How to create JSON string in C#
C#asp.netJsonC# Problem Overview
I just used the XmlWriter to create some XML to send back in an HTTP response. How would you create a JSON string. I assume you would just use a stringbuilder to build the JSON string and them format your response as JSON?
C# Solutions
Solution 1 - C#
Using Newtonsoft.Json makes it really easier:
Product product = new Product();
product.Name = "Apple";
product.Expiry = new DateTime(2008, 12, 28);
product.Price = 3.99M;
product.Sizes = new string[] { "Small", "Medium", "Large" };
string json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(product);
Documentation: Serializing and Deserializing JSON
Solution 2 - C#
You could use the JavaScriptSerializer class, check this article to build an useful extension method.
Code from article:
namespace ExtensionMethods
{
public static class JSONHelper
{
public static string ToJSON(this object obj)
{
JavaScriptSerializer serializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
return serializer.Serialize(obj);
}
public static string ToJSON(this object obj, int recursionDepth)
{
JavaScriptSerializer serializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
serializer.RecursionLimit = recursionDepth;
return serializer.Serialize(obj);
}
}
}
Usage:
using ExtensionMethods;
...
List<Person> people = new List<Person>{
new Person{ID = 1, FirstName = "Scott", LastName = "Gurthie"},
new Person{ID = 2, FirstName = "Bill", LastName = "Gates"}
};
string jsonString = people.ToJSON();
Solution 3 - C#
Simlpe use of Newtonsoft.Json and Newtonsoft.Json.Linq libraries.
//Create my object
var myData = new
{
Host = @"sftp.myhost.gr",
UserName = "my_username",
Password = "my_password",
SourceDir = "/export/zip/mypath/",
FileName = "my_file.zip"
};
//Tranform it to Json object
string jsonData = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(myData);
//Print the Json object
Console.WriteLine(jsonData);
//Parse the json object
JObject jsonObject = JObject.Parse(jsonData);
//Print the parsed Json object
Console.WriteLine((string)jsonObject["Host"]);
Console.WriteLine((string)jsonObject["UserName"]);
Console.WriteLine((string)jsonObject["Password"]);
Console.WriteLine((string)jsonObject["SourceDir"]);
Console.WriteLine((string)jsonObject["FileName"]);
Solution 4 - C#
This library is very good for JSON from C#
Solution 5 - C#
This code snippet uses the DataContractJsonSerializer from System.Runtime.Serialization.Json in .NET 3.5.
public static string ToJson<T>(/* this */ T value, Encoding encoding)
{
var serializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer(typeof(T));
using (var stream = new MemoryStream())
{
using (var writer = JsonReaderWriterFactory.CreateJsonWriter(stream, encoding))
{
serializer.WriteObject(writer, value);
}
return encoding.GetString(stream.ToArray());
}
}
Solution 6 - C#
You can also try my ServiceStack JsonSerializer it's the fastest .NET JSON serializer at the moment. It supports serializing DataContracts, any POCO Type, Interfaces, Late-bound objects including anonymous types, etc.
Basic Example
var customer = new Customer { Name="Joe Bloggs", Age=31 };
var json = JsonSerializer.SerializeToString(customer);
var fromJson = JsonSerializer.DeserializeFromString<Customer>(json);
Note: Only use Microsofts JavaScriptSerializer if performance is not important to you as I've had to leave it out of my benchmarks since its up to 40x-100x slower than the other JSON serializers.
Solution 7 - C#
If you need complex result (embedded) create your own structure:
class templateRequest
{
public String[] registration_ids;
public Data data;
public class Data
{
public String message;
public String tickerText;
public String contentTitle;
public Data(String message, String tickerText, string contentTitle)
{
this.message = message;
this.tickerText = tickerText;
this.contentTitle = contentTitle;
}
};
}
and then you can obtain JSON string with calling
List<String> ids = new List<string>() { "id1", "id2" };
templateRequest request = new templeteRequest();
request.registration_ids = ids.ToArray();
request.data = new templateRequest.Data("Your message", "Your ticker", "Your content");
string json = new JavaScriptSerializer().Serialize(request);
The result will be like this:
json = "{\"registration_ids\":[\"id1\",\"id2\"],\"data\":{\"message\":\"Your message\",\"tickerText\":\"Your ticket\",\"contentTitle\":\"Your content\"}}"
Hope it helps!
Solution 8 - C#
Take a look at http://www.codeplex.com/json/ for the json-net.aspx project. Why re-invent the wheel?
Solution 9 - C#
If you can't or don't want to use the two built-in JSON serializers (JavaScriptSerializer and DataContractJsonSerializer) you can try the JsonExSerializer library - I use it in a number of projects and works quite well.
Solution 10 - C#
If you want to avoid creating a class and create JSON then Create a dynamic Object and Serialize Object.
dynamic data = new ExpandoObject();
data.name = "kushal";
data.isActive = true;
// convert to JSON
string json = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.SerializeObject(data);
Read the JSON and deserialize like this:
// convert back to Object
dynamic output = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(json);
// read a particular value:
output.name.Value
ExpandoObject
is from System.Dynamic
namespace.
Solution 11 - C#
If you're trying to create a web service to serve data over JSON to a web page, consider using the ASP.NET Ajax toolkit:
http://www.asp.net/learn/ajax/tutorial-05-cs.aspx
It will automatically convert your objects served over a webservice to json, and create the proxy class that you can use to connect to it.
Solution 12 - C#
The DataContractJSONSerializer will do everything for you with the same easy as the XMLSerializer. Its trivial to use this in a web app. If you are using WCF, you can specify its use with an attribute. The DataContractSerializer family is also very fast.
Solution 13 - C#
I've found that you don't need the serializer at all. If you return the object as a List
In our asmx we get the data using the variable we passed along
// return data
[WebMethod(CacheDuration = 180)]
public List<latlon> GetData(int id)
{
var data = from p in db.property
where p.id == id
select new latlon
{
lat = p.lat,
lon = p.lon
};
return data.ToList();
}
public class latlon
{
public string lat { get; set; }
public string lon { get; set; }
}
Then using jquery we access the service, passing along that variable.
// get latlon
function getlatlon(propertyid) {
var mydata;
$.ajax({
url: "getData.asmx/GetLatLon",
type: "POST",
data: "{'id': '" + propertyid + "'}",
async: false,
contentType: "application/json;",
dataType: "json",
success: function (data, textStatus, jqXHR) { //
mydata = data;
},
error: function (xmlHttpRequest, textStatus, errorThrown) {
console.log(xmlHttpRequest.responseText);
console.log(textStatus);
console.log(errorThrown);
}
});
return mydata;
}
// call the function with your data
latlondata = getlatlon(id);
And we get our response.
{"d":[{"__type":"MapData+latlon","lat":"40.7031420","lon":"-80.6047970}]}
Solution 14 - C#
Encode Usage
Simple object to JSON Array EncodeJsObjectArray()
public class dummyObject
{
public string fake { get; set; }
public int id { get; set; }
public dummyObject()
{
fake = "dummy";
id = 5;
}
public override string ToString()
{
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
sb.Append('[');
sb.Append(id);
sb.Append(',');
sb.Append(JSONEncoders.EncodeJsString(fake));
sb.Append(']');
return sb.ToString();
}
}
dummyObject[] dummys = new dummyObject[2];
dummys[0] = new dummyObject();
dummys[1] = new dummyObject();
dummys[0].fake = "mike";
dummys[0].id = 29;
string result = JSONEncoders.EncodeJsObjectArray(dummys);
Result: [[29,"mike"],[5,"dummy"]]
Pretty Usage
Pretty print JSON Array PrettyPrintJson() string extension method
string input = "[14,4,[14,\"data\"],[[5,\"10.186.122.15\"],[6,\"10.186.122.16\"]]]";
string result = input.PrettyPrintJson();
Results is:
[ 14, 4, [ 14, "data" ],
[ [ 5, "10.186.122.15" ],
[ 6, "10.186.122.16" ]
]
]
Solution 15 - C#
Include:
using System.Text.Json;
Then serialize your object_to_serialize like this: JsonSerializer.Serialize(object_to_serialize)