Develop Reference

C# merge 2 almost identical JSON objects

A while ago I made a function that merged JSON together.
I had a table looking like this, which in this example has been made by left joining the table 'friends' on the table 'persons':
Id
Name
FriendName
FriendAge
1
Danny
Jason
19
1
Danny
Cesie
18
2
Jason
Danny
19
And it would result in a json object looking like this:
[
{
"Id": 1,
"Name": "Danny",
"Friends": [
{
"Name": "Jason",
"Age": 19
},
{
"Name": "Cesie",
"Age": 18
}
]
},
{
"Id": 2,
"Name": "Jason",
"Friends": [
{
"Name": "Danny",
"Age": 19
}
]
}
]
I did this by using the following C# code:
using System;
using System.Data;
using Newtonsoft.Json;
namespace JsonTest
{
class Program
{
private class Result
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public Friend[] Friends { get; set; }
}
private class Friend
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public int Age { get; set; }
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string json = "[{\"Id\":1,\"Name\":\"Danny\",\"FriendName\":\"Jason\",\"FriendAge\":19},{\"Id\":1,\"Name\":\"Danny\",\"FriendName\":\"Cesie\",\"FriendAge\":18},{\"Id\":2,\"Name\":\"Jason\",\"FriendName\":\"Danny\",\"FriendAge\":19}]";
// Original table from example
DataTable dt = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<DataTable>(json);
// Get distinct values from DataTable
DataView dv = new DataView(dt);
DataTable distinct_values = dv.ToTable(true, "Id");
Result[] result = new Result[distinct_values.Rows.Count];
int i = 0;
foreach (DataRow row in distinct_values.Rows)
{
// Filter the original table on one Id from the distinct values
dv.RowFilter = $"Id = {row["Id"]}";
DataTable temp_dt = dv.ToTable();
Result temp = new Result();
// Copy general data over to the temp
temp.Id = Convert.ToInt32(temp_dt.Rows[0]["Id"].ToString());
temp.Name = temp_dt.Rows[0]["Name"].ToString();
Friend[] rows = new Friend[temp_dt.Rows.Count];
// loop over all the rows and copy the array data over
int j = 0;
foreach (DataRow temprow in temp_dt.Rows)
{
rows[j] = new Friend();
rows[j].Name = temprow["FriendName"].ToString();
rows[j].Age = Convert.ToInt32(temprow["FriendAge"].ToString());
j++;
}
// Assign everything to where it it supposed to be
temp.Friends = rows;
result[i] = temp;
i++;
}
Console.WriteLine(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(result, Formatting.Indented));
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
It works really well. But my question, is there another, cleaner or faster, way to do this entire operation? If so, where can I find this? Thanks in advance.

I would create a model to carry your data easier than using DataTable
public class RequestModel{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string FriendName { get; set; }
public int FriendAge { get; set; }
}
Then you can try to use lambda to make it, using GroupBy method get grouping by Id, Name.
string json = "[{\"Id\":1,\"Name\":\"Danny\",\"FriendName\":\"Jason\",\"FriendAge\":19},{\"Id\":1,\"Name\":\"Danny\",\"FriendName\":\"Cesie\",\"FriendAge\":18},{\"Id\":2,\"Name\":\"Jason\",\"FriendName\":\"Danny\",\"FriendAge\":19}]";
var req = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<IEnumerable<RequestModel>>(json);
var res= req.GroupBy(x=> new {x.Id,x.Name})
.Select(x=> new Result{
Name =x.Key.Name,
Id = x.Key.Id,
Friends = x.Select(z=> new Friend(){
Name = z.FriendName,
Age = z.FriendAge
}).ToArray()
});
var jsonResult = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(res);

How can I deserialize complex json repsonse into easy-to-deserialize structure using Newtonsoft.Json?

Having this strange-looking json response:
{
"invoices":{
"0":{
"invoice":{
"id":"420",
"invoicecontents":{
"0":{
"invoicecontent":{
"name":"Here's the name of the content 0"
}
},
"1":{
"invoicecontent":{
"name":"Here's the name of the content 1"
}
}
}
}
},
"1":{
"invoice":{
"id":"420",
"invoicecontents":{
"0":{
"invoicecontent":{
"name":"Here's the name of the content 0"
}
}
}
}
},
"parameters":{
"limit":"3",
"page":"1",
"total":"420"
}
},
"status":{
"code":"OK"
}
}
How do I change the structure into this easy-to-deserialize one?
{
"invoices":[
{
"id":"420",
"invoicecontents":[
{
"name":"Here's the name of the content 0"
},
{
"name":"Here's the name of the content 1"
}
]
},
{
"id":"420",
"invoicecontents":[
{
"name":"Here's the name of the content 0"
}
]
}
]
}
I'd like to deserialize into List of Invoices as below
class Invoice {
public string Id { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("invoicecontents")]
public InvoiceContent[] Contents { get; set; }
class InvoiceContent {
public string Name { get; set; }
}
}
There's no problem with getting the status code or parameters, I simply do this:
var parsed = JObject.Parse(jsonInvoices);
var statusCode = parsed?["status"]?["code"]?.ToString();
var parameters = parsed?["invoices"]?["parameters"]?;
The real problem starts when I'm trying to achieve easy-to-deserialize json structure I've mentioned before. I've tried something like this:
var testInvoices = parsed?["invoices"]?
.SkipLast(1)
.Select(x => x.First?["invoice"]);
But I can't manage to "repair" invoicecontents/invoicecontent parts.
My goal is to deserialize and store the data.

This isn't JSON.
JavaScript Object Notation literally describes Objects. What you have here is the punchline of a joke that starts out with: "A SQL JOIN, a StringBuilder, and a couple for loops walk into a bar..."
As others have demonstrated, JObject is great for working with JSON that would be impractical to define as classes. You can use Linq to navigate through it, but JSONPath Expressions can be much simpler.
Example 1: Let's get the status code.
var status = parsed.SelectToken(".status.code").Value<string>();
Example 2: Let's 'deserialize' our invoices.
public string Invoice
{
public string Id { get; set; }
public List<string> Content { get; set; }
}
public List<Invoice> GetInvoices(string badJson)
{
var invoices = JObject.Parse(badJson).SelectTokens(".invoices.*.invoice");
var results = new List<Invoice>();
foreach (var invoice in invoices)
{
results.Add(new Invoice()
{
Id = invoice.Value<string>("id"),
Contents = invoice.SelectTokens(".invoicecontents.*.invoicecontent.name")
.Values<string>().ToList()
// Note: JToken.Value<T> & .Values<T>() return nullable types
});
}
return results;
}

try this
var jsonParsed = JObject.Parse(json);
var invoices = ((JObject) jsonParsed["invoices"]).Properties()
.Select(x => (JObject) x.Value["invoice"] ).Where(x => x != null)
.Select(s => new Invoice
{
Id = s.Properties().First(x => x.Name == "id").Value.ToString(),
Contents = ((JObject)s.Properties().First(x => x.Name == "invoicecontents").Value).Properties()
.Select(x => (string) x.Value["invoicecontent"]["name"]).ToList()
}).ToList();
and I simplified your class too, I don't see any sense to keep array of classes with one string, I think it should be just array of strings
public class Invoice
{
public string Id { get; set; }
public List<string> Contents { get; set; }
}
result
[
{
"Id": "420",
"Contents": [
"Here's the name of the content 0",
"Here's the name of the content 1"
]
},
{
"Id": "420",
"Contents": [
"Here's the name of the content 0"
]
}
]

How to put multiple values in Dictionary instances using LINQ?

My Json Response is Following below:
{"d":
{"RowData":
[{"GenreId":11,"GenreName":"Musical","subjecturl":"subjecturl_1","logourl":"logourl_1"},
{"GenreId":12,"GenreName":"kids","subjecturl":"subjecturl_2","logourl":"logourl_2"},
{"GenreId":13,"GenreName":"other","subjecturl":"subjecturl_3","logourl":"logourl_3"},
{"GenreId":14,"GenreName":"Musical","subjecturl":"subjecturl_4","logourl":"logourl_4"},
{"GenreId":15,"GenreName":"Music","subjecturl":"subjecturl_5","logourl":"logourl_5"},
{"GenreId":16,"GenreName":"Faimaly","subjecturl":"subjecturl_6","logourl":"logourl_6"},
{"GenreId":17,"GenreName":"other","subjecturl":"subjecturl_7","logourl":"logourl_7"},
{"GenreId":18,"GenreName":"other","subjecturl":"subjecturl_8","logourl":"logourl_8"},
{"GenreId":19,"GenreName":"kids","subjecturl":"subjecturl_9","logourl":"logourl_9"},
{"GenreId":20,"GenreName":"Musical","subjecturl":"subjecturl_10","logourl":"logourl_10"},
{"GenreId":21,"GenreName":"other","subjecturl":"subjecturl_11","logourl":"logourl_11"}]}}
Using the above Response I tried to make like below Response :
{"rows": [{
"title": "Musical",
"items": [{"hdsubjecturl": "subjecturl_1"},{"hdsubjecturl": "subjecturl_4"},{"hdsubjecturl": "subjecturl_10"}]
},{
"title": "kids",
"items": [{"hdsubjecturl": "subjecturl_2"},{"hdsubjecturl": "subjecturl_9"}]
},{
"title": "Music",
"items": [{"hdsubjecturl": "subjecturl_5"}]
},{
"title": "other",
"items": [{"hdsubjecturl": "subjecturl_3"},{"hdsubjecturl": "subjecturl_7"},{"hdsubjecturl": "subjecturl_8"},{"hdsubjecturl": "subjecturl_11"}]
},{
"title": "Faimaly",
"items": [{"hdsubjecturl": "subjecturl_6"}]
}]
}
My Code is below :
JObject Root = JObject.Parse(jsonData["d"].ToString());
var unique = Root["RowData"].GroupBy(x => x["GenreName"]).Select(x => x.First()).ToList(); // here fetch 5 record
foreach (var un in unique)
{
var GenreName = new
{
title = un["GenreName"],
items = new
{
hdsubjecturl = "logourl"
}
};
var GenreNamereq = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(GenreName, Newtonsoft.Json.Formatting.Indented);
genstr.Append(GenreNamereq, 0, GenreNamereq.Length);
genstr.Append(",");
using (System.IO.StreamWriter file = new System.IO.StreamWriter(subdir + "\\GenreName.json"))
{
string st = genstr.ToString().Substring(0, (genstr.Length - 1));
file.WriteLine("{\n\"rows\": [\n" + st + "\n}"); //seasion number 21 terminate
file.Close();
}
}
Using above code my output is below for First Field :
{"rows":
[{
"title": "Musical",
"items": {
"hdsubjecturl": "logourl"
}
}]
}
Using below code I tried to fetch Multiple values using specific Field :
List<string> CategoryList = new List<string>();
var unique = Root["RowData"].GroupBy(x => x["GenreName"]).Select(x => x.First()).ToList(); // here fetch 8 record
foreach (var cat in unique)
{
CategoryList.Add(cat["GenreName"].ToString());
}
List<List<string>> myList = new List<List<string>>();
for (int i=0;i<CategoryList.Count();i++)
{
var results = from x in Root["RowData"]
where x["GenreName"].Value<string>() == CategoryList[i]
select x;
foreach (var token in results)
{
Console.WriteLine(token["logourl"]);
}
// myList.Add(results);
}
In the First code, I used JObject for fetching a Root node. But, using the above query it takes by default JTocken. So, I used foreach loop here.
I used Dictionary instances for JSON Creation. Using this code I successfully fetched hdsubjecturl in for loop. But, I don't know how to put multiple values in Dictionary instances. Because I get title fields only single times using a unique query and items fields inside a hdsubjetcurl is more than one. Does anyone know how it's possible?

You can group your RowData by GenreName token, then use ToDictionary method to get a result dictionary and map it to desired structure (with title and hdsubjecturl). Finally create a result object using JObject.FromObject
var json = JObject.Parse(jsonString);
var data = json["d"]?["RowData"]
.GroupBy(x => x["GenreName"], x => x["subjecturl"])
.ToDictionary(g => g.Key, g => g.ToList())
.Select(kvp => new { title = kvp.Key, items = kvp.Value.Select(x => new { hdsubjecturl = x }) });
var result = JObject.FromObject(new { rows = data });
Console.WriteLine(result);
It gives you the expected result.
Edit: according to comments, GroupBy and Select expressions should be updated to map more then one property in result title item
var data = json["d"]?["RowData"]
.GroupBy(x => x["GenreName"])
.ToDictionary(g => g.Key, g => g.ToList())
.Select(kvp => new
{
title = kvp.Key,
items = kvp.Value.Select(x => new { hdsubjecturl = x["subjecturl"], url = x["logourl"] })
});
var result = JObject.FromObject(new { rows = data });

Consider trying this code, (using Newtonsoft Json deserializer);
public partial class Root
{
public D D { get; set; }
}
public partial class D
{
public RowDatum[] RowData { get; set; }
}
public partial class RowDatum
{
public long GenreId { get; set; }
public string GenreName { get; set; }
public string Subjecturl { get; set; }
public string Logourl { get; set; }
}
public partial class Response
{
public Row[] Rows { get; set; }
}
public partial class Row
{
public string Title { get; set; }
public Item[] Items { get; set; }
}
public partial class Item
{
public string Hdsubjecturl { get; set; }
}
public class Program
{
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
var json =
#"{""d"":{""RowData"":[{""GenreId"":11,""GenreName"":""Musical"",""subjecturl"":""subjecturl_1"",""logourl"":""logourl_1""},{""GenreId"":12,""GenreName"":""kids"",""subjecturl"":""subjecturl_2"",""logourl"":""logourl_2""},{""GenreId"":13,""GenreName"":""other"",""subjecturl"":""subjecturl_3"",""logourl"":""logourl_3""},{""GenreId"":14,""GenreName"":""Musical"",""subjecturl"":""subjecturl_4"",""logourl"":""logourl_4""},{""GenreId"":15,""GenreName"":""Music"",""subjecturl"":""subjecturl_5"",""logourl"":""logourl_5""},{""GenreId"":16,""GenreName"":""Faimaly"",""subjecturl"":""subjecturl_6"",""logourl"":""logourl_6""},{""GenreId"":17,""GenreName"":""other"",""subjecturl"":""subjecturl_7"",""logourl"":""logourl_7""},{""GenreId"":18,""GenreName"":""other"",""subjecturl"":""subjecturl_8"",""logourl"":""logourl_8""},{""GenreId"":19,""GenreName"":""kids"",""subjecturl"":""subjecturl_9"",""logourl"":""logourl_9""},{""GenreId"":20,""GenreName"":""Musical"",""subjecturl"":""subjecturl_10"",""logourl"":""logourl_10""},{""GenreId"":21,""GenreName"":""other"",""subjecturl"":""subjecturl_11"",""logourl"":""logourl_11""}]}}";
var root = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Root>(json);
var rows = root.D.RowData.ToLookup(d => d.GenreName)
.Select(g => new Row()
{
Title = g.Key,
Items = g.ToList().Select(rd => new Item() {Hdsubjecturl = rd.Logourl}).ToArray()
}).ToArray();
var response = new Response()
{
Rows = rows
}; // reponse is the type of Json Response you wanted to achieve
Console.WriteLine();
}
}

Json to C# object handling dynamic properties

I am trying to implement the json structure in c# objects and I am trying to understand how I can use the correct object depending on the type. For example:
public class RootObject
{
public string name { get; set; }
public Content content { get; set; }
}
public class Content
{
public string id{ get; set; }
public string type { get; set; }
public Dictionary<string, Item> child { get; set; }
}
public class Item
{
public string id { get; set; }
public string type { get; set; }
public List<string> model { get; set;}
public string[] color {get; set;}
}
Please note this is just an example there are more properties for each object. If Json contains type = "Boy" how can I generate the boy object.
Example JSON:
string json = #"
{
'name': 'Object 1',
'content': {
'body': {
'id': 'body',
'type': 'Body'
},
'style': {
'id': 'style',
'type': 'Style'
},
'DynamicName-123': {
'id': 'DynamicName-123',
'type': 'Row'
'model': {},
'colors': []
},
'DynamicName-434': {
'id': 'DynamicName-434',
'type': 'Column'
'model': {},
'colors': []
},
'DynamicName-223': {
'id': 'DynamicName-223',
'type': 'Item'
'model': {},
'colors': []
}
}
}";

If your key/value pair are not fixed and data must be configurable then Newtonsoft.json has one feature that to be use here and that is [JsonExtensionData] Read more
Extension data is now written when an object is serialized. Reading and writing extension data makes it possible to automatically round-trip all JSON without adding every property to the .NET type you’re deserializing to. Only declare the properties you’re interested in and let extension data do the rest.
In your case, suppose there is a class,
public class MyClass
{
public string Qaz { get; set; }
public string Wsx { get; set; }
[JsonExtensionData]
public Dictionary<string, JToken> child { get; set; }
public MyClass()
{
child = new Dictionary<string, JToken>();
}
}
In the above class, you know that Qaz and Wsx are always present from your json either they contain value or null,
But for dynamic data, you can't say which key/value pair you will receive from your json so the [JsonExtensionData] can collect all those key/value pair in a dictionary.
Suppose the below classes will be for your dynamic data,
public class ABC
{
public string Abc { get; set; }
}
public class PQR
{
public string Pqr { get; set; }
}
public class XYZ
{
public string Xyz { get; set; }
}
Serialization:
ABC aBC = new ABC { Abc = "abc" };
PQR pQR = new PQR { Pqr = "pqr" };
XYZ xYZ = new XYZ { Xyz = "xyz" };
MyClass myClass = new MyClass();
myClass.Qaz = "qaz";
myClass.Wsx = "wsx";
myClass.child.Add("ABC", JToken.FromObject(aBC));
myClass.child.Add("PQR", JToken.FromObject(pQR));
myClass.child.Add("XYZ", JToken.FromObject(xYZ));
string outputJson = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(myClass);
This will give you json like
{
"Qaz": "qaz",
"Wsx": "wsx",
"ABC": {
"Abc": "abc"
},
"PQR": {
"Pqr": "pqr"
},
"XYZ": {
"Xyz": "xyz"
}
}
Deserialization:
MyClass myClass = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<MyClass>(outputJson);
string Qaz = myClass.Qaz;
string Wsx = myClass.Wsx;
if (myClass.child.ContainsKey("ABC"))
{
ABC abcObj = myClass.child["ABC"].ToObject<ABC>();
}
if (myClass.child.ContainsKey("PQR"))
{
PQR pqrObj = myClass.child["PQR"].ToObject<PQR>();
}
if (myClass.child.ContainsKey("XYZ"))
{
XYZ pqrObj = myClass.child["XYZ"].ToObject<XYZ>();
}
Conclusion: The main aim of [JsonExtensionData] is to keep your json class hierarchy simple and more readable so you don't need to manage class structure for every property.
Get all dynamic data with the specific key in JToken inside Dictionary :
You can use LINQ to fetch all dynamic data of particular key from the above dictionary.
var allAbcTypes = myClass.child
.SelectMany(x => x.Value
.ToObject<JObject>()
.Properties()
.Where(p => p.Name == "Abc") //<= Use "Column" instead of "Abc"
.Select(o => new ABC //<= Use your type that contais "Column" as a property
{
Abc = o.Value.ToString()
})).ToList();
In your case, Its something like,
var allColumnTypes = myClass.child
.SelectMany(x => x.Value
.ToObject<JObject>()
.Properties()
.Where(p => p.Name == "Column")
.Select(o => new Item
{
id = x.Value["id "].ToString(),
type = x.Value["type "].ToString(),
model = x.Value["model"].ToObject<List<string>>(),
color = x.Value["color"].ToObject<string[]>()
})).ToList();

If you want to deserialize to a dictionary with a Key string and a dynamic value (boy or girl in this case), the only way I Know is using Dynamic class:
public List<Dictionary<string, dynamic>> child { get; set; }

Convert CSV (nested objects) to JSON

I need to convert a CSV data (with one line of header, and one line of data) in a JSON object.
The CSV contains nested columns, there is an example:
id,name,category/id,category/name,category/subcategory/id,category/subcategory/name,description
0,Test123,15,Cat123,10,SubCat123,Desc123
And I want a JSON to look like this:
{
"id": 0,
"name": "Test123",
"category": {
"id": 15,
"name": "Cat123",
"subcategory": {
"id": 10,
"name": "SubCat123",
}
},
"description": "Desc123"
}
I've tried CsvHelper and ChoETL libs, without success, because these libs, as far as I know, require that I have a class as model, but I don't have these classes, because the data is totally dynamic.
The site http://www.convertcsv.com/csv-to-json.htm is a good example to make this with success.
Just paste the JSON that I have created above, go to Step 3 and check the option 'Recreate nested objects and arrays', then click 'CSV to JSON' in step 5.
But I need to make this in my application, without using external frameworks.
How can I make this to work?

If you do not have it, add the newtonsoft library(dll) and then add the folowing references
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
Add the following classes
public class Rootobject
{
public int id { get; set; }
public string name { get; set; }
public Category category { get; set; }
public string description { get; set; }
}
public class Category
{
public int id { get; set; }
public string name { get; set; }
public Subcategory subcategory { get; set; }
}
public class Subcategory
{
public int id { get; set; }
public string name { get; set; }
}
then use this code
DataTable CSVData = new DataTable(); // your csv rows
HashSet<Rootobject> MyObjectsList = new HashSet<Rootobject>(); //create hashset to handle your classes
foreach(DataRow row in CSVData.Rows)
{
//change the indices in ItemArray with the right indices
MyObjectsList.Add(new Rootobject() {
id = (int)row.ItemArray[0], name = (string)row.ItemArray[0], category = new Category() {
id = (int)row.ItemArray[0], name = (string)row.ItemArray[0], subcategory = new Subcategory() {
id = (int)row.ItemArray[0], name = (string)row.ItemArray[0]
}
}
});
}
string _ResultObj = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(MyObjectsList); //here get your json string

With the latest ChoETL.JSON 1.0.1.6, you can convert them easily. This will work only if the headers are simple texts, no spaces or special characters allowed.
using (var json = new ChoJSONWriter("nested.json")
.SingleElement()
.Configure(c => c.SupportMultipleContent = true)
.Configure(c => c.DefaultArrayHandling = false)
)
{
using (var csv = new ChoCSVReader("nested.csv").WithFirstLineHeader())
json.Write(csv.Select(i => i.ConvertToNestedObject('/')));
}
Output JSON will look at below
[
{
"id":0,
"name":"Test123",
"category": {
"id": 15,
"name": "Cat123",
"subcategory": {
"id": 10,
"name": "SubCat123"
}
},
"description":"Desc123"
}
]
Sample fiddle: https://dotnetfiddle.net/vttMIB
UPDATE:
Cinchoo ETL now supports native nested object support by just setting 'NestedColumnSeparator' configuration parameter to '/'. Sample below shows how to
using (var json = new ChoJSONWriter("nested.json")
.SingleElement()
.Configure(c => c.SupportMultipleContent = true)
.Configure(c => c.DefaultArrayHandling = false)
)
{
using (var csv = new ChoCSVReader("nested.csv")
.WithFirstLineHeader()
.Configure(c => c.NestedColumnSeparator = '/')
)
json.Write(csv);
}
Sample fiddle: https://dotnetfiddle.net/xFlQso