Develop Reference

Working with Irregular nodes/elements in json response from an API

I have a situation while working with a JSON response from an API. To give a background, I am consuming an API from a source using a REST API using 3.5 .net framework.
Below is the part of the JSON output and I am kind of struggling to use it.
a)
"value": {
"Description": "Total Calculated things",
"2018": "5,820,456 ",
"2019": "2,957,447 "
}
The last 2 elements are dynamic, those are tend to change in API response. I was expecting the format like I have mentioned below, but at this point of given time the source provider is not able to change it as the API is used in many other different programs. And Changing the things in the source API will make other program owners to change.
b)
"value": {
"Description": "Total Calculated EQUITY AND LIABILITIES",
"YearData": [ {
"Data": "5,820,456",
"Year": "2018"
},
{
"Data": "2,957,447 ",
"Year": "2019"
} ]
}
Is there any way to overcome such thing> Any way to convert a to b?
EDIT
#Xerillio , Thanks . How can I achieve the same using below JSON format.
var json = #"
{
""entityData"": [
{
""name"": ""Statement of Comprehensive Income"",
""subattrOutput"": [
{
""name"": ""Sales"",
""subattrOutput"": [],
""value"": {
""Description"": ""Sales "",
""2018"": ""8,704,888 "",
""2019"": ""4,760,717 ""
},
""score"": ""99.5"",
""valuetype"": ""object""
},
{
""name"": ""Cost of goods sold"",
""subattrOutput"": [],
""value"": {
""Description"": ""Cost of sales "",
""2018"": ""(6,791,489) "",
""2019"": ""(3,502,785) ""
},
""score"": ""99.75"",
""valuetype"": ""object""
}
],
""value"": null,
""score"": ""98.63"",
""valuetype"": ""object""
}
]
}";

I wish this was more easy, but i just got it here:
class Program
{
static async Task Main(string[] args)
{
string json1 = #"{""value"": {""Description"": ""Total Calculated things"",""2018"": ""5,820,456 "",""2019"": ""2,957,447 ""}}";
string json2 = #"{""value"": {""Description"": ""Total Calculated EQUITY AND LIABILITIES"",""YearData"": [ {""Data"": ""5,820,456"",""Year"": ""2018""},{""Data"": ""2,957,447 "",""Year"": ""2019""} ]}}";
var obj1 = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<ObjectResult>(json1);
var obj2 = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<ObjectResult>(json2);
var res1 = CastObject<Result1>(obj1.Value.ToString());
var res2 = CastObject<Result2>(obj2.Value.ToString());
var invalidRes1 = CastObject<Result1>(obj2.Value.ToString());
var invalidRes2 = CastObject<Result2>(obj1.Value.ToString());
Console.WriteLine(res1);
Console.WriteLine(res2);
}
public static T CastObject<T>(string obj)
{
return !TryCastObject(obj, out T result) ? default : result;
}
public static bool TryCastObject<TOut>(string objToCast, out TOut obj)
{
try
{
obj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<TOut>(objToCast);
return true;
}
catch
{
obj = default;
return false;
}
}
}
public class ObjectResult
{
public object Value { get; set; }
}
public class Result1
{
[JsonProperty(PropertyName = "description")] public string Description { get; set; }
[JsonProperty(PropertyName = "2018")] public string _2018 { get; set; }
[JsonProperty(PropertyName = "2019")] public string _2019 { get; set; }
}
public class Result2
{
[JsonProperty(PropertyName = "Description")] public string Description { get; set; }
[JsonProperty(PropertyName = "YearData")] public List<YearData> YearData { get; set; }
}
public class YearData
{
[JsonProperty(PropertyName = "Data")] public string Data { get; set; }
[JsonProperty(PropertyName = "Year")] public string Year { get; set; }
}
It is A LOT of work and sincerely, as there more nodes in the json i think that using JObject is the best option, and you will have to do a deserealization in more than 1 step :(

Depending on how large the JSON structure is you could deserialize it into a Dictionary and manually map it to the proper format:
var json = #"
{
""value"": {
""Description"": ""Total Calculated things"",
""2018"": ""5,820,456 "",
""2019"": ""2,957,447 ""
}
}";
var badObj = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<BadFormat>(json);
var result = new WrapperType
{
Value = new ProperlyFormattedType()
};
foreach (var pair in badObj.Value)
{
if (pair.Key == "Description")
{
result.Value.Description = pair.Value;
}
else if (int.TryParse(pair.Key, out int _))
{
result.Value.YearData
.Add(new DatedValues
{
Year = pair.Key,
Data = pair.Value
});
}
}
// Data models...
public class BadFormat
{
[JsonPropertyName("value")]
public Dictionary<string, string> Value { get; set; }
}
public class WrapperType
{
public ProperlyFormattedType Value { get; set; }
}
public class ProperlyFormattedType
{
public string Description { get; set; }
public List<DatedValues> YearData { get; set; } = new List<DatedValues>();
}
public class DatedValues
{
public string Year { get; set; }
public string Data { get; set; }
}
See an example fiddle here.

Extract array from JSON object containing multiple types

(Just a heads up, I'm very new to C#)
(See sample code and JSON structure below)
I can't figure out how to pull "data" out of the JSON reponse and put it into a data table. The variable "response" is just raw JSON data. So far I've figured out how to parse the JSON into a JObject...so now it has two members (data, meta). Now I'm trying to figure out how to get joTest["data"] into a DataTable. The handful of attempts I've made, keep giving me an error when it sees the "meta" member. Maybe I shouldn't be using a Data Table?
Also, in case it changes anything, I don't need the "links" from the "data" members.
I've tried searching for "Converting JObject into Data Table" But I'm not finding a lot of useful results.
public void PerformFeed()
{
string response;
response = Blah.SendMessage().Result;
JObject joTest = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<JObject>(response);
}
Json Data Structure
{
"data": [
{
"Val1": "1234",
"Val2": "foo1",
"Val3": "bar1",
"links": [
{
"rel": "self",
"uri": "/blah/1234"
},
{
"rel": "pricing_data",
"uri": "/blah/1234/pricing_data"
}
]
},
{
"Val1": "5678",
"Val2": "foo2",
"Val3": "bar2",
"links": [
{
"rel": "self",
"uri": "/blah/5678"
},
{
"rel": "pricing_data",
"uri": "/blah/5678/pricing_data"
}
]
}
],
"meta": {
"pagination": {
"total": 2,
"count": 2,
"per_page": 25,
"current_page": 1,
"total_pages": 1,
"links": []
}
}
}
UPDATE: I've figured out a "solution" but I really don't think it's a good solution. I built a datatable and then used a foreach statement on the JObject to populate the data table that way. It seems very inefficient...but for now it works. Hopefully I'll find a better way.
public void PerformFeed()
{
DataTable Items = new DataTable();
Items.Columns.Add("Val1");
Items.Columns.Add("Val2");
Items.Columns.Add("Val3");
string response = Blah.SendMessage().Result;
JObject Data = JObject.Parse(response);
foreach (JObject jo in Data["data"])
{
Items.Rows.Add(jo["Val1"], jo["Val2"], jo["Val3"]);
}
}

There is this really nice online utility that helps extracting C# classes from JSON objects. I think the problem here is with your JSON, you're missing a comma ",". You would easily be able to spot the error with some online JSON formatter / validator. Rest the deserialization is pretty straightforward. Try the following:
JObject obtainedObject = JObject.Parse(JsonString);
Following would be the structure of your obtained object:
public class RequiredClass
{
public IList<Datum> data { get; set; }
public Meta meta { get; set; }
}
public class Datum
{
public string Val1 { get; set; }
public string Val2 { get; set; }
public string Val3 { get; set; }
public IList<Link> links { get; set; }
}
public class Link
{
public string rel { get; set; }
public string uri { get; set; }
}
public class Pagination
{
public int total { get; set; }
public int count { get; set; }
public int per_page { get; set; }
public int current_page { get; set; }
public int total_pages { get; set; }
public IList<object> links { get; set; }
}
public class Meta
{
public Pagination pagination { get; set; }
}
Update:
Here's is how you extract your array and convert that to a DataTable:
JObject jObject = JObject.Parse(json);
JToken dataArray = jObject["data"];
DataTable dt = (DataTable) JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(dataArray.ToString(), (typeof(DataTable)));
To avoid the surplus casting, you can try the following using the class structure already mentioned above:
JObject jObject = JObject.Parse(json);
JToken dataArray = jObject["data"];
List<Datum> requiredList = new List<Datum>();
foreach (var item in dataArray)
{
Datum obj = new Datum();
obj.Val1 = (string) item["Val1"] ?? "";
obj.Val2 = (string) item["Val2"] ?? "";
obj.Val3 = (string) item["Val3"] ?? "";
obj.links = new List<Link>();
foreach(var subItem in item["links"])
{
Link lnk = new Link();
lnk.rel = (string) subItem["rel"] ?? "";
lnk.uri = (string) subItem["uri"] ?? "";
obj.links.Add(lnk);
}
requiredList.Add(obj);
}

Json parse sub-collection in c#

How can I do JSON in C# like the data below ?
{
"Aliases": [ "teddy", "freddy", "eddy", "Betty" ],
"Name":"reacher gilt",
"Address":"100 East Way",
"Age":74,
"Bars": {
"items": [
{
"Sub_Property1":"beep",
"Sub_Property2":"boop"
},
{
"Sub_Property1":"meep",
"Sub_Property2":"moop"
},
{
"Sub_Property1":"feep",
"Sub_Property2":"foop"
}
]
}
}
Actually my problem is inside the sub-collection. I saw someone did something
like this
person.Bars.Add("items",
new List<BarClass>(new[]{
new BarClass("beep","boop"),
new BarClass("meep","moop"),
new BarClass("feep","foop"),
}));
So, I have to add new BarClass("beep","boop"), but I need to do something
like this
String [] no1 = {1,2,3}
String [] no2 = {4,5,6}
person.Bars.Add("items",
new List<BarClass>(new[]{
for ()
{
new BarClass(no1[i],no2[i])
}
}));
How can i do this? Thanks and please help..

To read the JSON
The best way to read the whole JSON is to Deserialize it to a native C# object. If you do not already have the classes with your, you can create it in Visual Studio as
Copy your JSON text
Create a new empty class file in VS
Edit > Paste Special > Paste JSON As Classes
Here are the classes
public class Person
{
public string[] Aliases { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Address { get; set; }
public int Age { get; set; }
public Bars Bars { get; set; }
}
public class Bars
{
public Item[] items { get; set; }
}
public class Item
{
public string Sub_Property1 { get; set; }
public string Sub_Property2 { get; set; }
}
Now you can use some .NET JSON library to deserialize. JSON.Net aka Newtonsoft JSON is a great library. You get get it from NuGet as well.
Then it's pretty easy to get the C# object from the JSON
//using Newtonsoft.Json;
var jsonString = File.ReadAllText(#"C:\YourDirectory\person.json");
var person = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Person>(jsonString);
If you want to read the sub-collection only, you can rather use Linq-to-JSON to read the items directly, like this
//using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
var jObject = JObject.Parse(jsonString);
List<Item> details = jObject["Bars"]["items"].ToObject<List<Item>>();
To create the JSON
You first need to create the object, then Serialize to JSON
string[] subProperties1 = new string[] { "1", "2", "3" };
string[] subProperties2 = new string[] { "4", "5", "6" };
Person person = new Person { Name = "Johny", Age = 7, Address = "Earth", Aliases = new string[] { "Sony", "Monty" } };
person.Bars = new Bars {
items = subProperties1.Zip(subProperties2,
(prop1, prop2) => new Item { Sub_Property1 = prop1, Sub_Property2 = prop2 })
.ToArray() };
var json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(person);
To create the items from your existing string arrays, I have used IEnumerable.Zip function from Linq. You can read about them here.
This is the created JSON data
{
"Aliases": [ "Sony", "Monty" ],
"Name": "Johny",
"Address": "Earth",
"Age": 7,
"Bars": {
"items": [
{
"Sub_Property1": "1",
"Sub_Property2": "4"
},
{
"Sub_Property1": "2",
"Sub_Property2": "5"
},
{
"Sub_Property1": "3",
"Sub_Property2": "6"
}
]
}
}

You should create some classes
public class Person
{
public string Name {get;set;}
public string Address{get;set;}
public int Age {get;set;}
public Header {get;set;}
}
public class Header
{
public Detail[] Details {get;set;}
}
public class Detail
{
public string Sub1 {get;set;}
public string Sub2 {get;set;}
}
Create instance from Person class and initialize to instance after than
JavaScriptSerializer serializer =new JavaScriptSerializer();
var result=serializer.Serialize(instanceOfPerson);
"result" is json data

Assuming that you mean you want to create JSON string, you need to create those classes and use something like Newtonsoft JSON.net:
public class Item
{
public string Sub_Property1 { get; set; }
public string Sub_Property2 { get; set; }
}
public class Bars
{
public List<Item> items { get; set; }
}
public class Person
{
public List<string> Aliases { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Address { get; set; }
public int Age { get; set; }
public Bars Bars { get; set; }
}
Please read the documentation here: http://www.newtonsoft.com/json/help/html/Introduction.htm

Parsing JSON with JObject

I need to parse a JSON, I am already parsing the first part of the record but I am having a problem with a sub record. This is my code:
List<JToken> results = new List<JToken>();
List<JToken> results2 = new List<JToken>();
using (var streamReader = new StreamReader(httpResponse.GetResponseStream()))
{
result = streamReader.ReadToEnd();
results = JObject.Parse(result).SelectToken("record").ToList();
}
List<Record> users = new List<Record>();
foreach (JObject token in results)
{
Record user = new Record();
user.id = Int32.Parse(token["id"].ToString());
user.full_name = token["full_name"].ToString();
user.email = token["email"].ToString();
//role.RoleName = token.SelectToken("name").ToString();
}
That's working perfectly but I have issues parsin a string that's a bit deeper. This is the JSON:
{
"record": [
{
"id": 2,
"institution_id": 1,
"full_name": "",
"email": "",
"role_id": 2,
"created": "2015-01-13 01:18:52.370379",
"updated": "2015-01-22 23:58:44.103636",
"branch_id": 1,
"Branch_by_branch_id": {
"id": 1,
"institution_id": 1,
"branch_name": "Test Branch"
}
}
]
}
I want to get the "branch_name" inside Branch_by_branch_id. How can I access it with Jobject?

If your JSON is this
{
"record": [
{
"id": 26,
"full_name": "",
"email": "",
"branch_id": 1,
"Branch_by_branch_id": {
"id": 1,
"institution_id": 1,
"branch_name": "NAME"
}
}
]
}
Have classes like this:
public class BranchByBranchId
{
public int id { get; set; }
public int institution_id { get; set; }
public string branch_name { get; set; }
}
public class Record
{
public int id { get; set; }
public string full_name { get; set; }
public string email { get; set; }
public int branch_id { get; set; }
public BranchByBranchId Branch_by_branch_id { get; set; }
}
public class RootObject
{
public List<Record> record { get; set; }
}
Then parse it and retrieve the value like this.
var root = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<RootObject>(json);
var branchName = root[0].Branch_by_branch_id.branch_name;
I always prefer to access my JSON objects like this, because I like having my objects as native C# classes. The classes were generated by json2csharp.

how to create a json format using json.net in c#

I need a final json format as follows and that should be dynamic.
{
"product_items" :
[
{
"_at" : 1,
"product_id" : "999"
},
{
"_at" : 2,
"quantity" : 2.00
},
{
"_delete_at" : 3
}
]
}
How to create a json format as above in the code._at field is dynamic.sometimes it might be 2 and sometimes it might be 10.I dont have idea on to generate the json dynamically in c#.
class Test
{
public ProductItem[] product_items { get; set; }
class ProductItem
{
public int[] _at { get; set; }
public int[] _delete { get; set; }
public int[] quantity { get; set; }
public string[] product_id{get;set;}
}
}
i have create the the properties for json as above.

I'm using Newtonsoft library
Your class should look more like this:
public class ProductItem
{
public int _at { get; set; }
public string product_id { get; set; }
public double? quantity { get; set; }
public int? _delete_at { get; set; }
}
public class ProductItemObject
{
public List<ProductItem> product_items { get; set; }
}
A example on serializing :
List<ProductItem> list = new List<ProductItem>();
ProductItemObject o = new ProductItemObject { product_items = list };
var item1 = new ProductItem { _at = 1, product_id = "001" };
var item2 = new ProductItem { _at = 2, quantity = 2.00 };
var item3 = new ProductItem { _delete_at = 3 };
list.Add(item1);
list.Add(item2);
list.Add(item3);
string json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(o, Formatting.Indented);
// json string :
// {
// "product_items": [
// {
// "_at": 1,
// "product_id": "001",
// "quantity": null,
// "_delete_at": null
// },
// {
// "_at": 2,
// "product_id": null,
// "quantity": 2.0,
// "_delete_at": null
// },
// {
// "_at": 0,
// "product_id": null,
// "quantity": null,
// "_delete_at": 3
// }
// ]
//}
An alternative full dynamic that gets u the same Json string without any model :
var jsonObject = new JObject();
dynamic objectList = jsonObject;
objectList.product_items = new JArray() as dynamic;
dynamic item = new JObject();
item._at = 1;
item.product_id = "999";
objectList.product_items.Add(item);
item = new JObject();
item._at = 2;
item.quantity = 2.00;
objectList.product_items.Add(item);
item = new JObject();
item._delete_at = 3;
objectList.product_items.Add(item);
string json = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.SerializeObject(jsonObject, Formatting.Indented);

Well, if I understand you properly and you just need to be able to generate that json, the product list should be dynamic with maybe anonymous classes then:
public class Products
{
public Products()
{
product_items = new List<dynamic>();
}
public List<dynamic> product_items { get; set; }
}
products.product_items.Add(new { _at = 1, product_id = "999" });