What do you mean this is not human-readable??? ;)
>>> d = {'age': 27,
... 'name': 'Joe',
... 'numbers': [1,2,3,4,5],
... 'subdict': {'first':1, 'second':2, 'third':3}
... }
>>>
>>> import pickle
>>> p = pickle.dumps(d)
>>> p
"(dp0\nS'age'\np1\nI27\nsS'subdict'\np2\n(dp3\nS'second'\np4\nI2\nsS'third'\np5\nI3\nsS'first'\np6\nI1\nssS'name'\np7\nS'Joe'\np8\nsS'numbers'\np9\n(lp10\nI1\naI2\naI3\naI4\naI5\nas."
Ok, well, maybe it just takes some practice… or you could cheat...
>>> import pickletools
>>> pickletools.dis(p)
0: ( MARK
1: d DICT (MARK at 0)
2: p PUT 0
5: S STRING 'age'
12: p PUT 1
15: I INT 27
19: s SETITEM
20: S STRING 'subdict'
31: p PUT 2
34: ( MARK
35: d DICT (MARK at 34)
36: p PUT 3
39: S STRING 'second'
49: p PUT 4
52: I INT 2
55: s SETITEM
56: S STRING 'third'
65: p PUT 5
68: I INT 3
71: s SETITEM
72: S STRING 'first'
81: p PUT 6
84: I INT 1
87: s SETITEM
88: s SETITEM
89: S STRING 'name'
97: p PUT 7
100: S STRING 'Joe'
107: p PUT 8
110: s SETITEM
111: S STRING 'numbers'
122: p PUT 9
125: ( MARK
126: l LIST (MARK at 125)
127: p PUT 10
131: I INT 1
134: a APPEND
135: I INT 2
138: a APPEND
139: I INT 3
142: a APPEND
143: I INT 4
146: a APPEND
147: I INT 5
150: a APPEND
151: s SETITEM
152: . STOP
highest protocol among opcodes = 0
>>>
You'd still have to read the pickled object from a file, however you wouldn't need to load it. So, if it's a "dangerous" object, you still might be able to figure that out before doing the load. If you are stuck with a pickle, it might be a good option for deciphering what you have.
