Develop Reference

JSON not deserializing as expected?

I have a collection of classes set out like this:
public class Xml
{
public string version { get; set; }
public string encoding { get; set; }
}
public class Content
{
public string Expires { get; set; }
public string MaxArrivalScope { get; set; }
}
public class Trip
{
public string ETA { get; set; }
public string TripNo { get; set; }
public string WheelchairAccess { get; set; }
}
public class Destination
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public List<Trip> Trip { get; set; }
}
public class Route
{
public string RouteNo { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public Destination Destination { get; set; }
}
public class Platform
{
public string PlatformTag { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public Route Route { get; set; }
}
public class JPRoutePositionET
{
public string xmlns { get; set; }
public string xsi { get; set; }
public string schemaLocation { get; set; }
public Content Content { get; set; }
public Platform Platform { get; set; }
}
public class RootObject
{
public Xml xml { get; set; }
public JPRoutePositionET JPRoutePositionET { get; set; }
}
}
I have JSON like this:
{
"xml": {
"version": "1.0",
"encoding": "utf-8"
},
"JPRoutePositionET": {
"xmlns": "urn:connexionz-co-nz:jp",
"xsi": "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance",
"schemaLocation": "urn:connexionz-co-nz:jp JourneyPlanner.xsd",
"Content": {
"Expires": "2017-04-09T15:59:31+12:00",
"MaxArrivalScope": "60"
},
"Platform": {
"PlatformTag": "2628",
"Name": "Awatea Rd near Awatea Gdns",
"Route": {
"RouteNo": "125",
"Name": "Redwood/Westlake",
"Destination": {
"Name": "Westlake & Halswell",
"Trip": [
{
"ETA": "4",
"TripNo": "4751",
"WheelchairAccess": "true"
},
{
"ETA": "32",
"TripNo": "4752",
"WheelchairAccess": "true"
}
]
}
}
}
}
}
Why is Newtonsoft not parsing correctly to the Platform class? It returns null. Will I need to format the JSON to cut out all the other information I don't want? Or is it something I am missing?

Fabio's Comment of
var result = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<RootObject>(js‌​onString);
Worked.
But now when I get JSON like pastebin.com/pebp178s I can't seem to use Json2CSharp to get the classes I'd need as it doesn't make Destination a List, it also changes Trip to an Object instead of a class. Which is really weird. It just throws an error saying the JSON can't be parsed.

Deserialize complex JSON result

I am automating an API. I would like to deserialize the JSON response I get but I can't figure out how to do it. This is the JSON I get as response:
{
"class": [
"Paged-Collection",
"Products"
],
"properties": {
"defaultPageSize": 10,
"skip": null,
"top": 10,
"totalRows": 2
},
"entities": [
{
"class": [
"Product"
],
"rel": [],
"properties": {
"Supplier": "Supplier1",
"Currency": "USD",
"ProductCode": "SomeCode1",
"price": 2
}
},
{
"class": [
"Product"
],
"rel": [],
"properties": {
"Supplier": "Supplier2",
"Currency": "USD",
"ProductCode": "SomeCode2",
"price": 73
}
},
],
"links": [
{
"rel": [
"self"
],
"href": "http://localhost...",
"method": "GET",
"title": null,
"type": null
}
]
}
from what I've seen in other examples the deserialization boils down to figuring out the exact data strucutre (Not sure though if this what it is) however I made several attempts (not just rushing to SO for answer), so this is my last try:
The structure as I see it:
public class Data
{
List<string> #class { get; set; }
Dictionary<string, MetaData> properties { get; set; }
List<entities> entities { get; set; }
List<LinkFeed> links { get; set; }
}
public class MetaData
{
public int defaultPageSize { get; set; }
public string skip { get; set; }
public int top { get; set; }
public int totalRows { get; set; }
}
public class entities
{
public List<string> #class { get; set; }
public List<string> rel { get; set; }
public properties property { get; set; }
}
public class properties
{
public string Supplier { get; set; }
public string Currency { get; set; }
public string ProductCode { get; set; }
public string price { get; set; }
public double Price { get; set; }
}
public class LinkFeed
{
public List<string> rel { get; set; }
public string href { get; set; }
public string method { get; set; }
public string title { get; set; }
public string type { get; set; }
}
And the actual deserialization using Newtonsoft.Json :
var result = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Data>(data);
And everything is Null..
Actually the data that I'm really interested in is that under "entities" but I don't know if extracting only that will be actually easier or more difficult.

This is your structure:
public class Rootobject {
public string[] _class { get; set; }
public Properties properties { get; set; }
public Entity[] entities { get; set; }
public Link[] links { get; set; }
}
public class Properties {
public int defaultPageSize { get; set; }
public object skip { get; set; }
public int top { get; set; }
public int totalRows { get; set; }
}
public class Entity {
public string[] _class { get; set; }
public object[] rel { get; set; }
public Properties1 properties { get; set; }
}
public class Properties1 {
public string Supplier { get; set; }
public string Currency { get; set; }
public string ProductCode { get; set; }
public int price { get; set; }
}
public class Link {
public string[] rel { get; set; }
public string href { get; set; }
public string method { get; set; }
public object title { get; set; }
public object type { get; set; }
}
So you will do this:
var result = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Rootobject>(data);
I would rename the class Properties to another name because it will clash with the Properties class of the assembly. This will give you headaches so just to be safe call it something else.
Also if you do not like some of the property names in the above classes, I mean I do not like it because it does not follow .NET naming conventions, then you can do this:
public class Rootobject {
[JsonProperty( "class" )]
public string[] MyClass { get; set; }
// ... other properties
}
Obviously calling it MyClass is just an example, so give it a name that reflects the business domain.

Deserializing a complex JSON object

I use JavaScript.Serializer.Deserializer to deserialize a complex JSON object, as below:
{
"name": "rule 1",
"enabled": true,
"conditions": [{
"type": "time",
"time": "17:23:10",
"days": "125"
}, {
"type": "sensor",
"uid": "10.2.0.1",
"setpoint1": 12,
"setpoint2": 18,
"criterion": 1
}, {
"type": "sensor",
"uid": "10.3.0.1",
"setpoint1": 12,
"setpoint2": 18,
"criterion": 2
}],
"actions": {
"period": 100,
"single": false,
"act": [{
"type": "on",
"uid": "10.1.0.1"
}, {
"type": "sms",
"message": "Hello World"
}]
}
}
And I want to convert it to some classes, like below:
public class Rule
{
public string name { get; set; }
public bool enabled { get; set; }
public List<Condition> conditions { get; set; }
public List<Action> actions { get; set; }
}
public class Condition
{
public string type { get; set; }
public string uid { get; set; }
public DateTime? time { get; set; }
public string days { get; set; }
public double setpoint1 { get; set; }
public double setpoint2 { get; set; }
public int criterion { get; set; }
}
public class Action
{
public int period { get; set; }
public bool single { get; set; }
public List<Act> act { get; set; }
}
public class Act
{
public string type { get; set; }
public string uid { get; set; }
public string message { get; set; }
}
The deserialization snippet:
json = new JavaScriptSerializer();
Rule rule = (json.Deserialize<Rule>(jsonStr));
If I simplify the Rule class and declare conditions and actions as simple strings, it works fine.
But if I use the classes like above, it throws an exception:
Cannot convert object of type 'System.String' to type 'System.Collections.Generic.List`1[IoTWebApplication.Condition]'

The structure you create does not fit to the JSON you posted.
It should look like
public class Rule
{
public string name { get; set; }
public bool enabled { get; set; }
public Condition[ ] conditions { get; set; }
public Actions actions { get; set; }
}
public class Actions
{
public int period { get; set; }
public bool single { get; set; }
public Act[ ] act { get; set; }
}
public class Act
{
public string type { get; set; }
public string uid { get; set; }
public string message { get; set; }
}
public class Condition
{
public string type { get; set; }
public string time { get; set; }
public string days { get; set; }
public string uid { get; set; }
public int setpoint1 { get; set; }
public int setpoint2 { get; set; }
public int criterion { get; set; }
}
It is (in most cases) very easy in VS to get the classes direct out of the JSON
Copy JSON to clipboard
In VS EDIT/Special Paste/Paste JSON as Classes (the code above was created by this)

The problem was that the inner (nested) json was quoted and therefore was processed as a string. So when I removed the quotes, it worked fine:
json = new JavaScriptSerializer();
Rule rule = (json.Deserialize<Rule>(jsonStr));

Retrieve the values from json string

I have json string. I want to retrieve the contact from json string. Following json contains array of contacts. here is my json string.
{
   "contacts": {
      "contact": [
         {
            "isConnection": false,
            "id": 33554611,
            "fields": [
               {
                  "id": 33554748,
                  "type": "name",
                  "value": {
                     "givenName": "Jhon",
                     "middleName": "",
                     "familyName": "Scot",
                     "prefix": "",
                     "suffix": "",
                     "givenNameSound": "",
                     "familyNameSound": ""
                  },
                  "editedBy": "OWNER",
                  "flags": [],
                  "categories": [],
                  "updated": "2012-12-23T07:40:23Z",
                  "created": "2012-12-23T07:40:23Z",
               },
               {
                  "id": 33554749,
                  "type": "email",
                  "value": "someone#example.com",
                  "editedBy": "OWNER",
                  "flags": [],
                  "categories": [],
                  "updated": "2012-12-23T07:40:23Z",
                  "created": "2012-12-23T07:40:23Z",
               }
            ]
         }
}
}
Here I want to retrieves the values of givenName,familyName,email. How can I retrieve the values of these from json string.
Note: there are array of contact in json. I have posted only one contact from this json.
I tried something like this. But not worked.
JObject json = JObject.Parse(returnStr);
JArray fields = (JArray)json["contacts"]["contact"]["fields"][0];
JArray FValues = (JArray)json["contact"]["fields"]["value"];
I tried this
public class Field
{
public int id { get; set; }
public string type { get; set; }
public object value { get; set; }
public string editedBy { get; set; }
public List<object> flags { get; set; }
public List<object> categories { get; set; }
public string updated { get; set; }
public string created { get; set; }
public string uri { get; set; }
public bool? isConnection { get; set; }
}
public class contact
{
public bool isConnection { get; set; }
public int id { get; set; }
public List<Field> fields { get; set; }
public List<object> categories { get; set; }
public int error { get; set; }
public int restoredId { get; set; }
public string created { get; set; }
public string updated { get; set; }
public string uri { get; set; }
}
public class Contacts
{
public List<contact> contact { get; set; }
public int count { get; set; }
public int start { get; set; }
public int total { get; set; }
public string uri { get; set; }
public bool cache { get; set; }
}
public class RootObject
{
public Contacts contacts { get; set; }
}
and
JavaScriptSerializer serializer1 = new JavaScriptSerializer();
RootObject obje = serializer1.Deserialize<RootObject>(returnStr);
But it is giving me 0 value in obje.

First make sure your Json is in valid format using jsonlint
Then generate class base on it using json2csharp
public class Field
{
public int id { get; set; }
public string type { get; set; }
public object value { get; set; }
public string editedBy { get; set; }
public List<object> flags { get; set; }
public List<object> categories { get; set; }
public string updated { get; set; }
public string created { get; set; }
}
public class Contact
{
public bool isConnection { get; set; }
public int id { get; set; }
public List<Field> fields { get; set; }
}
public class Contacts
{
public List<Contact> contact { get; set; }
}
public class RootObject
{
public Contacts contacts { get; set; }
}
Use Newtonsoft JSON to deserialize your Json into object(s) then you may simply access its properties value.
JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<RootObject>(string json);

Class for json object (generated with http://jsonutils.com/ after correcting some syntax error):
public class Field
{
public int id { get; set; }
public string type { get; set; }
public object value { get; set; }
public string editedBy { get; set; }
public IList<object> flags { get; set; }
public IList<object> categories { get; set; }
public DateTime updated { get; set; }
public DateTime created { get; set; }
}
public class Contact
{
public bool isConnection { get; set; }
public int id { get; set; }
public IList<Field> fields { get; set; }
}
public class Contacts
{
public IList<Contact> contact { get; set; }
}
public class Example
{
public Contacts contacts { get; set; }
}
Deserialization (you will probably need to add a reference to System.Web.Extensions):
System.Web.Script.Serialization.JavaScriptSerializer deSer = new System.Web.Script.Serialization.JavaScriptSerializer();
JSonPrintSettingsToXml.Input.Example deserializedJSON = deSer.Deserialize<JSonPrintSettingsToXml.Input.Example>(yourJSON);
Here is the corrected JSON
{
"contacts": {
"contact": [
{
"isConnection": false,
"id": 33554611,
"fields": [
{
"id": 33554748,
"type": "name",
"value": {
"givenName": "Jhon",
"middleName": "",
"familyName": "Scot",
"prefix": "",
"suffix": "",
"givenNameSound": "",
"familyNameSound": ""
},
"editedBy": "OWNER",
"flags": [],
"categories": [],
"updated": "2012-12-23T07:40:23Z",
"created": "2012-12-23T07:40:23Z"
},
{
"id": 33554749,
"type": "email",
"value": "someone#example.com",
"editedBy": "OWNER",
"flags": [],
"categories": [],
"updated": "2012-12-23T07:40:23Z",
"created": "2012-12-23T07:40:23Z"
}
]
}
]
}
}

You need to go with the following structure:
public class Contact
{
public bool isConnection { get; set; }
public int id { get; set; }
public List<Field> fields { get; set; }
}
public class Field
{
public int id { get; set; }
public string type { get; set; }
public object value { get; set; }
public string editedBy { get; set; }
public string[] flags { get; set; }
public string[] categories { get; set; }
public DateTime updated { get; set; }
public DateTime created { get; set; }
}
public class Name
{
public string givenName { get; set; }
public string middleName { get; set; }
public string familyName { get; set; }
public string prefix { get; set; }
public string suffix { get; set; }
public string givenNameSound { get; set; }
public string familyNameSound { get; set; }
}
And then deserialize it and use LINQ to manipulate fields.

If you want to stick to JObject and not create classes, look at the example provided at http://weblog.west-wind.com/posts/2012/Aug/30/Using-JSONNET-for-dynamic-JSON-parsing
You'll have to enumerate over this
dynamic contacts = (JArray)json["contacts"]
foreach(dynamic contact in contacts.contact) {
// look at the fields...
}
PS. Give it a go, don't have VS on me so cant quite verify the exact syntax

Firstly, I think you'll find that your JSON is not well-formed. You don't need the extra commas after the two "created" dates and there is a right-square bracket missing before the second last curly brace. I recommend you always validate your JSON using this awesome site: http://jsonformatter.curiousconcept.com
Secondly, you are not referencing the array elements correctly. Although I agree with #grundy that you should be creating class definitions for managing JSON and using LINQ, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the Newtonsoft library. You can still persist with your method.
Try this:-
var json = JObject.Parse(returnStr);
var fields = (JArray)json["contacts"]["contact"][0]["fields"];
var givenName = fields[0]["value"]["givenName"];
var familyName = fields[0]["value"]["familyName"];
var email = fields[1]["value"];

Deserializing an array of different object types

Using the Json.NET library, I'm having trouble deserializing some json returned as an array. The json is an array containing some paging information as an object and array of country objects. Here's a sample of the returned json:
[
{
"page": 1,
"pages": 6,
"per_page": "50",
"total": 262
},
[
{
"id": "ABW",
"iso2Code": "AW",
"name": "Aruba",
"region": {
"id": "LCN",
"value": "Latin America & Caribbean (all income levels)"
},
"adminregion": {
"id": "",
"value": ""
},
"incomeLevel": {
"id": "NOC",
"value": "High income: nonOECD"
},
"lendingType": {
"id": "LNX",
"value": "Not classified"
},
"capitalCity": "Oranjestad",
"longitude": "-70.0167",
"latitude": "12.5167"
}
]
]
I am attempting to deserialize to the following types:
class CountriesQueryResults
{
public PagingInfo PageInfo { get; set; }
public List<CountryInfo> Countries { get; set; }
}
class PagingInfo
{
public int Page { get; set; }
public int Pages { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("per_page")]
public int ResultsPerPage { get; set; }
public int Total { get; set; }
}
class CountryInfo
{
public string Id { get; set; }
public string Iso2Code { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Longitude { get; set; }
public string Latitude { get; set; }
public string CapitalCity { get; set; }
public CompactIdentifier Region { get; set; }
public CompactIdentifier AdminRegion { get; set; }
public CompactIdentifier IncomeLevel { get; set; }
public CompactIdentifier LendingType { get; set; }
}
class CompactIdentifier
{
public string Id { get; set; }
public string Value { get; set; }
}
I am calling DeserializeObject as so:
var data = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<CountriesQueryResults>>(response);
I am getting the following error:
Cannot deserialize the current JSON object (e.g. {"name":"value"}) into type 'CountriesQueryResults' because the type requires a JSON array (e.g. [1,2,3]) to deserialize correctly.
I have been trying to get the answer from the documentation but I can't seem to figure it out. Any help would be appreciated.

Since your json is like this [ {....} , [{....}] ], You can only deserialize it to an object array(Where first item is an object and second, another array).
This simplest way I think to convert it to a c# object is:
var jArr = JArray.Parse(jsonstr);
var pageInfo = jArr[0].ToObject<PagingInfo>();
var countryInfos = jArr[1].ToObject<List<CountryInfo>>();
Class definitions would be:
public class PagingInfo
{
public int page { get; set; }
public int pages { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("per_page")]
public int ResultsPerPage { get; set; }
public int total { get; set; }
}
public class Region
{
public string id { get; set; }
public string value { get; set; }
}
public class AdminRegion
{
public string id { get; set; }
public string value { get; set; }
}
public class IncomeLevel
{
public string id { get; set; }
public string value { get; set; }
}
public class LendingType
{
public string id { get; set; }
public string value { get; set; }
}
public class CountryInfo
{
public string id { get; set; }
public string iso2Code { get; set; }
public string name { get; set; }
public Region region { get; set; }
public AdminRegion adminregion { get; set; }
public IncomeLevel incomeLevel { get; set; }
public LendingType lendingType { get; set; }
public string capitalCity { get; set; }
public string longitude { get; set; }
public string latitude { get; set; }
}
PS: You can change the property names' first char to Uppercase if you want. I used http://json2csharp.com/ to automatically generate those classes.