JSON as template: does not clear

Question

I'm importing a JSON file and using it as a template over which I modify some of the properties.

with open('example.json') as data_file:
    j = json.load(data_file)
... # and within a loop:
    with open('output.json', 'w') as outfile:
        activejson = j # I would like this to reset or pull fresh from j
        ... # modify properties here
        json.dump(activejson, outfile, indent=4)

activejson isn't pulling the template j fresh through each iteration of the loop. (I'm able to pull old, modified values from previous iterations in activejson in the "modify properties here" area.) My understanding is that activejson points to j rather than serving as a copy but activejson = j.copy() doesn't appear to do the trick either, nor does activejson = {}. What is the correct command/way to empty this variable and pull the template fresh after each iteration? What is the most efficient way to handle this?

Answer 1

Since JSON is usually structured as nested objects, you would need to use copy.deepcopy.

activejson = copy.deepcopy(j)