Wrote a very simple function to pull data from the espn api and display in default/index. However default/index is a blank page.

At this point I'm not even trying to parse through the JSON - I just want to see something on my browser.

default.py:

import urllib2
import json

#espn_uri being pulled from models/db.py

def index():
    r = urllib2.Request(espn_uri) 
    opener = urllib2.build_opener()    
    f = opener.open(r)
    status = json.load(f)

    return dict(status)

default/index.html:

{{status}}

Thank you!

• json
• web2py

Try: return dict(status=status)

return dict(status) works because status it itself a dict, and dict(status) just copies it. But it's probably got no key named status, or at least nothing interesting.

And yes, you need =.

As JLundell advises, first return paired data via the dictionary:

return dict(my_status=status)

Second, as you've worked out, use the following to access the returned, rather than the local variable in index.html. Make sure you use the equals sign here or nothing will display

{{=my_status}} 

When it comes to JSON, you can return the data using

return my_status.json()

Several other options are available to return data as a list, or to return HTML.

Finally, I recommend that you make use of jQuery and AJAX ($.ajax), so that the AJAX return value can be easily assigned to a JS object. This will also allow you to handle success or errors in the form of JS functions.