Develop Reference

Saving JSON to DataTable

I need to save data retrieved from API to a DataTable. JSON which is returned from API can't be deserialized directly to DataTable using this code:
DataTable dt = (DataTable)JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(json, (typeof(DataTable)));
I got an error: Unexpected JSON token when reading DataTable. I read that it's beacuse JSON format is not as it should be. Mine is as follows:
{
"page": 1,
"page_size": 1000,
"items": [
{
"id": "e1b019b9a8bf408c9cb964c29e845104",
"asset_id": "5adb0d87882b4e14b99bde74a967e84c",
"alias": "Concrete Pump Yellow",
"serial_number": "QEQ000123",
"model": {
"name": "Pump C50-HP"
},
"operating_hours": {
"hours": 100,
"unit_driven": true
}
}
]
}
I know I need format like [{..}] but can't find workaround, API returns JSON as above. I can deserialize it using this:
var obj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(json);
but how can I now add data to DataTable? I'm looking for a solution for it

What the JsonConvert class does is it materializes your string version of the response into an object. For this to work, your string version has to match the structure of the resulting object or the class needs hints to know how to inflate the object. The runtime is telling you that there is a mismatch and it doesn't know how to resolve it.
There are a few ways to get this done. I prefer an structured approach so I would recommend you create classes to receive the data:
var payload = #"{
""page"": 1,
""page_size"": 1000,
""items"": [
{
""id"": ""e1b019b9a8bf408c9cb964c29e845104"",
""asset_id"": ""5adb0d87882b4e14b99bde74a967e84c"",
""alias"": ""Concrete Pump Yellow"",
""serial_number"": ""QEQ000123"",
""model"": {
""name"": ""Pump C50-HP""
},
""operating_hours"": {
""hours"": 100,
""unit_driven"": true
}
}
]
}";
public class ApiResponse
{
[JsonProperty("page")]
public int Page { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("page_size")]
public int PageSize { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("items")]
public IEnumerable<ApiResponseItem> Items { get; set; }
}
public class ApiResponseItem
{
[JsonProperty("id")]
public string Id { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("asset_id")]
public string AssetId { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("alias")]
public string Alias { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("serial_number")]
public string SerialNumber { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("model")]
public ApiResponseModel Model { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("operating_hours")]
public ApiResponseOperatingHours OperatingHours { get; set; }
}
public class ApiResponseModel
{
[JsonProperty("name")]
public string Name { get; set; }
}
public class ApiResponseOperatingHours
{
[JsonProperty("hours")]
public string Hours { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("unit_driven")]
public bool UnitDriven { get; set; }
}
var response = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<ApiResponse>(payload);
As you can see, the classes use hint attributes to let the deserializer know about the fields. You can then loop through the response.Items enumerable and consume the items as desired.
UPDATE:
For posterity and at the suggestion of #mason, it's important to point out that there is no need to use a DataTable. A quick inspection of the payload reveals the output is a paged version of set of records so it's not equivalent to a data table.

Your issue here is that the json you're deserializing is not a DataTable, its just an Object.
JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(request, typeof(Object)) -> Where Object would be a defined Class with parameter definitions to deserialize the json to, i.e page, page_size, id etc..
Once in this format its fairly easy to coerce it into a DataTable:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.data.datatable?view=net-6.0
The Classes would look something along the lines of:
public class Items
{
public Guid? Id {get;set;}
public Guid? AssetId {get;set;}
public string alias {get;set;}
public string serial_number {get;set;}
public Model model {get;set;}
public OperatingHours operatingHours {get;set;}
}
public class Model
{
public string Name { get;set;}
}
public class OperatingHours
{
public int Hours {get;set;}
public bool Unit_Driven {get;set;}
}
public class OverallObject
{
public int Page {get;set;}
public int PageSize {get;set;}
public List<Items> AllItems {get;set;}
}

How can parse dynamic json in c#?

Have some json and parse that whit this code:
dynamic json = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(response.Content);
dynamic result =json.result;
after this line:
dynamic result =json.result;
have this output:
{
{
"321":{
"online_status":true,
"basic_info":{
"status":"Recharged",
"group_name":"IRN-UV002-M01",
"isp_name":"Main",
"creation_date":"2017-09-05 08:19:32",
"recharge_deposit":0.0,
"user_id":321,
"nearest_exp_date":"2018-02-22 10:21:00",
"credit":20387.775145462037,
"deposit":0.0,
"isp_id":0,
"group_id":72
},
"user_repr":"10001168-2100104f4Y8-FTTH",
}
}
}
and now want to get user_id from that json,how can i write code for that purpose?thanks.

The better way would be to deseralize this into a strongly typed object.
But for you you can use the JObject class to do something like the following (note not tested, but you should understand the concept):
dynamic result = JObject.Parse(source);
int id = result.321.basic_info.user_id;

You probably want to do something like this:
var yourInstance = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<YourClass>(responseJson);
For that, you need to define a class YourClass and related sub-classes which have properties matching the values returned in the JSON data, i.e. something like:
public class YourClass {
public bool online_status { get; set; }
public BasicInfo basic_info { get; set; }
public string user_repr { get; set; }
}
public class BasicInfo {
public string status { get; set; }
public string group_name{ get; set; }
public string isp_name{ get; set; }
public DateTime creation_date{ get; set; }
public string group_name{ get; set; }
// ...etc.
}
With this in place, JsonConvert should be able to understand and parse your data to the correct object.
This is just a rough example, but it should get you on your way.

Another way is to use JObject to hold the string.
var str = "{\"321\":{\"online_status\":true,\"basic_info\":{\"status\":\"Recharged\",\"group_name\":\"IRN-UV002-M01\",\"isp_name\":\"Main\",\"creation_date\":\"2017-09-05 08:19:32\",\"recharge_deposit\":0.0,\"user_id\":321,\"nearest_exp_date\":\"2018-02-22 10:21:00\",\"credit\":20387.775145462037,\"deposit\":0.0,\"isp_id\":0,\"group_id\":72},\"user_repr\":\"10001168-2100104f4Y8-FTTH\"}}";
var obj = JObject.Parse(str);
var userId = obj["321"]["basic_info"]["user_id"].ToString();

Can't deserialize json properly

I have this json:
[{"trace":{"details":{"date":"[28-02-2016 11:04:26.856573]","type":"[info]","message":"[system done.]"},"context":{"context":[[{"ID":"john dillinger"}]]}}},{"trace":{"details":{"date":"[28-02-2016 11:04:26.856728]","type":"[info]","message":"[trace done.]"},"context":{"context":[[{"ID":"john dillinger"}]]}}}]
Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializationException: Cannot deserialize the current JSON array (e.g. [1,2,3]) into type, because the type requires a JSON object (e.g. {"name":"value"}) to deserialize correctly.
I've created this class for deserialize it:
public class Testing
{
public string date { get; set; }
public string type { get; set; }
public string message { get; set; }
public string context { get; set; }
}
and this is the code for deserialize the content:
string responseText = "json above";
var obj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Testing>(responseText); //on this line the problem
in the obj line I get the exception. I'm a bit rusty with c# so I don't know exactly what am I doing wrong. Someone could enlighten me?

Your json is not a flat data as your Testing class is. Try using following
public class Details
{
public string date { get; set; }
public string type { get; set; }
public string message { get; set; }
}
public class Context
{
public List<List<ContextElement>> context { get; set; }
}
public class Trace
{
public Details details { get; set; }
public Context context { get; set; }
}
public class RootObject
{
public Trace trace { get; set; }
}
Just hit your json to http://json2csharp.com/ and it seems you need to add this type for the ID part of the context and modify the result so context uses this in the list.
public class ContextElement
{
public string ID { get; set; }
}
Your parsed json is of format
Check this with https://jsonformatter.curiousconcept.com/ yourself. Then you just need to make a C# classes to match that structure.

You need to deserialize a collection of Trace - like List<Trace>:
var obj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<Trace>>(responseText);
Assuming that you have the following DTOs:
public class Trace
{
public TraceValue trace;
}
public class TraceValue
{
public Details details;
public Context context;
}
public class Details
{
public String date;
public String type;
public String message;
}
public class Context
{
public List<List<IdItem>> context;
}
public class IdItem
{
public String ID;
}
Proof (response is just a line provided by you, but with escaped quotes, so that it can be put directly into the code):
var response =
"[{ \"trace\":{ \"details\":{ \"date\":\"[28-02-2016 11:04:26.856573]\",\"type\":\"[info]\",\"message\":\"[system done.]\"},\"context\":{ \"context\":[[{\"ID\":\"john dillinger\"}]]}}},{\"trace\":{\"details\":{\"date\":\"[28-02-2016 11:04:26.856728]\",\"type\":\"[info]\",\"message\":\"[trace done.]\"},\"context\":{\"context\":[[{\"ID\":\"john dillinger\"}]]}}}]";
var obj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<Trace>>(response);

I think you should use JavaScripSerializer
JavaScriptSerializer jsSerializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
you can try
var obj = jsSerializer.Deserialize<Testing>(responseText);
I am not sure about this solution, may be it will work or not in your case.
But you can deserialize json string into string array of any dimension as:
var obj = jsSerializer.Deserialize<string[]>(responseText);
var obj = jsSerializer.Deserialize<string[][]>(responseText);

How Can I Deserialize JSON Data Using C#?

I have seen some other questions like this, but those are quite complex JSON data's that have objects within objects. Although the JSON I'm working with is never static, I doubt it's as complex as those. Also, it's my first time using JSON with C# so I'm a little clueless.
What I'm trying to achieve is to separate the data that is received from an API that I prompt using WebRequest in C#.
{
"johhny.debt": {
"id":35187540,
"name":"johnny.debt",
"profileIconId":786,
"Level":30,
"revisionDate":1428019045000
}
}
The returned JSON data is in a fashion like thereof.
I want to be able to access all of the properties of the above string in the following manner:
ID :
Name:
~~
~~
~~
... and so forth.
I'm assuming some type of class has to be made for this?
All help is appreciated, thank you all in advance.

Install Json.Net from Nuget
Install-Package Newtonsoft.Json
https://www.nuget.org/packages/Newtonsoft.Json/
Declare class for inner object ({"id":..., "name": ... }):
public class InnerObject
{
[JsonProperty("id")]
public int Id { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("name")]
public string Username { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("profileIconId")]
public int ProfileIconId { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("level")]
public int Level { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("revisionDate")]
public string RevisionDate { get; set; }
}
As you can see you can specify rename mapping from json fields to .Net object properties using JsonPropertyAttribute.
Read your json to Dictionary<string,InnerObject> and get value of "johhny.debt" key:
var dict = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Dictionary<string, InnerObject>>(jsonText);
var johhny = dict["johhny.debt"];
Or if your need always to parse exact json property 'johhny.debt', you could create root object class:
public class RootObject
{
[JsonProperty("johhny.debt")]
public InnerObject JohhnyDept { get; set; }
}
And deserialize it:
var root = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<RootObject>(jsonText);
var johhny = root.JohhnyDebt;

Just Create a class like this
public class RootObject
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string name { get; set; }
public int profileIconId { get; set; }
public int Level { get; set; }
public string revisionDate { get; set; }
}
then install json.Net and this code to your main method
var jsonObject=JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<RootObject>(jsonText);
That's all
Update
var obj = JObject.Parse(json);
var RootObject = new RootObject()
{
Id = (int)obj["johhny.debt"]["id"],
Level = (int)obj["johhny.debt"]["Level"],
name = (string)obj["johhny.debt"]["name"],
profileIconId = (int)obj["johhny.debt"]["profileIconId"],
revisionDate = (string)obj["johhny.debt"]["revisionDate"]
};

How to deserialize JSON date time from MongoDB to C# class

I'm using c# driver to interact with mongoDB.
I have a class that I created and which I populate with the data I get from mongoDB.
One of the properties in that class is DateTime.
The value I get from mongo is /\Date(number)/. Which is ok because this is what I'm suppose to return to the client.
The value that I get from mongo after I retrieve the data is ISODate(some number).
I get an exception: "Invalid JSON primitive: ISODate".
How can I configure mongoDB to save the DateTime like I got it i.e. /\Date(number)/?
Sorry L.B - I didn't noticed your answer but went straight to the answer I was given.
Here's the class I'm trying to deserialize:
public class EventDate
{
public EventDate()
{
}
public int? VenueConfigID { get; set; }
public string Category { get; set; }
public DateTime DateAndTime { get; set; }
public string DisplayDate { get; set; }
public string StartDate { get; set; }
public string EndDate { get; set; }
public string ShortNote { get; set; }
public string Home { get; set; }
public int? ID { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
}
Here's how I deserialize it:
mongo = MongoServer.Create();
mongo.Connect();
db = mongo.GetDatabase("productionDB");
var col = db.GetCollection<BsonDocument>("eventDates");
var query = Query<PerformerDates>.EQ(ev => ev.PerformerID, performerId);
//MongoCursor<BsonDocument> performer = col.Find(query);
MongoCursor<BsonDocument> performer = col.FindAll();
JavaScriptSerializer js = new JavaScriptSerializer();
List<EventDate> finalMatchedDates = new List<EventDate>();
foreach (var p in performer)
{
//System.Threading.Tasks.Task<EventDate[]> obj2 = JsonConvert.DeserializeObjectAsync<EventDate[]>(p.Elements.ToList()[3].Value.ToString());
EventDate[] obj3 = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<EventDate[]>(p.Elements.ToList()[3].Value.ToString());
}
mongo.Disconnect();
Solved!!
Eventually I solved it. I used a string instead of a DateTime. When I get it from the DB, I convert it to a DateTime and when I sent it back to the client I serialize it with the format of: /\Date()/

Just use BsonSerializer.Deserialize method.
MongoDB's serializer has a much higher performance over NewtonSoft's Json.Net or Microsoft's DataContractSerializer.

Very common occurring problem! One solution is to use JSON.NET.
See this answer for more help. Although you might be confused with JSON DateTime object but don't worry. It will work!
string json; // Assign JSON here.
var v = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.DeserializeObjectAsync<T>(json);