print main.__doc__
      if json_dict:
          print 'Available keys:\n  {}'.format(
              '\n  '.join(sorted(json_dict.keys()))
          )
  
  
  def main(argv):
      '''Usage: extract_json.py <json-file> <key>[.<key>...]'''
  
      if len(argv) < 1:
          usage()
          return 1
  
      if not sys.stdin.isatty():
          try:
              json_dict = json.load(sys.stdin)
          except Exception as e:
              print 'Could not read from STDIN: {}'.format(e)
              return 2
          keys = [x for x in argv[1].split('.')] if len(argv) > 1 else []
      else:
          with open(sys.argv[1]) as json_file:
              try:
                  json_dict = json.load(json_file)
              except Exception as e:
                  print 'Could not read {}: {}'.format(sys.argv[1], e)
                  return 2
          keys = [x for x in argv[2].split('.')] if len(argv) > 2 else []
  
      if not keys:
          usage(json_dict)
          return 3
  
      status = 0
      for key in keys:
          try:
              idx = int(key)
              key = idx
          except:
              pass
          try:
              json_dict = json_dict[key]
          except:
              json_dict = ''
              status = 23
              break
  
      try:
          print(json_dict.encode('utf8') if json_dict else '')
      except:
          print(json.dumps(json_dict).encode('utf8') if json_dict else '')
  
      return status
  
  
  if __name__ == '__main__':
      status = main(sys.argv)
      sys.exit(status)
  
subject: return a sensible status