Develop Reference

Create tree structure Json object from dictionary with dot separated path [duplicate]

from this Answer I learned how to flatten a JSON object in c#.
from JSON String:
{"menu": {
"id": "file",
"value": "File",
"popup": {
"menuitem": [
{"value": "New", "onclick": "CreateNewDoc()"},
{"value": "Open", "onclick": "OpenDoc()"},
{"value": "Close", "onclick": "CloseDoc()"}
]
}
}}
To:
The following are lines of strings, not an object
menu.id:file
menu.value:File
menu.popup.menuitem[0].value:New
menu.popup.menuitem[0].onclick:CreateNewDoc()
menu.popup.menuitem[1].value:Open
menu.popup.menuitem[1].onclick:OpenDoc()
menu.popup.menuitem[2].value:Close
menu.popup.menuitem[2].onclick:CloseDoc()
Now, i want to reverse the process.
I can found implementations from this question but it is in JavaScript.
How do I unflatten (return structured JSON from lines) it in C# with json.net?

I managed to solve it out.
Below is my code combined with Sarath Rachuri's flattening code.
I did not test it in too many cases, so it could be buggy.
using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
namespace JSONHelper
{
class JSONFlattener
{
private enum JSONType{
OBJECT, ARRAY
}
public static Dictionary<string, string> Flatten(JObject jsonObject)
{
IEnumerable<JToken> jTokens = jsonObject.Descendants().Where(p => p.Count() == 0);
Dictionary<string, string> results = jTokens.Aggregate(new Dictionary<string, string>(), (properties, jToken) =>
{
properties.Add(jToken.Path, jToken.ToString());
return properties;
});
return results;
}
public static JObject Unflatten(IDictionary<string, string> keyValues)
{
JContainer result = null;
JsonMergeSettings setting = new JsonMergeSettings();
setting.MergeArrayHandling = MergeArrayHandling.Merge;
foreach (var pathValue in keyValues)
{
if (result == null)
{
result = UnflatenSingle(pathValue);
}
else
{
result.Merge(UnflatenSingle(pathValue), setting);
}
}
return result as JObject;
}
private static JContainer UnflatenSingle(KeyValuePair<string, string> keyValue)
{
string path = keyValue.Key;
string value = keyValue.Value;
var pathSegments = SplitPath(path);
JContainer lastItem = null;
//build from leaf to root
foreach (var pathSegment in pathSegments.Reverse())
{
var type = GetJSONType(pathSegment);
switch (type)
{
case JSONType.OBJECT:
var obj = new JObject();
if (null == lastItem)
{
obj.Add(pathSegment,value);
}
else
{
obj.Add(pathSegment,lastItem);
}
lastItem = obj;
break;
case JSONType.ARRAY:
var array = new JArray();
int index = GetArrayIndex(pathSegment);
array = FillEmpty(array, index);
if (lastItem == null)
{
array[index] = value;
}
else
{
array[index] = lastItem;
}
lastItem = array;
break;
}
}
return lastItem;
}
public static IList<string> SplitPath(string path){
IList<string> result = new List<string>();
Regex reg = new Regex(#"(?!\.)([^. ^\[\]]+)|(?!\[)(\d+)(?=\])");
foreach (Match match in reg.Matches(path))
{
result.Add(match.Value);
}
return result;
}
private static JArray FillEmpty(JArray array, int index)
{
for (int i = 0; i <= index; i++)
{
array.Add(null);
}
return array;
}
private static JSONType GetJSONType(string pathSegment)
{
int x;
return int.TryParse(pathSegment, out x) ? JSONType.ARRAY : JSONType.OBJECT;
}
private static int GetArrayIndex(string pathSegment)
{
int result;
if (int.TryParse(pathSegment, out result))
{
return result;
}
throw new Exception("Unable to parse array index: " + pathSegment);
}
}
}

Purely System.Text.Json solution for unflatteing JSON. Requires .Net 6.
private static JsonNode Unflatten(Dictionary<string, JsonValue> source)
{
var regex = new System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex(#"(?!\.)([^. ^\[\]]+)|(?!\[)(\d+)(?=\])");
JsonNode node = JsonNode.Parse("{}");
foreach (var keyValue in source)
{
var pathSegments = regex.Matches(keyValue.Key).Select(m => m.Value).ToArray();
for (int i = 0; i < pathSegments.Length; i++)
{
var currentSegmentType = GetSegmentKind(pathSegments[i]);
if (currentSegmentType == JsonValueKind.Object)
{
if (node[pathSegments[i]] == null)
{
if (pathSegments[i] == pathSegments[pathSegments.Length - 1])
{
node[pathSegments[i]] = keyValue.Value;
node = node.Root;
}
else
{
var nextSegmentType = GetSegmentKind(pathSegments[i + 1]);
if (nextSegmentType == JsonValueKind.Object)
{
node[pathSegments[i]] = JsonNode.Parse("{}");
}
else
{
node[pathSegments[i]] = JsonNode.Parse("[]");
}
node = node[pathSegments[i]];
}
}
else
{
node = node[pathSegments[i]];
}
}
else
{
if (!int.TryParse(pathSegments[i], out int index))
{
throw new Exception("Cannot parse index");
}
while (node.AsArray().Count - 1 < index)
{
node.AsArray().Add(null);
}
if (i == pathSegments.Length - 1)
{
node[index] = keyValue.Value;
node = node.Root;
}
else
{
if (node[index] == null)
{
var nextSegmentType = GetSegmentKind(pathSegments[i + 1]);
if (nextSegmentType == JsonValueKind.Object)
{
node[index] = JsonNode.Parse("{}");
}
else
{
node[index] = JsonNode.Parse("[]");
}
}
node = node[index];
}
}
}
}
return node;
}
private static JsonValueKind GetSegmentKind(string pathSegment) =>
int.TryParse(pathSegment, out _) ? JsonValueKind.Array : JsonValueKind.Object;

To flatten a JSON object:
arrayJSON.stringify()

Get all properties and subproperties from a class

I am using reflection to get a class name, and need to get all sub properties of the class, and all the sub properties' properties.
I am running into a recursion issue where the items get added to the incorrect list.
My code is as follows:
private List<Member> GetMembers(object instance)
{
var memberList = new List<Member>();
var childMembers = new List<Member>();
foreach (var propertyInfo in instance.GetType().GetProperties())
{
var member = new Member
{
Name = propertyInfo.PropertyType.IsList() ? propertyInfo.Name + "[]" : propertyInfo.Name,
Type = SetPropertyType(propertyInfo.PropertyType),
};
if (propertyInfo.PropertyType.IsEnum)
{
member.Members = GetEnumValues(propertyInfo).ToArray();
}
if (propertyInfo.PropertyType.BaseType == typeof(ModelBase))
{
var childInstance = propertyInfo.GetValue(instance) ?? Activator.CreateInstance(propertyInfo.PropertyType);
childMembers.AddRange(GetMembers(childInstance));
member.Members = childMembers.ToArray();
}
if (propertyInfo.PropertyType.IsGenericType && (propertyInfo.PropertyType.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(List<>) ||
propertyInfo.PropertyType.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(IList<>)))
{
var itemType = propertyInfo.PropertyType.GetGenericArguments()[0];
var childInstance = Activator.CreateInstance(itemType);
childMembers.AddRange(GetMembers(childInstance));
member.Members = childMembers.Distinct().ToArray();
}
memberList.Add(member);
}
return memberList;
}

I can't know for certain since I don't have the knowledge of your code to debug and test it; however, I believe your problem may be stemming from the fact that you're re-using the childMembers list. Let me know if this is not the case.
private List<Member> GetMembers(object instance)
{
var memberList = new List<Member>();
foreach (var propertyInfo in instance.GetType().GetProperties())
{
var childMembers = new List<Member>(); // Moved to here, so it's not shared among all propertyInfo iterations.
var member = new Member
{
Name = propertyInfo.PropertyType.IsList() ? propertyInfo.Name + "[]" : propertyInfo.Name,
Type = SetPropertyType(propertyInfo.PropertyType),
};
if (propertyInfo.PropertyType.IsEnum)
{
member.Members = GetEnumValues(propertyInfo).ToArray();
}
if (propertyInfo.PropertyType.BaseType == typeof(ModelBase))
{
var childInstance = propertyInfo.GetValue(instance) ?? Activator.CreateInstance(propertyInfo.PropertyType);
childMembers.AddRange(GetMembers(childInstance));
member.Members = childMembers.ToArray();
}
if (propertyInfo.PropertyType.IsGenericType && (propertyInfo.PropertyType.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(List<>) ||
propertyInfo.PropertyType.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(IList<>)))
{
var itemType = propertyInfo.PropertyType.GetGenericArguments()[0];
var childInstance = Activator.CreateInstance(itemType);
childMembers.AddRange(GetMembers(childInstance));
member.Members = childMembers.Distinct().ToArray();
}
memberList.Add(member);
}
return memberList;
}

Wouldn't the following do?
public static IEnumerable<PropertyInfo> GetProperties(this Type type, int depth = 1)
{
IEnumerable<PropertyInfo> getProperties(Type currentType, int currentDepth)
{
if (currentDepth >= depth)
yield break;
foreach (var property in currentType.GetProperties())
{
yield return property;
foreach (var subProperty in getProperties(property.PropertyType,
currentDepth + 1))
{
yield return subProperty;
}
}
}
if (depth < 1)
throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(depth));
return getProperties(type, 0);
}
Given the following type:
class Foo
{
public string S { get; }
public int I { get; }
}
The output of
Console.WriteLine(string.Join(Environment.NewLine,
typeof(Foo).GetProperties(2)
.Select(p => $"{p.DeclaringType.Name}: {p.Name}")));
would be:
Foo: S
String: Chars
String: Length
Foo: I

Convert from Object to QueryString [duplicate]

How do I serialize an object into query-string format? I can't seem to find an answer on google. Thanks.
Here is the object I will serialize as an example.
public class EditListItemActionModel
{
public int? Id { get; set; }
public int State { get; set; }
public string Prefix { get; set; }
public string Index { get; set; }
public int? ParentID { get; set; }
}

I'm 99% sure there's no built-in utility method for this. It's not a very common task, since a web server doesn't typically respond with a URLEncoded key/value string.
How do you feel about mixing reflection and LINQ? This works:
var foo = new EditListItemActionModel() {
Id = 1,
State = 26,
Prefix = "f",
Index = "oo",
ParentID = null
};
var properties = from p in foo.GetType().GetProperties()
where p.GetValue(foo, null) != null
select p.Name + "=" + HttpUtility.UrlEncode(p.GetValue(foo, null).ToString());
// queryString will be set to "Id=1&State=26&Prefix=f&Index=oo"
string queryString = String.Join("&", properties.ToArray());
Update:
To write a method that returns the QueryString representation of any 1-deep object, you could do this:
public string GetQueryString(object obj) {
var properties = from p in obj.GetType().GetProperties()
where p.GetValue(obj, null) != null
select p.Name + "=" + HttpUtility.UrlEncode(p.GetValue(obj, null).ToString());
return String.Join("&", properties.ToArray());
}
// Usage:
string queryString = GetQueryString(foo);
You could also make it an extension method without much additional work
public static class ExtensionMethods {
public static string GetQueryString(this object obj) {
var properties = from p in obj.GetType().GetProperties()
where p.GetValue(obj, null) != null
select p.Name + "=" + HttpUtility.UrlEncode(p.GetValue(obj, null).ToString());
return String.Join("&", properties.ToArray());
}
}
// Usage:
string queryString = foo.GetQueryString();

Using Json.Net it would be much easier, by serializing and then deserializing to key value pairs.
Here is a code example:
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using System.Web;
string ObjToQueryString(object obj)
{
var step1 = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(obj);
var step2 = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<IDictionary<string, string>>(step1);
var step3 = step2.Select(x => HttpUtility.UrlEncode(x.Key) + "=" + HttpUtility.UrlEncode(x.Value));
return string.Join("&", step3);
}

Building on the good ideas from other comments, I have made a generic extension method .ToQueryString(), which can be used on any object.
public static class UrlHelpers
{
public static string ToQueryString(this object request, string separator = ",")
{
if (request == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("request");
// Get all properties on the object
var properties = request.GetType().GetProperties()
.Where(x => x.CanRead)
.Where(x => x.GetValue(request, null) != null)
.ToDictionary(x => x.Name, x => x.GetValue(request, null));
// Get names for all IEnumerable properties (excl. string)
var propertyNames = properties
.Where(x => !(x.Value is string) && x.Value is IEnumerable)
.Select(x => x.Key)
.ToList();
// Concat all IEnumerable properties into a comma separated string
foreach (var key in propertyNames)
{
var valueType = properties[key].GetType();
var valueElemType = valueType.IsGenericType
? valueType.GetGenericArguments()[0]
: valueType.GetElementType();
if (valueElemType.IsPrimitive || valueElemType == typeof (string))
{
var enumerable = properties[key] as IEnumerable;
properties[key] = string.Join(separator, enumerable.Cast<object>());
}
}
// Concat all key/value pairs into a string separated by ampersand
return string.Join("&", properties
.Select(x => string.Concat(
Uri.EscapeDataString(x.Key), "=",
Uri.EscapeDataString(x.Value.ToString()))));
}
}
It will also work for objects that have properties of the type Array and generic Lists if they only contain primitives or strings.
Try it out, comments are welcome: Serialize object into a query string with Reflection

Based on the the popular answers, I needed to update the code to support arrays as well. Sharing the implementation:
public string GetQueryString(object obj)
{
var result = new List<string>();
var props = obj.GetType().GetProperties().Where(p => p.GetValue(obj, null) != null);
foreach (var p in props)
{
var value = p.GetValue(obj, null);
var enumerable = value as ICollection;
if (enumerable != null)
{
result.AddRange(from object v in enumerable select string.Format("{0}={1}", p.Name, HttpUtility.UrlEncode(v.ToString())));
}
else
{
result.Add(string.Format("{0}={1}", p.Name, HttpUtility.UrlEncode(value.ToString())));
}
}
return string.Join("&", result.ToArray());
}

It will also be useful for nested objects
public static class HttpQueryStrings
{
private static readonly StringBuilder _query = new();
public static string ToQueryString<T>(this T #this) where T : class
{
_query.Clear();
BuildQueryString(#this, "");
if (_query.Length > 0) _query[0] = '?';
return _query.ToString();
}
private static void BuildQueryString<T>(T? obj, string prefix = "") where T : class
{
if (obj == null) return;
foreach (var p in obj.GetType().GetProperties(BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance))
{
if (p.GetValue(obj, Array.Empty<object>()) != null)
{
var value = p.GetValue(obj, Array.Empty<object>());
if (p.PropertyType.IsArray && value?.GetType() == typeof(DateTime[]))
foreach (var item in (DateTime[])value)
_query.Append($"&{prefix}{p.Name}={item.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd")}");
else if (p.PropertyType.IsArray)
foreach (var item in (Array)value!)
_query.Append($"&{prefix}{p.Name}={item}");
else if (p.PropertyType == typeof(string))
_query.Append($"&{prefix}{p.Name}={value}");
else if (p.PropertyType == typeof(DateTime) && !value!.Equals(Activator.CreateInstance(p.PropertyType))) // is not default
_query.Append($"&{prefix}{p.Name}={((DateTime)value).ToString("yyyy-MM-dd")}");
else if (p.PropertyType.IsValueType && !value!.Equals(Activator.CreateInstance(p.PropertyType))) // is not default
_query.Append($"&{prefix}{p.Name}={value}");
else if (p.PropertyType.IsClass)
BuildQueryString(value, $"{prefix}{p.Name}.");
}
}
}
}
An example of using the solution:
string queryString = new
{
date = new DateTime(2020, 1, 1),
myClass = new MyClass
{
FirstName = "john",
LastName = "doe"
},
myArray = new int[] { 1, 2, 3, 4 },
}.ToQueryString();

Perhaps this Generic approach will be useful:
public static string ConvertToQueryString<T>(T entity) where T: class
{
var props = typeof(T).GetProperties();
return $"?{string.Join('&', props.Where(r=> r.GetValue(entity) != null).Select(r => $"{HttpUtility.UrlEncode(r.Name)}={HttpUtility.UrlEncode(r.GetValue(entity).ToString())}"))}";
}

public static class UrlHelper
{
public static string ToUrl(this Object instance)
{
var urlBuilder = new StringBuilder();
var properties = instance.GetType().GetProperties(BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public);
for (int i = 0; i < properties.Length; i++)
{
urlBuilder.AppendFormat("{0}={1}&", properties[i].Name, properties[i].GetValue(instance, null));
}
if (urlBuilder.Length > 1)
{
urlBuilder.Remove(urlBuilder.Length - 1, 1);
}
return urlBuilder.ToString();
}
}

This my solution:
public static class ObjectExtensions
{
public static string ToQueryString(this object obj)
{
if (!obj.GetType().IsComplex())
{
return obj.ToString();
}
var values = obj
.GetType()
.GetProperties()
.Where(o => o.GetValue(obj, null) != null);
var result = new QueryString();
foreach (var value in values)
{
if (!typeof(string).IsAssignableFrom(value.PropertyType)
&& typeof(IEnumerable).IsAssignableFrom(value.PropertyType))
{
var items = value.GetValue(obj) as IList;
if (items.Count > 0)
{
for (int i = 0; i < items.Count; i++)
{
result = result.Add(value.Name, ToQueryString(items[i]));
}
}
}
else if (value.PropertyType.IsComplex())
{
result = result.Add(value.Name, ToQueryString(value));
}
else
{
result = result.Add(value.Name, value.GetValue(obj).ToString());
}
}
return result.Value;
}
private static bool IsComplex(this Type type)
{
var typeInfo = type.GetTypeInfo();
if (typeInfo.IsGenericType && typeInfo.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(Nullable<>))
{
// nullable type, check if the nested type is simple.
return IsComplex(typeInfo.GetGenericArguments()[0]);
}
return !(typeInfo.IsPrimitive
|| typeInfo.IsEnum
|| type.Equals(typeof(Guid))
|| type.Equals(typeof(string))
|| type.Equals(typeof(decimal)));
}
}
I use this extension for my integration test, it works perfectly :)

Just another variation of the above, but I wanted to utilize the existing DataMember attributes in my model class, so only the properties I want to serialize are sent to the server in the url in the GET request.
public string ToQueryString(object obj)
{
if (obj == null) return "";
return "?" + string.Join("&", obj.GetType()
.GetProperties()
.Where(p => Attribute.IsDefined(p, typeof(DataMemberAttribute)) && p.GetValue(obj, null) != null)
.Select(p => $"{p.Name}={Uri.EscapeDataString(p.GetValue(obj).ToString())}"));
}

Here is something I wrote that does what you need.
public string CreateAsQueryString(PageVariables pv) //Pass in your EditListItemActionModel instead
{
int i = 0;
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
foreach (var prop in typeof(PageVariables).GetProperties())
{
if (i != 0)
{
sb.Append("&");
}
var x = prop.GetValue(pv, null).ToString();
if (x != null)
{
sb.Append(prop.Name);
sb.Append("=");
sb.Append(x.ToString());
}
i++;
}
Formating encoding = new Formating();
// I am encoding my query string - but you don''t have to
return "?" + HttpUtility.UrlEncode(encoding.RC2Encrypt(sb.ToString()));
}

I was looking for a solution to this for a Windows 10 (UWP) App. Taking the Relection approach suggested by Dave, and after adding the Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client Nuget package, I used the following code,
which handles Url Encoding of the property values:
private void AddContentAsQueryString(ref Uri uri, object content)
{
if ((uri != null) && (content != null))
{
UriBuilder builder = new UriBuilder(uri);
HttpValueCollection query = uri.ParseQueryString();
IEnumerable<PropertyInfo> propInfos = content.GetType().GetRuntimeProperties();
foreach (var propInfo in propInfos)
{
object value = propInfo.GetValue(content, null);
query.Add(propInfo.Name, String.Format("{0}", value));
}
builder.Query = query.ToString();
uri = builder.Uri;
}
}

A simple approach that supports list properties:
public static class UriBuilderExtensions
{
public static UriBuilder SetQuery<T>(this UriBuilder builder, T parameters)
{
var fragments = typeof(T).GetProperties()
.Where(property => property.CanRead)
.Select(property => new
{
property.Name,
Value = property.GetMethod.Invoke(parameters, null)
})
.Select(pair => new
{
pair.Name,
List = (!(pair.Value is string) && pair.Value is IEnumerable list ? list.Cast<object>() : new[] { pair.Value })
.Select(element => element?.ToString())
.Where(element => !string.IsNullOrEmpty(element))
})
.Where(pair => pair.List.Any())
.SelectMany(pair => pair.List.Select(value => Uri.EscapeDataString(pair.Name) + '=' + Uri.EscapeDataString(value)));
builder.Query = string.Join("&", fragments);
return builder;
}
}
A faster solution which is as fast as spelling out the code to serialize each type:
public static class UriBuilderExtensions
{
public static UriBuilder SetQuery<TSource>(this UriBuilder builder, TSource parameters)
{
var fragments = Cache<TSource>.Properties
.Select(property => new
{
property.Name,
List = property.FetchValue(parameters)?.Where(item => !string.IsNullOrEmpty(item))
})
.Where(parameter => parameter.List?.Any() ?? false)
.SelectMany(pair => pair.List.Select(item => Uri.EscapeDataString(pair.Name) + '=' + Uri.EscapeDataString(item)));
builder.Query = string.Join("&", fragments);
return builder;
}
/// <summary>
/// Caches dynamically emitted code which converts a types getter property values to a list of strings.
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="TSource">The type of the object being serialized</typeparam>
private static class Cache<TSource>
{
public static readonly IEnumerable<IProperty> Properties =
typeof(TSource).GetProperties()
.Where(propertyInfo => propertyInfo.CanRead)
.Select(propertyInfo =>
{
var source = Expression.Parameter(typeof(TSource));
var getter = Expression.Property(source, propertyInfo);
var cast = Expression.Convert(getter, typeof(object));
var expression = Expression.Lambda<Func<TSource, object>>(cast, source).Compile();
return new Property
{
Name = propertyInfo.Name,
FetchValue = typeof(IEnumerable).IsAssignableFrom(propertyInfo.PropertyType) && propertyInfo.PropertyType != typeof(string) ?
CreateListFetcher(expression) :
CreateValueFetcher(expression)
};
})
.OrderBy(propery => propery.Name)
.ToArray();
/// <summary>
/// Creates a function which serializes a <see cref="IEnumerable"/> property value to a list of strings.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="get">A lambda function which retrieves the property value from a given source object.</param>
private static Func<TSource, IEnumerable<string>> CreateListFetcher(Func<TSource, object> get)
=> obj => ((IEnumerable)get(obj))?.Cast<object>().Select(item => item?.ToString());
/// <summary>
/// Creates a function which serializes a <see cref="object"/> property value to a list of strings.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="get">A lambda function which retrieves the property value from a given source object.</param>
private static Func<TSource, IEnumerable<string>> CreateValueFetcher(Func<TSource, object> get)
=> obj => new[] { get(obj)?.ToString() };
public interface IProperty
{
string Name { get; }
Func<TSource, IEnumerable<string>> FetchValue { get; }
}
private class Property : IProperty
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public Func<TSource, IEnumerable<string>> FetchValue { get; set; }
}
}
}
An example of using either solution:
var url = new UriBuilder("test.com").SetQuerySlow(new
{
Days = new[] { WeekDay.Tuesday, WeekDay.Wednesday },
Time = TimeSpan.FromHours(14.5),
Link = "conferences.com/apple/stream/15",
Pizzas = default(int?)
}).Uri;
Output:
http://test.com/Days=Tuesday&Days=Wednesday&Time=14:30:00&Link=conferences.com%2Fapple%2Fstream%2F15
Neither of the solutions handle exotic types, indexed parameters, or nested parameters.
When manual serialization is simpler, this c#7/.net4.7 approach can help:
public static class QueryParameterExtensions
{
public static UriBuilder SetQuery(this UriBuilder builder, params (string Name, object Obj)[] parameters)
{
var list = parameters
.Select(parameter => new
{
parameter.Name,
Values = SerializeToList(parameter.Obj).Where(value => !string.IsNullOrEmpty(value))
})
.Where(parameter => parameter.Values.Any())
.SelectMany(parameter => parameter.Values.Select(item => Uri.EscapeDataString(parameter.Name) + '=' + Uri.EscapeDataString(item)));
builder.Query = string.Join("&", list);
return builder;
}
private static IEnumerable<string> SerializeToList(object obj)
{
switch (obj)
{
case string text:
yield return text;
break;
case IEnumerable list:
foreach (var item in list)
{
yield return SerializeToValue(item);
}
break;
default:
yield return SerializeToValue(obj);
break;
}
}
private static string SerializeToValue(object obj)
{
switch (obj)
{
case bool flag:
return flag ? "true" : null;
case byte number:
return number == default(byte) ? null : number.ToString();
case short number:
return number == default(short) ? null : number.ToString();
case ushort number:
return number == default(ushort) ? null : number.ToString();
case int number:
return number == default(int) ? null : number.ToString();
case uint number:
return number == default(uint) ? null : number.ToString();
case long number:
return number == default(long) ? null : number.ToString();
case ulong number:
return number == default(ulong) ? null : number.ToString();
case float number:
return number == default(float) ? null : number.ToString();
case double number:
return number == default(double) ? null : number.ToString();
case DateTime date:
return date == default(DateTime) ? null : date.ToString("s");
case TimeSpan span:
return span == default(TimeSpan) ? null : span.ToString();
case Guid guid:
return guid == default(Guid) ? null : guid.ToString();
default:
return obj?.ToString();
}
}
}
Example usage:
var uri = new UriBuilder("test.com")
.SetQuery(("days", standup.Days), ("time", standup.Time), ("link", standup.Link), ("pizzas", standup.Pizzas))
.Uri;
Output:
http://test.com/?days=Tuesday&days=Wednesday&time=14:30:00&link=conferences.com%2Fapple%2Fstream%2F15

In addition to existing answers
public static string ToQueryString<T>(this T input)
{
if (input == null)
{
return string.Empty;
}
var queryStringBuilder = new StringBuilder("?");
var properties = input.GetType().GetProperties(BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public);
foreach (var property in properties)
{
var value = property.GetValue(input);
if (value is null || property.HasIgnoreDataMember())
continue;
queryStringBuilder.AppendFormat("{0}={1}&", property.GetName(), HttpUtility.UrlEncode(value.ToString()));
}
queryStringBuilder.Length--;
return queryStringBuilder.ToString();
}
private static bool HasIgnoreDataMember(this PropertyInfo propertyInfo)
{
return propertyInfo.GetCustomAttribute(typeof(IgnoreDataMemberAttribute), true) is not null;
}
private static DataMemberAttribute GetDataMemberAttribute(this PropertyInfo propertyInfo)
{
return propertyInfo.GetCustomAttribute<DataMemberAttribute>();
}
private static T GetCustomAttribute<T>(this PropertyInfo propertyInfo) where T : class
{
return propertyInfo.GetCustomAttribute(typeof(T), true) as T;
}
private static string GetName(this PropertyInfo propertyInfo)
{
return propertyInfo.GetDataMemberAttribute()?.Name ?? propertyInfo.Name;
}
}
Usage: var queryString = object.ToQueryString()

Faced with a similar situation what I did, is to XML serialize the object and pass it around as query string parameter.
The difficulty with this approach was that despite encoding, the receiving form throws exception saying "potentially dangerous request...". The way I got around was to encrypt the serialized object and then encode to pass it around as query string parameter. Which in turn made the query string tamper proof (bonus wandering into the HMAC territory)!
FormA XML serializes an object > encrypts the serialized string > encode > pass as query string to FormB
FormB decrypts the query parameter value (as request.querystring decodes also) > deserialize the resulting XML string to object using XmlSerializer.
I can share my VB.NET code upon request to howIdidit-at-applecart-dot-net

Reflection to Filter List<T>

I am new to Reflection so please excuse my noob question. How can I create a Method that takes two Parameters, a Generic List and a String and then finds all items in that List where any property value matches the string.
So for example we have an object with 3 properties, I pass a list of this object to the method and a search string and it returns back a list of objects where any of the properties may contain the search string.
I can do like this :
var temp = list.AsQueryable().Where("SomeField == 1").Select("it");
But how can I make this method Generic so I can pass any List of Objects to it ?
Thanks in advance...

If you are using Dynamic Linq, try this
public static IEnumerable<T> Filter<T>(IEnumerable<T> source, string searchStr)
{
var propsToCheck = typeof (T).GetProperties().Where(a => a.PropertyType == typeof(string));
var filter = propsToCheck.Aggregate(string.Empty, (s, p) => (s == string.Empty ? string.Empty : string.Format("{0} OR ", s)) + string.Format("{0} == #0", p.Name));
var filtered = source.AsQueryable().Where(filter, searchStr);
return filtered;
}

Use Type.GetProperties() to get all the properties of an object. Use PropertyInfo.GetValue() to get the value of a given property in a given object. You need to figure out how you want a match your string to a DateTime, to numbers, or to other complex objects. Put it all into a function like bool IsMatch(this object obj, string val). Then you can filter your list like list.Where(x => x.IsMatch("something")).

Here you go mate:
private static void Main(string[] args)
{
var list = new List<object> {new {prop1 = "A", prop2 = "B"},new {prop3 = "B", prop4 = "C"}};
var subList = SearchForStringInProperties(list, "C");
}
private static IEnumerable<object> SearchForStringInProperties(IEnumerable<object> list, string searchString)
{
return from obj in list where FindStringInObjProperties(obj, searchString) select obj;
}
private static bool FindStringInObjProperties(object obj, string searchString)
{
return obj.GetType().GetProperties().Any(property => obj.GetType().GetProperty(property.Name).GetValue(obj).ToString().Equals(searchString));
}

If you just want to match the properties with same type as your argument, this extension method can help,
public static class ListExtensions
{
public static IEnumerable<T> MatchWithAnyProperty<T, TK>(this IEnumerable<T> list, TK value)
{
var argType = typeof (TK);
var properties = typeof(T).GetProperties().Where(x => x.PropertyType.IsAssignableFrom(argType));
return list.Where(item => properties.Any(prop =>
{
var propertyValue = prop.GetValue(item, null);
if (value == null)
return propertyValue == null;
return propertyValue.Equals(value);
}));
}
}
This can be used like,
var items = new[]
{
new
{
Name = "Test",
Age = 20,
Test=25
},
new
{
Name = "Hello",
Age = 10,
Test=15
},
new
{
Name = "T2gdhest",
Age = 14,
Test=20
},
new
{
Name = "hai",
Age = 33,
Test=10
},
new
{
Name = "why not",
Age = 10,
Test=33
},
};
var match= items.MatchWithAnyProperty(10);
foreach (var item in match)
{
Console.WriteLine(item.Name);
}
Console.ReadKey();

And there is the old way ...
public static IList<T> MyMethod<T>(IList<T> myList, string filter)
{
if (myList == null) return null;
if (filter == null) return myList;
var tfilter = filter.GetType();
var properties = typeof(T).GetProperties().Where(x => x.PropertyType.FullName == typeof(string).FullName);
if (!properties.Any()) return null;
var res = new List<T>();
foreach(var el in myList)
{
foreach(var p in properties)
{
if ((string)p.GetValue(el) == filter)
{
res.Add(el);
break;
}
}
}
return res;
}

C# flattening json structure

I have a json-object in C# (represented as a Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JObject object) and I need to flatten it to a dictionary. Let me show you an example of what I mean:
{
"name": "test",
"father": {
"name": "test2"
"age": 13,
"dog": {
"color": "brown"
}
}
}
This should yield a dictionary with the following key-value-pairs:
["name"] == "test",
["father.name"] == "test2",
["father.age"] == 13,
["father.dog.color"] == "brown"
How can I do this?

JObject jsonObject=JObject.Parse(theJsonString);
IEnumerable<JToken> jTokens = jsonObject.Descendants().Where(p => !p.HasValues);
Dictionary<string, string> results = jTokens.Aggregate(new Dictionary<string, string>(), (properties, jToken) =>
{
properties.Add(jToken.Path, jToken.ToString());
return properties;
});
I had the same requirement of flattening a nested json structure to a dictionary object. Found the solution here.

As of .NET Core 3.0 JsonDocument is a way (Json.NET is not needed). I'm sure this will get easier.
using System.Linq;
using System.Text.Json;
(...)
public static Dictionary<string, JsonElement> GetFlat(string json)
{
IEnumerable<(string Path, JsonProperty P)> GetLeaves(string path, JsonProperty p)
=> p.Value.ValueKind != JsonValueKind.Object
? new[] { (Path: path == null ? p.Name : path + "." + p.Name, p) }
: p.Value.EnumerateObject() .SelectMany(child => GetLeaves(path == null ? p.Name : path + "." + p.Name, child));
using (JsonDocument document = JsonDocument.Parse(json)) // Optional JsonDocumentOptions options
return document.RootElement.EnumerateObject()
.SelectMany(p => GetLeaves(null, p))
.ToDictionary(k => k.Path, v => v.P.Value.Clone()); //Clone so that we can use the values outside of using
}
A more expressive version is shown below.
Test
using System.Linq;
using System.Text.Json;
(...)
var json = #"{
""name"": ""test"",
""father"": {
""name"": ""test2"",
""age"": 13,
""dog"": {
""color"": ""brown""
}
}
}";
var d = GetFlat(json);
var options2 = new JsonSerializerOptions { WriteIndented = true };
Console.WriteLine(JsonSerializer.Serialize(d, options2));
Output
{
"name": "test",
"father.name": "test2",
"father.age": 13,
"father.dog.color": "brown"
}
More expressive version
using System.Linq;
using System.Text.Json;
(...)
static Dictionary<string, JsonElement> GetFlat(string json)
{
using (JsonDocument document = JsonDocument.Parse(json))
{
return document.RootElement.EnumerateObject()
.SelectMany(p => GetLeaves(null, p))
.ToDictionary(k => k.Path, v => v.P.Value.Clone()); //Clone so that we can use the values outside of using
}
}
static IEnumerable<(string Path, JsonProperty P)> GetLeaves(string path, JsonProperty p)
{
path = (path == null) ? p.Name : path + "." + p.Name;
if (p.Value.ValueKind != JsonValueKind.Object)
yield return (Path: path, P: p);
else
foreach (JsonProperty child in p.Value.EnumerateObject())
foreach (var leaf in GetLeaves(path, child))
yield return leaf;
}

I actually had the same problem earlier today couldn't find this question on SO at first, and ended up writing my own extension method to return the JValue objects containing the leaf node values of the JSON blob. It's similar to the accepted answer, except for some improvements:
It handles any JSON you give it (arrays, properties, etc) instead of just a JSON object.
Less memory usage
No calls to .Count() on descendants you ultimately don't need
Depending on your use case, those may or may not be relevant, but they are for my case. I wrote about learning to flatten the JSON.NET objects on my blog. Here is the extension method I wrote:
public static class JExtensions
{
public static IEnumerable<JValue> GetLeafValues(this JToken jToken)
{
if (jToken is JValue jValue)
{
yield return jValue;
}
else if (jToken is JArray jArray)
{
foreach (var result in GetLeafValuesFromJArray(jArray))
{
yield return result;
}
}
else if (jToken is JProperty jProperty)
{
foreach (var result in GetLeafValuesFromJProperty(jProperty))
{
yield return result;
}
}
else if (jToken is JObject jObject)
{
foreach (var result in GetLeafValuesFromJObject(jObject))
{
yield return result;
}
}
}
#region Private helpers
static IEnumerable<JValue> GetLeafValuesFromJArray(JArray jArray)
{
for (var i = 0; i < jArray.Count; i++)
{
foreach (var result in GetLeafValues(jArray[i]))
{
yield return result;
}
}
}
static IEnumerable<JValue> GetLeafValuesFromJProperty(JProperty jProperty)
{
foreach (var result in GetLeafValues(jProperty.Value))
{
yield return result;
}
}
static IEnumerable<JValue> GetLeafValuesFromJObject(JObject jObject)
{
foreach (var jToken in jObject.Children())
{
foreach (var result in GetLeafValues(jToken))
{
yield return result;
}
}
}
#endregion
}
Then in my calling code, I just extract the Path and Value properties from the JValue objects returned:
var jToken = JToken.Parse("blah blah json here");
foreach (var jValue in jToken.GetLeafValues())
{
Console.WriteLine("{0} = {1}", jValue.Path, jValue.Value);
}

You can use https://github.com/jsonfx/jsonfx to deserialize json into a dynamic object. Then use the ExpandoObject to get what you want.
public Class1()
{
string json = #"{
""name"": ""test"",
""father"": {
""name"": ""test2"",
""age"": 13,
""dog"": {
""color"": ""brown""
}
}
}";
var reader = new JsonFx.Json.JsonReader();
dynamic output = reader.Read(json);
Dictionary<string, object> dict = new Dictionary<string, object>();
GenerateDictionary((System.Dynamic.ExpandoObject) output, dict, "");
}
private void GenerateDictionary(System.Dynamic.ExpandoObject output, Dictionary<string, object> dict, string parent)
{
foreach (var v in output)
{
string key = parent + v.Key;
object o = v.Value;
if (o.GetType() == typeof(System.Dynamic.ExpandoObject))
{
GenerateDictionary((System.Dynamic.ExpandoObject)o, dict, key + ".");
}
else
{
if (!dict.ContainsKey(key))
{
dict.Add(key, o);
}
}
}
}

You could use the JSONPath $..* to get all members of the JSON structure and filter out the ones with no children to skip the container properties.
e.g.
var schemaObject = JObject.Parse(schema);
var values = schemaObject
.SelectTokens("$..*")
.Where(t => !t.HasValues)
.ToDictionary(t => t.Path, t => t.ToString());

Based on the code that was provided by tymtam, but also supporting arrays:
public static IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<string, string>> Flatten<T>(this T data, string seperator = ":") where T : class
{
var json = JsonSerializer.Serialize(data);
string GetArrayPath(string path, string name, int idx) =>
path == null ? $"{name}{seperator}{idx}" : $"{path}{seperator}{name}{seperator}{idx}";
IEnumerable<(string Path, JsonElement Element)> GetLeaves(string path, string name, JsonElement element) => element.ValueKind switch
{
JsonValueKind.Object => element.EnumerateObject()
.SelectMany(child => GetLeaves(path == null ? name : $"{path}{seperator}{name}", child.Name, child.Value)),
JsonValueKind.Array => element.EnumerateArray()
.SelectMany((child, idx) => child.ValueKind == JsonValueKind.Object
? child.EnumerateObject().SelectMany(child => GetLeaves(GetArrayPath(path, name, idx), child.Name, child.Value))
: new[] { (Path: GetArrayPath(path, name, idx), child) }
),
_ => new[] { (Path: path == null ? name : $"{path}{seperator}{name}", element) },
};
using JsonDocument document = JsonDocument.Parse(json); // Optional JsonDocumentOptions options
return document.RootElement.EnumerateObject()
.SelectMany(p => GetLeaves(null, p.Name, p.Value))
.ToDictionary(k => k.Path, v => v.Element.Clone().ToString()); //Clone so that we can use the values outside of using
}