Question 201124 in Json Question posted in
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How can I serialize/deserialize a kind of json mixing object and list of object at the same level in c#?

I’m using newtonsoft json, and I need to serialize/deserialize this kind of json:

[
  {
    "value": "value1",
    "field": "field1"
  },
  {
    "value": "value2",
    "field": "field2"
  },
  {
    "value": "value3",
    "field": "field3"
  },
  [
    {
      "value": "value4",
      "field": "field4"
    },
    {
      "value": "value4",
      "field": "field5"
    }
  ]
]

As you can see, I can have an object or a list of this object at the same level. I’ve created a class for the object but I don’t know how to make the serialization process this kind of json, or if it’s possible to do.

EDIT: I don’t have the choice to process that json as it comes to me. So please, if you think I like this, you’re wrong.

Tags:

2

Answers


  1. Chosen as BEST ANSWER
    0

    Here is the solution I found thanks to your help:

    public class Item
{
    public string Value { get; set; }
    public string Field { get; set; }
}

public class ItemContainer
{
    public List<Item> Items { get; set; }
    public List<List<Item>> NestedItems { get; set; }
}

public class ItemContainerConverter : JsonConverter<ItemContainer>
{
    public override ItemContainer ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, ItemContainer existingValue,
        bool hasExistingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
    {
        var jsonObject = JArray.Load(reader);
        var itemContainer = new ItemContainer
        {
            Items = new List<Item>(),
            NestedItems = new List<List<Item>>()
        };

        foreach (var token in jsonObject)
        {
            if (token.Type == JTokenType.Array)
            {
                var nestedItemList = token.ToObject<List<Item>>();
                itemContainer.NestedItems.Add(nestedItemList);
            }
            else if (token.Type == JTokenType.Object)
            {
                var item = token.ToObject<Item>();
                itemContainer.Items.Add(item);
            }
        }

        return itemContainer;
    }

    public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, ItemContainer value, JsonSerializer serializer)
    {
        writer.WriteStartArray();

        foreach (var item in value.Items)
        {
            serializer.Serialize(writer, item);
        }

        if (value.NestedItems != null && value.NestedItems.Any())
        {
            writer.WriteStartArray();
            foreach (var nestedItem in value.NestedItems.SelectMany(nestedList => nestedList))
            {
                serializer.Serialize(writer, nestedItem);
            }
            writer.WriteEndArray();
        }

        writer.WriteEndArray();
    }
}

    And there is how to use it:

    var settings = new JsonSerializerSettings()
{
    ContractResolver = new DefaultContractResolver
    {
        NamingStrategy = new SnakeCaseNamingStrategy()
    }
};
settings.Converters.Add(new ItemContainerConverter());

var rootObject = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<ItemContainer>(jsonString, settings);
var json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(rootObject, settings);

  2. 0

    you can create a custom json converter

    Result result = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Result>(json, new ArrayJsonConverter())

public class ArrayJsonConverter : JsonConverter<Result>
{
    public override Result ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, Result existingValue, bool hasExistingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
    {
        JArray jArr = JArray.Load(reader);

        var result = new Result { Items = new List<Item>(), ListItems = new List<List<Item>>() };

        foreach (var item in jArr)
            if (item.Type == JTokenType.Array) result.ListItems.Add(item.ToObject<List<Item>>());
            else result.Items.Add(item.ToObject<Item>());

        return result;
    }

    public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, Result value, JsonSerializer serializer)
    {
        throw new NotImplementedException();
    }
}

public class Result
{
    public List<Item> Items { get; set; }
    public List<List<Item>> ListItems { get; set; }
}

public class Item
{
    public string value { get; set; }
    public string field { get; set; }
}
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