title: Reading Data from DDFS ValueError: No JSON object could be decoded
body: <p>I'm running dozens of map reduce jobs for a number of different purposes using disco. My data has grown enormous and I thought I would try using DDFS for a change rather than standard txt files. </p>
  
  <p>I've followed the DISCO map/reduce example <a href="http://discoproject.org/doc/disco/start/tutorial.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Counting Words as a map/reduce job</a>, without to much difficulty and with the help of others, <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/13539141/python-map-reduce-how-do-i-read-json-specific-field-in-using-disco-count-w">Reading JSON specific data into DISCO</a> I've gotten past one of my latest problems. </p>
  
  <p>I'm trying to read data in/out of ddfs to better chunk and distribute it but am having a bit of trouble. </p>
  
  <p>Here's an example file: file.txt</p>
  
  <pre><code>{"favorited": false, "in_reply_to_user_id": null, "contributors": null, "truncated": false, "text": "I'll call him back tomorrow I guess", "created_at": "Mon Feb 13 05:34:27 +0000 2012", "retweeted": false, "in_reply_to_status_id_str": null, "coordinates": null, "in_reply_to_user_id_str": null, "entities": {"user_mentions": [], "hashtags": [], "urls": []}, "in_reply_to_status_id": null, "id_str": "168931016843603968", "place": null, "user": {"follow_request_sent": null, "profile_use_background_image": true, "profile_background_image_url_https": "https://si0.twimg.com/profile_background_images/305726905/FASHION-3.png", "verified": false, "profile_image_url_https": "https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/1818996723/image_normal.jpg", "profile_sidebar_fill_color": "292727", "is_translator": false, "id": 113532729, "profile_text_color": "000000", "followers_count": 78, "protected": false, "location": "With My Niggas In Paris!", "default_profile_image": false, "listed_count": 0, "utc_offset": -21600, "statuses_count": 6733, "description": "Made in CHINA., Educated &amp;&amp; Making My Own $$. Fear GOD &amp;&amp; Put Him 1st. #TeamFollowBack #TeamiPhone\n", "friends_count": 74, "profile_link_color": "b03f3f", "profile_image_url": "http://a2.twimg.com/profile_images/1818996723/image_normal.jpg", "notifications": null, "show_all_inline_media": false, "geo_enabled": true, "profile_background_color": "1f9199", "id_str": "113532729", "profile_background_image_url": "http://a3.twimg.com/profile_background_images/305726905/FASHION-3.png", "name": "Bee'Jay", "lang": "en", "profile_background_tile": true, "favourites_count": 19, "screen_name": "OohMyBEEsNice", "url": "http://www.bitchimpaid.org", "created_at": "Fri Feb 12 03:32:54 +0000 2010", "contributors_enabled": false, "time_zone": "Central Time (US &amp; Canada)", "profile_sidebar_border_color": "000000", "default_profile": false, "following": null}, "in_reply_to_screen_name": null, "retweet_count": 0, "geo": null, "id": 168931016843603968, "source": "&lt;a href=\"http://twitter.com/#!/download/iphone\" rel=\"nofollow\"&gt;Twitter for iPhone&lt;/a&gt;"}
  {"favorited": false, "in_reply_to_user_id": 50940453, "contributors": null, "truncated": false, "text": "@LegaMrvica @MimozaBand makasi om artis :D kadoo kadoo", "created_at": "Mon Feb 13 05:34:27 +0000 2012", "retweeted": false, "in_reply_to_status_id_str": "168653037894770688", "coordinates": null, "in_reply_to_user_id_str": "50940453", "entities": {"user_mentions": [{"indices": [0, 11], "screen_name": "LegaMrvica", "id": 50940453, "name": "Lega_thePianis", "id_str": "50940453"}, {"indices": [12, 23], "screen_name": "MimozaBand", "id": 375128905, "name": "Mimoza", "id_str": "375128905"}], "hashtags": [], "urls": []}, "in_reply_to_status_id": 168653037894770688, "id_str": "168931016868761600", "place": null, "user": {"follow_request_sent": null, "profile_use_background_image": true, "profile_background_image_url_https": "https://si0.twimg.com/profile_background_images/347686061/Galungan_dan_Kuningan.jpg", "verified": false, "profile_image_url_https": "https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/1803845596/Picture_20124_normal.jpg", "profile_sidebar_fill_color": "DDFFCC", "is_translator": false, "id": 48293450, "profile_text_color": "333333", "followers_count": 182, "protected": false, "location": "\u00dcT: -6.906799,107.622383", "default_profile_image": false, "listed_count": 0, "utc_offset": -28800, "statuses_count": 3052, "description": "Fashion design maranatha '11 // traditional dancer (bali) at sanggar tampak siring &amp; Natya Nataraja", "friends_count": 206, "profile_link_color": "0084B4", "profile_image_url": "http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/1803845596/Picture_20124_normal.jpg", "notifications": null, "show_all_inline_media": false, "geo_enabled": true, "profile_background_color": "9AE4E8", "id_str": "48293450", "profile_background_image_url": "http://a0.twimg.com/profile_background_images/347686061/Galungan_dan_Kuningan.jpg", "name": "nana afiff", "lang": "en", "profile_background_tile": true, "favourites_count": 2, "screen_name": "hasnfebria", "url": null, "created_at": "Thu Jun 18 08:50:29 +0000 2009", "contributors_enabled": false, "time_zone": "Pacific Time (US &amp; Canada)", "profile_sidebar_border_color": "BDDCAD", "default_profile": false, "following": null}, "in_reply_to_screen_name": "LegaMrvica", "retweet_count": 0, "geo": null, "id": 168931016868761600, "source": "&lt;a href=\"http://blackberry.com/twitter\" rel=\"nofollow\"&gt;Twitter for BlackBerry\u00ae&lt;/a&gt;"}
  {"favorited": false, "in_reply_to_user_id": 27260086, "contributors": null, "truncated": false, "text": "@justinbieber u were born to be somebody, and u're super important in beliebers' life. thanks for all biebs. I love u. follow me? 84", "created_at": "Mon Feb 13 05:34:27 +0000 2012", "retweeted": false, "in_reply_to_status_id_str": null, "coordinates": null, "in_reply_to_user_id_str": "27260086", "entities": {"user_mentions": [{"indices": [0, 13], "screen_name": "justinbieber", "id": 27260086, "name": "Justin Bieber", "id_str": "27260086"}], "hashtags": [], "urls": []}, "in_reply_to_status_id": null, "id_str": "168931016856178688", "place": null, "user": {"follow_request_sent": null, "profile_use_background_image": true, "profile_background_image_url_https": "https://si0.twimg.com/profile_background_images/416005864/Captura.JPG", "verified": false, "profile_image_url_https": "https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/1808883280/Captura6_normal.JPG", "profile_sidebar_fill_color": "f5e7f3", "is_translator": false, "id": 406750700, "profile_text_color": "333333", "followers_count": 1122, "protected": false, "location": "Adentro de una supra.", "default_profile_image": false, "listed_count": 0, "utc_offset": -14400, "statuses_count": 20966, "description": "Mi \u00eddolo es @justinbieber , si te gusta \u00a1genial!, si no, solo respetalo. El cambi\u00f3 mi vida completamente y mi sue\u00f1o es conocerlo #TrueBelieber . ", "friends_count": 1015, "profile_link_color": "9404b8", "profile_image_url": "http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1808883280/Captura6_normal.JPG", "notifications": null, "show_all_inline_media": false, "geo_enabled": false, "profile_background_color": "f9fcfa", "id_str": "406750700", "profile_background_image_url": "http://a3.twimg.com/profile_background_images/416005864/Captura.JPG", "name": "neversaynever,right?", "lang": "es", "profile_background_tile": false, "favourites_count": 22, "screen_name": "True_Belieebers", "url": "http://www.wehavebieber-fever.tumblr.com", "created_at": "Mon Nov 07 04:17:40 +0000 2011", "contributors_enabled": false, "time_zone": "Santiago", "profile_sidebar_border_color": "C0DEED", "default_profile": false, "following": null}, "in_reply_to_screen_name": "justinbieber", "retweet_count": 0, "geo": null, "id": 168931016856178688, "source": "&lt;a href=\"http://yfrog.com\" rel=\"nofollow\"&gt;Yfrog&lt;/a&gt;"}
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I load it into DDFS with: </p>
  
  <pre><code># ddfs chunk data:test1 ./file.txt
  created: disco://localhost/ddfs/vol0/blob/44/file_txt-0$549-db27b-125e1
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I test that the file is indeed loaded into ddfs with:</p>
  
  <pre><code># ddfs xcat data:test1
  {"favorited": false, "in_reply_to_user_id": null, "contributors": null, "truncated": false, "text": "I'll call him back tomorrow I guess", "created_at": "Mon Feb 13 05:34:27 +0000 2012", "retweeted": false, "in_reply_to_status_id_str": null, "coordinates": null, "in_reply_to_user_id_str": null, "entities": {"user_mentions": [], "hashtags": [], "urls": []}, "in_reply_to_status_id": null, "id_str": "168931016843603968", "place": null, "user": {"follow_request_sent": null, "profile_use_background_image": true, "profile_background_image_url_https": "https://si0.twimg.com/profile_background_images/305726905/FASHION-3.png", "verified": false, "profile_image_url_https": "https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/1818996723/image_normal.jpg", "profile_sidebar_fill_color": "292727", "is_translator": false, "id": 113532729, "profile_text_color": "000000", "followers_count": 78, "protected": false, "location": "With My Niggas In Paris!", "default_profile_image": false, "listed_count": 0, "utc_offset": -21600, "statuses_count": 6733, "description": "Made in CHINA., Educated &amp;&amp; Making My Own $$. Fear GOD &amp;&amp; Put Him 1st. #TeamFollowBack #TeamiPhone\n", "friends_count": 74, "profile_link_color": "b03f3f", "profile_image_url": "http://a2.twimg.com/profile_images/1818996723/image_normal.jpg", "notifications": null, "show_all_inline_media": false, "geo_enabled": true, "profile_background_color": "1f9199", "id_str": "113532729", "profile_background_image_url": "http://a3.twimg.com/profile_background_images/305726905/FASHION-3.png", "name": "Bee'Jay", "lang": "en", "profile_background_tile": true, "favourites_count": 19, "screen_name": "OohMyBEEsNice", "url": "http://www.bitchimpaid.org", "created_at": "Fri Feb 12 03:32:54 +0000 2010", "contributors_enabled": false, "time_zone": "Central Time (US &amp; Canada)", "profile_sidebar_border_color": "000000", "default_profile": false, "following": null}, "in_reply_to_screen_name": null, "retweet_count": 0, "geo": null, "id": 168931016843603968, "source": "&lt;a href=\"http://twitter.com/#!/download/iphone\" rel=\"nofollow\"&gt;Twitter for iPhone&lt;/a&gt;"}
  {"favorited": false, "in_reply_to_user_id": 50940453, "contributors": null, "truncated": false, "text": "@LegaMrvica @MimozaBand makasi om artis :D kadoo kadoo", "created_at": "Mon Feb 13 05:34:27 +0000 2012", "retweeted": false, "in_reply_to_status_id_str": "168653037894770688", "coordinates": null, "in_reply_to_user_id_str": "50940453", "entities": {"user_mentions": [{"indices": [0, 11], "screen_name": "LegaMrvica", "id": 50940453, "name": "Lega_thePianis", "id_str": "50940453"}, {"indices": [12, 23], "screen_name": "MimozaBand", "id": 375128905, "name": "Mimoza", "id_str": "375128905"}], "hashtags": [], "urls": []}, "in_reply_to_status_id": 168653037894770688, "id_str": "168931016868761600", "place": null, "user": {"follow_request_sent": null, "profile_use_background_image": true, "profile_background_image_url_https": "https://si0.twimg.com/profile_background_images/347686061/Galungan_dan_Kuningan.jpg", "verified": false, "profile_image_url_https": "https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/1803845596/Picture_20124_normal.jpg", "profile_sidebar_fill_color": "DDFFCC", "is_translator": false, "id": 48293450, "profile_text_color": "333333", "followers_count": 182, "protected": false, "location": "\u00dcT: -6.906799,107.622383", "default_profile_image": false, "listed_count": 0, "utc_offset": -28800, "statuses_count": 3052, "description": "Fashion design maranatha '11 // traditional dancer (bali) at sanggar tampak siring &amp; Natya Nataraja", "friends_count": 206, "profile_link_color": "0084B4", "profile_image_url": "http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/1803845596/Picture_20124_normal.jpg", "notifications": null, "show_all_inline_media": false, "geo_enabled": true, "profile_background_color": "9AE4E8", "id_str": "48293450", "profile_background_image_url": "http://a0.twimg.com/profile_background_images/347686061/Galungan_dan_Kuningan.jpg", "name": "nana afiff", "lang": "en", "profile_background_tile": true, "favourites_count": 2, "screen_name": "hasnfebria", "url": null, "created_at": "Thu Jun 18 08:50:29 +0000 2009", "contributors_enabled": false, "time_zone": "Pacific Time (US &amp; Canada)", "profile_sidebar_border_color": "BDDCAD", "default_profile": false, "following": null}, "in_reply_to_screen_name": "LegaMrvica", "retweet_count": 0, "geo": null, "id": 168931016868761600, "source": "&lt;a href=\"http://blackberry.com/twitter\" rel=\"nofollow\"&gt;Twitter for BlackBerry\u00ae&lt;/a&gt;"}
  {"favorited": false, "in_reply_to_user_id": 27260086, "contributors": null, "truncated": false, "text": "@justinbieber u were born to be somebody, and u're super important in beliebers' life. thanks for all biebs. I love u. follow me? 84", "created_at": "Mon Feb 13 05:34:27 +0000 2012", "retweeted": false, "in_reply_to_status_id_str": null, "coordinates": null, "in_reply_to_user_id_str": "27260086", "entities": {"user_mentions": [{"indices": [0, 13], "screen_name": "justinbieber", "id": 27260086, "name": "Justin Bieber", "id_str": "27260086"}], "hashtags": [], "urls": []}, "in_reply_to_status_id": null, "id_str": "168931016856178688", "place": null, "user": {"follow_request_sent": null, "profile_use_background_image": true, "profile_background_image_url_https": "https://si0.twimg.com/profile_background_images/416005864/Captura.JPG", "verified": false, "profile_image_url_https": "https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/1808883280/Captura6_normal.JPG", "profile_sidebar_fill_color": "f5e7f3", "is_translator": false, "id": 406750700, "profile_text_color": "333333", "followers_count": 1122, "protected": false, "location": "Adentro de una supra.", "default_profile_image": false, "listed_count": 0, "utc_offset": -14400, "statuses_count": 20966, "description": "Mi \u00eddolo es @justinbieber , si te gusta \u00a1genial!, si no, solo respetalo. El cambi\u00f3 mi vida completamente y mi sue\u00f1o es conocerlo #TrueBelieber . ", "friends_count": 1015, "profile_link_color": "9404b8", "profile_image_url": "http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1808883280/Captura6_normal.JPG", "notifications": null, "show_all_inline_media": false, "geo_enabled": false, "profile_background_color": "f9fcfa", "id_str": "406750700", "profile_background_image_url": "http://a3.twimg.com/profile_background_images/416005864/Captura.JPG", "name": "neversaynever,right?", "lang": "es", "profile_background_tile": false, "favourites_count": 22, "screen_name": "True_Belieebers", "url": "http://www.wehavebieber-fever.tumblr.com", "created_at": "Mon Nov 07 04:17:40 +0000 2011", "contributors_enabled": false, "time_zone": "Santiago", "profile_sidebar_border_color": "C0DEED", "default_profile": false, "following": null}, "in_reply_to_screen_name": "justinbieber", "retweet_count": 0, "geo": null, "id": 168931016856178688, "source": "&lt;a href=\"http://yfrog.com\" rel=\"nofollow\"&gt;Yfrog&lt;/a&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>At this point everything is great, I load up the script that resulted from a previous Stack Post:</p>
  
  <pre><code>from disco.core import Job, result_iterator
  import gzip
  
  def map(line, params):
      import unicodedata
      import json
      r = json.loads(line).get('text')
      s = unicodedata.normalize('NFD', r).encode('ascii', 'ignore')
      for word in s.split():
          yield word, 1
  
  def reduce(iter, params):
      from disco.util import kvgroup
      for word, counts in kvgroup(sorted(iter)):
          yield word, sum(counts)
  
  if __name__ == '__main__':
      job = Job().run(input=["tag://data:test1"],
                      map=map,
                      reduce=reduce)
      for word, count in result_iterator(job.wait(show=True)):
          print word, count
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><strong>NOTE:</strong> That this script runs file if the <code>input=["file.txt"]</code>, however when I run it with <code>"tag://data:test1"</code> I get the following error:   </p>
  
  <pre><code> # DISCO_EVENTS=1 python count_normal_words.py
  Job@549:db30e:25bd8:
  Status: [map] 0 waiting, 1 running, 0 done, 0 failed
  2012/11/25 21:43:26  master     New job initialized!
  2012/11/25 21:43:26  master     Starting job
  2012/11/25 21:43:26  master     Starting map phase
  2012/11/25 21:43:26  master     map:0 assigned to solice
  2012/11/25 21:43:26  master     ERROR: Job failed: Worker at 'solice' died: Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/home/DISCO/data/solice/01/Job@549:db30e:25bd8/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/disco/worker/__init__.py", line 329, in main                                                                                                                     
      job.worker.start(task, job, **jobargs)                                                                                     
    File "/home/DISCO/data/solice/01/Job@549:db30e:25bd8/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/disco/worker/__init__.py", line 290, in start                                                                                                                    
      self.run(task, job, **jobargs)                                                                                             
    File "/home/DISCO/data/solice/01/Job@549:db30e:25bd8/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/disco/worker/classic/worker.py", line 286, in run                                                                                                                
      getattr(self, task.mode)(task, params)                                                                                     
    File "/home/DISCO/data/solice/01/Job@549:db30e:25bd8/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/disco/worker/classic/worker.py", line 299, in map                                                                                                                
      for key, val in self['map'](entry, params):                                                                                
    File "count_normal_words.py", line 12, in map                                                                                
    File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/json/__init__.py", line 326, in loads                                                             
      return _default_decoder.decode(s)                                                                                          
    File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/json/decoder.py", line 366, in decode                                                             
      obj, end = self.raw_decode(s, idx=_w(s, 0).end())                                                                          
    File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/json/decoder.py", line 384, in raw_decode                                                         
      raise ValueError("No JSON object could be decoded")                                                                        
  ValueError: No JSON object could be decoded                                                                                    
  
  2012/11/25 21:43:26  master     WARN: Job killed
  Status: [map] 1 waiting, 0 running, 0 done, 1 failed
  Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "count_normal_words.py", line 28, in &lt;module&gt;
      for word, count in result_iterator(job.wait(show=True)):
    File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/disco/core.py", line 348, in wait
      timeout, poll_interval * 1000)
    File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/disco/core.py", line 309, in check_results
      raise JobError(Job(name=jobname, master=self), "Status %s" % status)
  disco.error.JobError: Job Job@549:db30e:25bd8 failed: Status dead
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The Error states: <code>ValueError: No JSON object could be decoded</code>. Again, this works fine using the text file as input but now DDFS.</p>
  
  <p>Any ideas, I'm open to suggestions? </p>