TypeError during executemany() INSERT statement using a list of strings - python-2.7

Question

I am trying to just do a basic INSERT operation to a PostgreSQL database through Python via the Psycopg2 module. I have read a great many of the questions already posted regarding this subject as well as the documentation but I seem to have done something uniquely wrong and none of the fixes seem to work for my code.
#API CALL + JSON decoding here
x = 0
for item in ulist:
idValue = list['members'][x]['name']
activeUsers.append(str(idValue))
x += 1
dbShell.executemany("""INSERT INTO slickusers (username) VALUES (%s)""", activeUsers
)
The loop creates a list of strings that looks like this when printed:
['b2ong', 'dune', 'drble', 'drars', 'feman', 'got', 'urbo']
I am just trying to have the code INSERT these strings as 1 row each into the table.
The error specified when running is:
TypeError: not all arguments converted during string formatting
I tried changing the INSERT to:
dbShell.executemany("INSERT INTO slackusers (username) VALUES (%s)", (activeUsers,) )
But that seems like it's merely treating the entire list as a single string as it yields:
psycopg2.DataError: value too long for type character varying(30)
What am I missing?

Answer 1

First in the code you pasted:
x = 0
for item in ulist:
idValue = list['members'][x]['name']
activeUsers.append(str(idValue))
x += 1
Is not the right way to accomplish what you are trying to do.
first list is a reserved word in python and you shouldn't use it as a variable name. I am assuming you meant ulist.
if you really need access to the index of an item in python you can use enumerate:
for x, item in enumerate(ulist):
but, the best way to do what you are trying to do is something like
for item in ulist: # or list['members'] Your example is kinda broken here
activeUsers.append(str(item['name']))
Your first try was:
['b2ong', 'dune', 'drble', 'drars', 'feman', 'got', 'urbo']
Your second attempt was:
(['b2ong', 'dune', 'drble', 'drars', 'feman', 'got', 'urbo'], )
What I think you want is:
[['b2ong'], ['dune'], ['drble'], ['drars'], ['feman'], ['got'], ['urbo']]
You could get this many ways:
dbShell.executemany("INSERT INTO slackusers (username) VALUES (%s)", [ [a] for a in activeUsers] )
or event better:
for item in ulist: # or list['members'] Your example is kinda broken here
activeUsers.append([str(item['name'])])
dbShell.executemany("""INSERT INTO slickusers (username) VALUES (%s)""", activeUsers)