Python – Merge keys by values

Given a dictionary, merge the keys to map to common values.

Examples:

Input : test_dict = {1:6, 8:1, 9:3, 10:3, 12:6, 4:9, 2:3} 
Output : {‘1-12’: 6, ‘2-9-10’: 3, ‘4’: 9, ‘8’: 1} 
Explanation : All the similar valued keys merged.

Input : test_dict = {1:6, 8:1, 9:3, 4:9, 2:3} 
Output : {‘1’: 6, ‘2-9’: 3, ‘4’: 9, ‘8’: 1} 
Explanation : All the similar valued keys merged. 

Approach : Using defaultdict() + loop

This task is performed in 2 steps, first, group all the values and storing keys, and in 2nd step map merged keys to common values.

Python3

# Python3 code to demonstrate working of
# Merge keys by values
# Using defaultdict() + loop
from collections import defaultdict

# initializing dictionary
test_dict = {1: 6, 8: 1, 9: 3, 10: 3, 12: 6, 4: 9, 2: 3}

# printing original dictionary
print("The original dictionary is : " + str(test_dict))

# grouping values
temp = defaultdict(list)
for key, val in sorted(test_dict.items()):
    temp[val].append(key)

res = dict()
# merge keys
for key in temp:
    res['-'.join([str(ele) for ele in temp[key]])] = key

# printing result
print("The required result : " + str(res))

Output:

The original dictionary is : {1: 6, 8: 1, 9: 3, 10: 3, 12: 6, 4: 9, 2: 3} 
The required result : {‘1-12’: 6, ‘2-9-10’: 3, ‘4’: 9, ‘8’: 1}

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