I have a Class like this that I want to serialize and deserialize
using Newtonsoft.Json;
TestClass testClass = new TestClass();
testClass.Foo = "Foo";
testClass.Bar[0] = 3;
// to JSON
string json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(testClass);
// and back
TestClass result = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<TestClass>(json)!;
/// <summary>
/// External class that I cannot change
/// </summary>
public class TestClass
{
public string Foo { get; set; }
public int[] Bar { get; } = new int[3];
}
Serializing works well, but at deserializing "Bar" is not writeable, so skipped and has default values.
Is there a way to tell Json.net to deserialize element by element of the (maybe reaonly arrays?) array and set it as value for the corresponding array index?
you can try this code
var jsonObj=JObject.Parse(json);
TestClass result=jsonObj.ToObject<TestClass>();
for (var i=0; i < ((JArray) jsonObj["Bar"]).Count; i++)
result.Bar[i]= (int) jsonObj["Bar"][i];
At least for this simple example I have a solution. Has to be tested on more complex structures.
public class TestConverter : JsonConverter
{
private bool skipOnce = false;
public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
{
if (skipOnce)
{
skipOnce = false;
return false;
}
return objectType.GetProperties().Any(prop => !prop.CanWrite && prop.PropertyType.IsArray);
}
public override object? ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object? existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
skipOnce = true; // our manual serializer.Deserialize will cause endless recursion otherwise
JObject jo = JObject.Load(reader);
reader = jo.CreateReader(); // reset reader
var obj = serializer.Deserialize(reader, objectType);
var readOnlyArrayProperties = objectType.GetProperties().Where(prop => !prop.CanWrite && prop.PropertyType.IsArray);
foreach (var readOnlyProperty in readOnlyArrayProperties)
{
var readOnlyArray = (Array)readOnlyProperty.GetValue(obj)!;
Type elementType = readOnlyArray.GetType().GetElementType()!;
var jsonArrayProp = (JArray)jo[readOnlyProperty.Name]!;
for (int i = 0; i < readOnlyArray.Length; i++)
{
readOnlyArray.SetValue(jsonArrayProp[i].ToObject(elementType, serializer), i);
}
}
return obj;
}
public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, object? value, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}
Basic idea: If we have readonly array properties in the current object we do serializer.Deserialize manually and additionaly we set the value for every array index.
[EDIT] After test with complex structure: Seems to be more complicated. Sometimes existingValueis set. In these cases json.net seems to ignore our returned obj. populating into existingValue seems to work at first glance.
I would like to populate the objects contained within a Dictionary from a JSON file while preserving the object references themselves.
Json.net documentation on PreserveReferencesHandling clearly state that it will not work in case a type implements System.Runtime.Serialization.ISerializable:
Specifies reference handling options for the
Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializer. Note that references cannot be
preserved when a value is set via a non-default constructor such as
types that implement System.Runtime.Serialization.ISerializable.
Here is my failing code:
class Model
{
public int Val { get; set; } = 123;
}
...
var model = new Model();
var to_serialize = new Dictionary<int, Model> { { 0, model } }; // works ok with list<Model>
// serialize
var jsonString = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(to_serialize, Formatting.Indented);
var jsonSerializerSettings = new JsonSerializerSettings();
jsonSerializerSettings.MissingMemberHandling = MissingMemberHandling.Ignore;
jsonSerializerSettings.PreserveReferencesHandling = PreserveReferencesHandling.All; // does not work for ISerializable
Assert.AreSame(to_serialize[0], model); // ok!
JsonConvert.PopulateObject(
value: jsonString,
target: to_serialize,
settings: jsonSerializerSettings
);
Assert.AreSame(to_serialize[0], model); // not ok... works ok with list<Model>
My main requirement is that when calling PopulateObject(), the constructor of the Model class will not be invoked. Instead, only its internal field will be updated with the value from the JSON.
In my real case, the Model class contains other values which are not in the JSON and which I don't want to lose:
[JsonObject(MemberSerialization.OptIn)]
class Model
{
[JsonProperty(PropertyName = "val_prop")]
public int Val { get; set; } = 123;
// not in the json file, would like this field to maintain the value
// it had prior to PopulateObject()
public int OtherVal { get; set; } = 456;
}
Is there a way to make this work?
Your problem is similar to the one from JsonSerializer.CreateDefault().Populate(..) resets my values: you would like to populate a preexisting collection, specifically a Dictionary<int, T> for some T, and populate the preexisting values. Unfortunately, in the case of a dictionary, Json.NET will replace the values rather than populate them, as can be seen in JsonSerializerInternalReader.PopulateDictionary() which simply deserializes the value to the appropriate type, and sets it the dictionary.
To work around this limitation, you can create a custom JsonConverter for Dictionary<TKey, TValue> when TKey is a primitive type and TValue is a complex type which merges the incoming JSON key/value pairs onto the preexisting dictionary. The following converter does the trick:
public class DictionaryMergeConverter : JsonConverter
{
static readonly IContractResolver defaultResolver = JsonSerializer.CreateDefault().ContractResolver;
readonly IContractResolver resolver = defaultResolver;
public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
{
var keyValueTypes = objectType.GetDictionaryKeyValueType();
if (keyValueTypes == null)
return false;
var keyContract = resolver.ResolveContract(keyValueTypes[0]);
if (!(keyContract is JsonPrimitiveContract))
return false;
var contract = resolver.ResolveContract(keyValueTypes[1]);
return contract is JsonContainerContract;
// Also possibly check whether keyValueTypes[1] is a read-only collection or dictionary.
}
public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
if (reader.MoveToContentAndAssert().TokenType == JsonToken.Null)
return null;
if (reader.TokenType != JsonToken.StartObject)
throw new JsonSerializationException(string.Format("Unexpected token {0}", reader.TokenType));
IDictionary dictionary = existingValue as IDictionary ?? (IDictionary)serializer.ContractResolver.ResolveContract(objectType).DefaultCreator();
var keyValueTypes = objectType.GetDictionaryKeyValueType();
while (reader.ReadToContentAndAssert().TokenType != JsonToken.EndObject)
{
switch (reader.TokenType)
{
case JsonToken.PropertyName:
var name = (string)reader.Value;
reader.ReadToContentAndAssert();
// TODO: DateTime keys and enums with overridden names.
var key = (keyValueTypes[0] == typeof(string) ? (object)name : Convert.ChangeType(name, keyValueTypes[0], serializer.Culture));
var value = dictionary.Contains(key) ? dictionary[key] : null;
// TODO:
// - JsonConverter active for valueType, either in contract or in serializer.Converters
// - NullValueHandling, ObjectCreationHandling, PreserveReferencesHandling,
if (value == null)
{
value = serializer.Deserialize(reader, keyValueTypes[1]);
}
else
{
serializer.Populate(reader, value);
}
dictionary[key] = value;
break;
default:
throw new JsonSerializationException(string.Format("Unexpected token {0}", reader.TokenType));
}
}
return dictionary;
}
public override bool CanWrite { get { return false; } }
public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, object value, JsonSerializer serializer) { throw new NotImplementedException(); }
}
public static partial class JsonExtensions
{
public static JsonReader ReadToContentAndAssert(this JsonReader reader)
{
return reader.ReadAndAssert().MoveToContentAndAssert();
}
public static JsonReader MoveToContentAndAssert(this JsonReader reader)
{
if (reader == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException();
if (reader.TokenType == JsonToken.None) // Skip past beginning of stream.
reader.ReadAndAssert();
while (reader.TokenType == JsonToken.Comment) // Skip past comments.
reader.ReadAndAssert();
return reader;
}
public static JsonReader ReadAndAssert(this JsonReader reader)
{
if (reader == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException();
if (!reader.Read())
throw new JsonReaderException("Unexpected end of JSON stream.");
return reader;
}
}
public static class TypeExtensions
{
public static IEnumerable<Type> BaseTypesAndSelf(this Type type)
{
while (type != null)
{
yield return type;
type = type.BaseType;
}
}
public static Type[] GetDictionaryKeyValueType(this Type type)
{
return type.BaseTypesAndSelf().Where(t => t.IsGenericType && t.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(Dictionary<,>)).Select(t => t.GetGenericArguments()).FirstOrDefault();
}
}
Having done so, you will encounter a secondary issue: Json.NET will never use a custom converter to populate the root object. To work around this you will need to call JsonConverter.ReadJson() directly, from some utility method:
public static partial class JsonExtensions
{
public static void PopulateObjectWithConverter(string value, object target, JsonSerializerSettings settings)
{
if (target == null || value == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException();
var serializer = JsonSerializer.CreateDefault(settings);
var converter = serializer.Converters.Where(c => c.CanConvert(target.GetType()) && c.CanRead).FirstOrDefault() ?? serializer.ContractResolver.ResolveContract(target.GetType()).Converter;
using (var jsonReader = new JsonTextReader(new StringReader(value)))
{
if (converter == null)
serializer.Populate(jsonReader, target);
else
{
jsonReader.MoveToContentAndAssert();
var newtarget = converter.ReadJson(jsonReader, target.GetType(), target, serializer);
if (newtarget != target)
throw new JsonException(string.Format("Converter {0} allocated a new object rather than populating the existing object {1}.", converter, value));
}
}
}
}
You will now be able to populate your dictionary as follows:
var jsonString = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(to_serialize, Formatting.Indented);
var settings = new JsonSerializerSettings
{
Converters = { new DictionaryMergeConverter() },
};
JsonExtensions.PopulateObjectWithConverter(jsonString, to_serialize, settings);
Notes:
PreserveReferencesHandling has no impact on whether dictionary values are populated or replaced. Instead this setting controls whether a serialization graph with multiple references to the same object will maintain its reference topology when round-tripped.
In your question you wrote // works ok with list<Model> but in fact this is not correct. When a List<T> is populated the new values are appended to the list, so Assert.AreSame(to_serialize[0], model); passes purely by luck. If you had additionally asserted Assert.AreSame(1, to_serialize.Count) it would have failed.
While the converter will work for primitive keys such as string and int it may not work for key types that require JSON-specific conversion such as enum or DateTime.
The converter is currently only implemented for Dictionary<TKey, TValue> and takes advantage of the fact that this type implements the non-generic IDictionary interface. It could be extended to other dictionary types such as SortedDictionary<TKey,TValue> if required.
Demo fiddle here.
I would like to populate the objects contained within a Dictionary from a JSON file while preserving the object references themselves.
Json.net documentation on PreserveReferencesHandling clearly state that it will not work in case a type implements System.Runtime.Serialization.ISerializable:
Specifies reference handling options for the
Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializer. Note that references cannot be
preserved when a value is set via a non-default constructor such as
types that implement System.Runtime.Serialization.ISerializable.
Here is my failing code:
class Model
{
public int Val { get; set; } = 123;
}
...
var model = new Model();
var to_serialize = new Dictionary<int, Model> { { 0, model } }; // works ok with list<Model>
// serialize
var jsonString = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(to_serialize, Formatting.Indented);
var jsonSerializerSettings = new JsonSerializerSettings();
jsonSerializerSettings.MissingMemberHandling = MissingMemberHandling.Ignore;
jsonSerializerSettings.PreserveReferencesHandling = PreserveReferencesHandling.All; // does not work for ISerializable
Assert.AreSame(to_serialize[0], model); // ok!
JsonConvert.PopulateObject(
value: jsonString,
target: to_serialize,
settings: jsonSerializerSettings
);
Assert.AreSame(to_serialize[0], model); // not ok... works ok with list<Model>
My main requirement is that when calling PopulateObject(), the constructor of the Model class will not be invoked. Instead, only its internal field will be updated with the value from the JSON.
In my real case, the Model class contains other values which are not in the JSON and which I don't want to lose:
[JsonObject(MemberSerialization.OptIn)]
class Model
{
[JsonProperty(PropertyName = "val_prop")]
public int Val { get; set; } = 123;
// not in the json file, would like this field to maintain the value
// it had prior to PopulateObject()
public int OtherVal { get; set; } = 456;
}
Is there a way to make this work?
Your problem is similar to the one from JsonSerializer.CreateDefault().Populate(..) resets my values: you would like to populate a preexisting collection, specifically a Dictionary<int, T> for some T, and populate the preexisting values. Unfortunately, in the case of a dictionary, Json.NET will replace the values rather than populate them, as can be seen in JsonSerializerInternalReader.PopulateDictionary() which simply deserializes the value to the appropriate type, and sets it the dictionary.
To work around this limitation, you can create a custom JsonConverter for Dictionary<TKey, TValue> when TKey is a primitive type and TValue is a complex type which merges the incoming JSON key/value pairs onto the preexisting dictionary. The following converter does the trick:
public class DictionaryMergeConverter : JsonConverter
{
static readonly IContractResolver defaultResolver = JsonSerializer.CreateDefault().ContractResolver;
readonly IContractResolver resolver = defaultResolver;
public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
{
var keyValueTypes = objectType.GetDictionaryKeyValueType();
if (keyValueTypes == null)
return false;
var keyContract = resolver.ResolveContract(keyValueTypes[0]);
if (!(keyContract is JsonPrimitiveContract))
return false;
var contract = resolver.ResolveContract(keyValueTypes[1]);
return contract is JsonContainerContract;
// Also possibly check whether keyValueTypes[1] is a read-only collection or dictionary.
}
public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
if (reader.MoveToContentAndAssert().TokenType == JsonToken.Null)
return null;
if (reader.TokenType != JsonToken.StartObject)
throw new JsonSerializationException(string.Format("Unexpected token {0}", reader.TokenType));
IDictionary dictionary = existingValue as IDictionary ?? (IDictionary)serializer.ContractResolver.ResolveContract(objectType).DefaultCreator();
var keyValueTypes = objectType.GetDictionaryKeyValueType();
while (reader.ReadToContentAndAssert().TokenType != JsonToken.EndObject)
{
switch (reader.TokenType)
{
case JsonToken.PropertyName:
var name = (string)reader.Value;
reader.ReadToContentAndAssert();
// TODO: DateTime keys and enums with overridden names.
var key = (keyValueTypes[0] == typeof(string) ? (object)name : Convert.ChangeType(name, keyValueTypes[0], serializer.Culture));
var value = dictionary.Contains(key) ? dictionary[key] : null;
// TODO:
// - JsonConverter active for valueType, either in contract or in serializer.Converters
// - NullValueHandling, ObjectCreationHandling, PreserveReferencesHandling,
if (value == null)
{
value = serializer.Deserialize(reader, keyValueTypes[1]);
}
else
{
serializer.Populate(reader, value);
}
dictionary[key] = value;
break;
default:
throw new JsonSerializationException(string.Format("Unexpected token {0}", reader.TokenType));
}
}
return dictionary;
}
public override bool CanWrite { get { return false; } }
public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, object value, JsonSerializer serializer) { throw new NotImplementedException(); }
}
public static partial class JsonExtensions
{
public static JsonReader ReadToContentAndAssert(this JsonReader reader)
{
return reader.ReadAndAssert().MoveToContentAndAssert();
}
public static JsonReader MoveToContentAndAssert(this JsonReader reader)
{
if (reader == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException();
if (reader.TokenType == JsonToken.None) // Skip past beginning of stream.
reader.ReadAndAssert();
while (reader.TokenType == JsonToken.Comment) // Skip past comments.
reader.ReadAndAssert();
return reader;
}
public static JsonReader ReadAndAssert(this JsonReader reader)
{
if (reader == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException();
if (!reader.Read())
throw new JsonReaderException("Unexpected end of JSON stream.");
return reader;
}
}
public static class TypeExtensions
{
public static IEnumerable<Type> BaseTypesAndSelf(this Type type)
{
while (type != null)
{
yield return type;
type = type.BaseType;
}
}
public static Type[] GetDictionaryKeyValueType(this Type type)
{
return type.BaseTypesAndSelf().Where(t => t.IsGenericType && t.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(Dictionary<,>)).Select(t => t.GetGenericArguments()).FirstOrDefault();
}
}
Having done so, you will encounter a secondary issue: Json.NET will never use a custom converter to populate the root object. To work around this you will need to call JsonConverter.ReadJson() directly, from some utility method:
public static partial class JsonExtensions
{
public static void PopulateObjectWithConverter(string value, object target, JsonSerializerSettings settings)
{
if (target == null || value == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException();
var serializer = JsonSerializer.CreateDefault(settings);
var converter = serializer.Converters.Where(c => c.CanConvert(target.GetType()) && c.CanRead).FirstOrDefault() ?? serializer.ContractResolver.ResolveContract(target.GetType()).Converter;
using (var jsonReader = new JsonTextReader(new StringReader(value)))
{
if (converter == null)
serializer.Populate(jsonReader, target);
else
{
jsonReader.MoveToContentAndAssert();
var newtarget = converter.ReadJson(jsonReader, target.GetType(), target, serializer);
if (newtarget != target)
throw new JsonException(string.Format("Converter {0} allocated a new object rather than populating the existing object {1}.", converter, value));
}
}
}
}
You will now be able to populate your dictionary as follows:
var jsonString = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(to_serialize, Formatting.Indented);
var settings = new JsonSerializerSettings
{
Converters = { new DictionaryMergeConverter() },
};
JsonExtensions.PopulateObjectWithConverter(jsonString, to_serialize, settings);
Notes:
PreserveReferencesHandling has no impact on whether dictionary values are populated or replaced. Instead this setting controls whether a serialization graph with multiple references to the same object will maintain its reference topology when round-tripped.
In your question you wrote // works ok with list<Model> but in fact this is not correct. When a List<T> is populated the new values are appended to the list, so Assert.AreSame(to_serialize[0], model); passes purely by luck. If you had additionally asserted Assert.AreSame(1, to_serialize.Count) it would have failed.
While the converter will work for primitive keys such as string and int it may not work for key types that require JSON-specific conversion such as enum or DateTime.
The converter is currently only implemented for Dictionary<TKey, TValue> and takes advantage of the fact that this type implements the non-generic IDictionary interface. It could be extended to other dictionary types such as SortedDictionary<TKey,TValue> if required.
Demo fiddle here.
I'm trying to fix my SendGridPlus library to deal with SendGrid events, but I'm having some trouble with the inconsistent treatment of categories in the API.
In the following example payload taken from the SendGrid API reference, you'll notice that the category property for each item can either be a single string or an array of strings.
[
{
"email": "john.doe#sendgrid.com",
"timestamp": 1337966815,
"category": [
"newuser",
"transactional"
],
"event": "open"
},
{
"email": "jane.doe#sendgrid.com",
"timestamp": 1337966815,
"category": "olduser",
"event": "open"
}
]
It seems my options to make JSON.NET like this are fixing the string before it comes in, or configuring JSON.NET to accept the incorrect data. I'd rather not do any string parsing if I can get away with it.
Is there any other way I can handle this using Json.Net?
The best way to handle this situation is to use a custom JsonConverter.
Before we get to the converter, we'll need to define a class to deserialize the data into. For the Categories property that can vary between a single item and an array, define it as a List<string> and mark it with a [JsonConverter] attribute so that JSON.Net will know to use the custom converter for that property. I would also recommend using [JsonProperty] attributes so that the member properties can be given meaningful names independent of what is defined in the JSON.
class Item
{
[JsonProperty("email")]
public string Email { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("timestamp")]
public int Timestamp { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("event")]
public string Event { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("category")]
[JsonConverter(typeof(SingleOrArrayConverter<string>))]
public List<string> Categories { get; set; }
}
Here is how I would implement the converter. Notice I've made the converter generic so that it can be used with strings or other types of objects as needed.
class SingleOrArrayConverter<T> : JsonConverter
{
public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
{
return (objectType == typeof(List<T>));
}
public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
JToken token = JToken.Load(reader);
if (token.Type == JTokenType.Array)
{
return token.ToObject<List<T>>();
}
return new List<T> { token.ToObject<T>() };
}
public override bool CanWrite
{
get { return false; }
}
public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, object value, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}
Here is an short program demonstrating the converter in action with your sample data:
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string json = #"
[
{
""email"": ""john.doe#sendgrid.com"",
""timestamp"": 1337966815,
""category"": [
""newuser"",
""transactional""
],
""event"": ""open""
},
{
""email"": ""jane.doe#sendgrid.com"",
""timestamp"": 1337966815,
""category"": ""olduser"",
""event"": ""open""
}
]";
List<Item> list = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<Item>>(json);
foreach (Item obj in list)
{
Console.WriteLine("email: " + obj.Email);
Console.WriteLine("timestamp: " + obj.Timestamp);
Console.WriteLine("event: " + obj.Event);
Console.WriteLine("categories: " + string.Join(", ", obj.Categories));
Console.WriteLine();
}
}
}
And finally, here is the output of the above:
email: john.doe#sendgrid.com
timestamp: 1337966815
event: open
categories: newuser, transactional
email: jane.doe#sendgrid.com
timestamp: 1337966815
event: open
categories: olduser
Fiddle: https://dotnetfiddle.net/lERrmu
EDIT
If you need to go the other way, i.e. serialize, while keeping the same format, you can implement the WriteJson() method of the converter as shown below. (Be sure to remove the CanWrite override or change it to return true, or else WriteJson() will never be called.)
public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, object value, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
List<T> list = (List<T>)value;
if (list.Count == 1)
{
value = list[0];
}
serializer.Serialize(writer, value);
}
Fiddle: https://dotnetfiddle.net/XG3eRy
I was working on this for ages, and thanks to Brian for his answer.
All I am adding is the vb.net answer!:
Public Class SingleValueArrayConverter(Of T)
sometimes-array-and-sometimes-object
Inherits JsonConverter
Public Overrides Sub WriteJson(writer As JsonWriter, value As Object, serializer As JsonSerializer)
Throw New NotImplementedException()
End Sub
Public Overrides Function ReadJson(reader As JsonReader, objectType As Type, existingValue As Object, serializer As JsonSerializer) As Object
Dim retVal As Object = New [Object]()
If reader.TokenType = JsonToken.StartObject Then
Dim instance As T = DirectCast(serializer.Deserialize(reader, GetType(T)), T)
retVal = New List(Of T)() From { _
instance _
}
ElseIf reader.TokenType = JsonToken.StartArray Then
retVal = serializer.Deserialize(reader, objectType)
End If
Return retVal
End Function
Public Overrides Function CanConvert(objectType As Type) As Boolean
Return False
End Function
End Class
then in your class:
<JsonProperty(PropertyName:="JsonName)> _
<JsonConverter(GetType(SingleValueArrayConverter(Of YourObject)))> _
Public Property YourLocalName As List(Of YourObject)
Hope this saves you some time
As a minor variation to the great answer by Brian Rogers, here are two tweaked versions of SingleOrArrayConverter<T>.
Firstly, here is a version that works for all List<T> for every type T that is not itself a collection:
public class SingleOrArrayListConverter : JsonConverter
{
// Adapted from this answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/18997172
// to https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18994685/how-to-handle-both-a-single-item-and-an-array-for-the-same-property-using-json-n
// by Brian Rogers https://stackoverflow.com/users/10263/brian-rogers
readonly bool canWrite;
readonly IContractResolver resolver;
public SingleOrArrayListConverter() : this(false) { }
public SingleOrArrayListConverter(bool canWrite) : this(canWrite, null) { }
public SingleOrArrayListConverter(bool canWrite, IContractResolver resolver)
{
this.canWrite = canWrite;
// Use the global default resolver if none is passed in.
this.resolver = resolver ?? new JsonSerializer().ContractResolver;
}
static bool CanConvert(Type objectType, IContractResolver resolver)
{
Type itemType;
JsonArrayContract contract;
return CanConvert(objectType, resolver, out itemType, out contract);
}
static bool CanConvert(Type objectType, IContractResolver resolver, out Type itemType, out JsonArrayContract contract)
{
if ((itemType = objectType.GetListItemType()) == null)
{
itemType = null;
contract = null;
return false;
}
// Ensure that [JsonObject] is not applied to the type.
if ((contract = resolver.ResolveContract(objectType) as JsonArrayContract) == null)
return false;
var itemContract = resolver.ResolveContract(itemType);
// Not implemented for jagged arrays.
if (itemContract is JsonArrayContract)
return false;
return true;
}
public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType) { return CanConvert(objectType, resolver); }
public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
Type itemType;
JsonArrayContract contract;
if (!CanConvert(objectType, serializer.ContractResolver, out itemType, out contract))
throw new JsonSerializationException(string.Format("Invalid type for {0}: {1}", GetType(), objectType));
if (reader.MoveToContent().TokenType == JsonToken.Null)
return null;
var list = (IList)(existingValue ?? contract.DefaultCreator());
if (reader.TokenType == JsonToken.StartArray)
serializer.Populate(reader, list);
else
// Here we take advantage of the fact that List<T> implements IList to avoid having to use reflection to call the generic Add<T> method.
list.Add(serializer.Deserialize(reader, itemType));
return list;
}
public override bool CanWrite { get { return canWrite; } }
public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, object value, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
var list = value as ICollection;
if (list == null)
throw new JsonSerializationException(string.Format("Invalid type for {0}: {1}", GetType(), value.GetType()));
// Here we take advantage of the fact that List<T> implements IList to avoid having to use reflection to call the generic Count method.
if (list.Count == 1)
{
foreach (var item in list)
{
serializer.Serialize(writer, item);
break;
}
}
else
{
writer.WriteStartArray();
foreach (var item in list)
serializer.Serialize(writer, item);
writer.WriteEndArray();
}
}
}
public static partial class JsonExtensions
{
public static JsonReader MoveToContent(this JsonReader reader)
{
while ((reader.TokenType == JsonToken.Comment || reader.TokenType == JsonToken.None) && reader.Read())
;
return reader;
}
internal static Type GetListItemType(this Type type)
{
// Quick reject for performance
if (type.IsPrimitive || type.IsArray || type == typeof(string))
return null;
while (type != null)
{
if (type.IsGenericType)
{
var genType = type.GetGenericTypeDefinition();
if (genType == typeof(List<>))
return type.GetGenericArguments()[0];
}
type = type.BaseType;
}
return null;
}
}
It can be used as follows:
var settings = new JsonSerializerSettings
{
// Pass true if you want single-item lists to be reserialized as single items
Converters = { new SingleOrArrayListConverter(true) },
};
var list = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<Item>>(json, settings);
Notes:
The converter avoids the need to pre-load the entire JSON value into memory as a JToken hierarchy.
The converter does not apply to lists whose items are also serialized as collections, e.g. List<string []>
The Boolean canWrite argument passed to the constructor controls whether to re-serialize single-element lists as JSON values or as JSON arrays.
The converter's ReadJson() uses the existingValue if pre-allocated so as to support populating of get-only list members.
Secondly, here is a version that works with other generic collections such as ObservableCollection<T>:
public class SingleOrArrayCollectionConverter<TCollection, TItem> : JsonConverter
where TCollection : ICollection<TItem>
{
// Adapted from this answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/18997172
// to https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18994685/how-to-handle-both-a-single-item-and-an-array-for-the-same-property-using-json-n
// by Brian Rogers https://stackoverflow.com/users/10263/brian-rogers
readonly bool canWrite;
public SingleOrArrayCollectionConverter() : this(false) { }
public SingleOrArrayCollectionConverter(bool canWrite) { this.canWrite = canWrite; }
public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
{
return typeof(TCollection).IsAssignableFrom(objectType);
}
static void ValidateItemContract(IContractResolver resolver)
{
var itemContract = resolver.ResolveContract(typeof(TItem));
if (itemContract is JsonArrayContract)
throw new JsonSerializationException(string.Format("Item contract type {0} not supported.", itemContract));
}
public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
ValidateItemContract(serializer.ContractResolver);
if (reader.MoveToContent().TokenType == JsonToken.Null)
return null;
var list = (ICollection<TItem>)(existingValue ?? serializer.ContractResolver.ResolveContract(objectType).DefaultCreator());
if (reader.TokenType == JsonToken.StartArray)
serializer.Populate(reader, list);
else
list.Add(serializer.Deserialize<TItem>(reader));
return list;
}
public override bool CanWrite { get { return canWrite; } }
public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, object value, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
ValidateItemContract(serializer.ContractResolver);
var list = value as ICollection<TItem>;
if (list == null)
throw new JsonSerializationException(string.Format("Invalid type for {0}: {1}", GetType(), value.GetType()));
if (list.Count == 1)
{
foreach (var item in list)
{
serializer.Serialize(writer, item);
break;
}
}
else
{
writer.WriteStartArray();
foreach (var item in list)
serializer.Serialize(writer, item);
writer.WriteEndArray();
}
}
}
Then, if your model is using, say, an ObservableCollection<T> for some T, you could apply it as follows:
class Item
{
public string Email { get; set; }
public int Timestamp { get; set; }
public string Event { get; set; }
[JsonConverter(typeof(SingleOrArrayCollectionConverter<ObservableCollection<string>, string>))]
public ObservableCollection<string> Category { get; set; }
}
Notes:
In addition to the notes and restrictions for SingleOrArrayListConverter, the TCollection type must be read/write and have a parameterless constructor.
Demo fiddle with basic unit tests here.
To handle this you have to use a custom JsonConverter. But you probably already had that in mind.
You are just looking for a converter that you can use immediately. And this offers more than just a solution for the situation described.
I give an example with the question asked.
How to use my converter:
Place a JsonConverter Attribute above the property. JsonConverter(typeof(SafeCollectionConverter))
public class SendGridEvent
{
[JsonProperty("email")]
public string Email { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("timestamp")]
public long Timestamp { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("category"), JsonConverter(typeof(SafeCollectionConverter))]
public string[] Category { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("event")]
public string Event { get; set; }
}
And this is my converter:
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
using System;
namespace stackoverflow.question18994685
{
public class SafeCollectionConverter : JsonConverter
{
public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
{
return true;
}
public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
//This not works for Populate (on existingValue)
return serializer.Deserialize<JToken>(reader).ToObjectCollectionSafe(objectType, serializer);
}
public override bool CanWrite => false;
public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, object value, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}
}
And this converter uses the following class:
using System;
namespace Newtonsoft.Json.Linq
{
public static class SafeJsonConvertExtensions
{
public static object ToObjectCollectionSafe(this JToken jToken, Type objectType)
{
return ToObjectCollectionSafe(jToken, objectType, JsonSerializer.CreateDefault());
}
public static object ToObjectCollectionSafe(this JToken jToken, Type objectType, JsonSerializer jsonSerializer)
{
var expectArray = typeof(System.Collections.IEnumerable).IsAssignableFrom(objectType);
if (jToken is JArray jArray)
{
if (!expectArray)
{
//to object via singel
if (jArray.Count == 0)
return JValue.CreateNull().ToObject(objectType, jsonSerializer);
if (jArray.Count == 1)
return jArray.First.ToObject(objectType, jsonSerializer);
}
}
else if (expectArray)
{
//to object via JArray
return new JArray(jToken).ToObject(objectType, jsonSerializer);
}
return jToken.ToObject(objectType, jsonSerializer);
}
public static T ToObjectCollectionSafe<T>(this JToken jToken)
{
return (T)ToObjectCollectionSafe(jToken, typeof(T));
}
public static T ToObjectCollectionSafe<T>(this JToken jToken, JsonSerializer jsonSerializer)
{
return (T)ToObjectCollectionSafe(jToken, typeof(T), jsonSerializer);
}
}
}
What does it do exactly?
If you place the converter attribute the converter will be used for this property. You can use it on a normal object if you expect a json array with 1 or no result. Or you use it on an IEnumerable where you expect a json object or json array. (Know that an array -object[]- is an IEnumerable)
A disadvantage is that this converter can only be placed above a property because he thinks he can convert everything. And be warned. A string is also an IEnumerable.
And it offers more than an answer to the question:
If you search for something by id you know that you will get an array back with one or no result.
The ToObjectCollectionSafe<TResult>() method can handle that for you.
This is usable for Single Result vs Array using JSON.net
and handle both a single item and an array for the same property
and can convert an array to a single object.
I made this for REST requests on a server with a filter that returned one result in an array but wanted to get the result back as a single object in my code. And also for a OData result response with expanded result with one item in an array.
Have fun with it.
Just wanted to add to #dbc excellent response above on the SingleOrArrayCollectionConverter. I was able to modify it to use with a stream from an HTTP client. Here is a snippet (you will have to set up the requestUrl (string) and the httpClient (using System.Net.Http;).
public async Task<IList<T>> HttpRequest<T>(HttpClient httpClient, string requestedUrl, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
{
using (var request = new HttpRequestMessage(HttpMethod.Get, requestedUrl))
using (var httpResponseMessage = await httpClient.SendAsync(request, HttpCompletionOption.ResponseHeadersRead, cancellationToken))
{
if (httpResponseMessage.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
using var stream = await httpResponseMessage.Content.ReadAsStreamAsync();
using var streamReader = new StreamReader(stream);
using var jsonTextReader = new JsonTextReader(streamReader );
var settings = new JsonSerializerSettings
{
// Pass true if you want single-item lists to be reserialized as single items
Converters = { new SingleOrArrayCollectionConverter(true) },
};
var jsonSerializer = JsonSerializer.Create(settings);
return jsonSerializer.Deserialize<List<T>>(jsonTextReader);
}
I apologize if there are missing brackets or misspellings, it was not easy to paste code in here.
I had a very similar Problem.
My Json Request was completly unknown for me.
I only knew.
There will be an objectId in it and some anonym key value pairs AND arrays.
I used it for an EAV Model i did:
My JSON Request:
{objectId": 2,
"firstName": "Hans",
"email" :[ "a#b.de","a#c.de"],
"name": "Andre",
"something" :["232","123"]
}
My Class i defined:
[JsonConverter(typeof(AnonyObjectConverter))]
public class AnonymObject
{
public AnonymObject()
{
fields = new Dictionary<string, string>();
list = new List<string>();
}
public string objectid { get; set; }
public Dictionary<string, string> fields { get; set; }
public List<string> list { get; set; }
}
and now that i want to deserialize unknown attributes with its value and arrays in it my Converter looks like that:
public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
AnonymObject anonym = existingValue as AnonymObject ?? new AnonymObject();
bool isList = false;
StringBuilder listValues = new StringBuilder();
while (reader.Read())
{
if (reader.TokenType == JsonToken.EndObject) continue;
if (isList)
{
while (reader.TokenType != JsonToken.EndArray)
{
listValues.Append(reader.Value.ToString() + ", ");
reader.Read();
}
anonym.list.Add(listValues.ToString());
isList = false;
continue;
}
var value = reader.Value.ToString();
switch (value.ToLower())
{
case "objectid":
anonym.objectid = reader.ReadAsString();
break;
default:
string val;
reader.Read();
if(reader.TokenType == JsonToken.StartArray)
{
isList = true;
val = "ValueDummyForEAV";
}
else
{
val = reader.Value.ToString();
}
try
{
anonym.fields.Add(value, val);
}
catch(ArgumentException e)
{
throw new ArgumentException("Multiple Attribute found");
}
break;
}
}
return anonym;
}
So now everytime i get an AnonymObject i can iterate through the Dictionary and everytime there is my Flag "ValueDummyForEAV" i switch to the list, read the first line and split the values. After that i delete the first entry from the list and go on with iteration from the Dictionary.
Maybe someone has the same problem and can use this :)
Regards
Andre
You can use a JSONConverterAttribute as found here: http://james.newtonking.com/projects/json/help/
Presuming you have a class that looks like
public class RootObject
{
public string email { get; set; }
public int timestamp { get; set; }
public string smtpid { get; set; }
public string #event { get; set; }
public string category[] { get; set; }
}
You'd decorate the category property as seen here:
[JsonConverter(typeof(SendGridCategoryConverter))]
public string category { get; set; }
public class SendGridCategoryConverter : JsonConverter
{
public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
{
return true; // add your own logic
}
public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
// do work here to handle returning the array regardless of the number of objects in
}
public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, object value, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
// Left as an exercise to the reader :)
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}
You don't need any custom converters, in this case I am usually creating a very simple JsonConstructor
public partial class Item
{
// ... all class properties
[JsonConstructor]
public Item(JToken category)
{
if (category.GetType().Name == "JArray")
Category = category.ToObject<List<string>>();
else
Category = new List<string> { category.ToString() };
}
public Item() { }
}
after this you can deserialize your json using common code
List<Item> items = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<Item>>(json);
I found another solution that can handle the category as string or array by using object. This way I don´t need to mess up with the json serializer.
Please give it a look if you have the time and tell me what you think. https://github.com/MarcelloCarreira/sendgrid-csharp-eventwebhook
It´s based on the solution at https://sendgrid.com/blog/tracking-email-using-azure-sendgrid-event-webhook-part-1/ but I also added date conversion from timestamp, upgraded the variables to reflect current SendGrid model (and made categories work).
I also created a handler with basic auth as option. See the ashx files and the examples.
Thank you!
I have following class:
public class MainClass
{
public static MainClass[] array = new MainClass[1]
{
new MainClass
{
subClass = new SubClass[2]
{
new SubClass
{
variable1 = "my value"
},
new SubClass
{
variable1 = "my value"
}
}
}
};
public SubClass[] subClass;
[DataContract]
public class SubClass
{
public string variable1 = "default value";
[DataMember] // because only variable2 should be saved in json
public string variable2 = "default value";
}
}
which I save as follows:
File.WriteAllText("data.txt", JsonConvert.SerializeObject(new
{
MainClass.array
}, new JsonSerializerSettings { Formatting = Formatting.Indented }));
data.txt:
{
"array": [
{
"subClass": [
{
"variable2": "value from json"
},
{
"variable2": "value from json"
}
]
}
]
}
then I deserialize and populate my object like this:
JObject json = JObject.Parse(File.ReadAllText("data.txt"));
if (json["array"] != null)
{
for (int i = 0, len = json["array"].Count(); i < len; i++)
{
using (var sr = json["array"][i].CreateReader())
{
JsonSerializer.CreateDefault().Populate(sr, MainClass.array[i]);
}
}
}
however, when I print following variables:
Console.WriteLine(MainClass.array[0].subClass[0].variable1);
Console.WriteLine(MainClass.array[0].subClass[0].variable2);
Console.WriteLine(MainClass.array[0].subClass[1].variable1);
Console.WriteLine(MainClass.array[0].subClass[1].variable2);
then output of it is:
default value
value from json
default value
value from json
but instead of "default value" there should be "my value" because that is what I used while creating an instance of class and JsonSerializer should only populate the object with values from json.
How do I properly populate the whole object without resetting its properties which are not included in json?
It looks as though JsonSerializer.Populate() lacks the MergeArrayHandling setting that is available for JObject.Merge(). Through testing I have found that:
Populating members that are arrays or some other type of read-only collection seems to work like MergeArrayHandling.Replace.
This is the behavior you are experiencing -- the existing array and all the items therein are being discarded and replaced with a fresh array containing newly constructed items that have default values. In contrast, you require MergeArrayHandling.Merge: Merge array items together, matched by index.
Populating members that are read/write collections such as List<T> seems to work like MergeArrayHandling.Concat.
It seems reasonable to request an enhancement that Populate() support this setting -- though I don't know how easy it would be to implement. At the minimum the documentation for Populate() should explain this behavior.
In the meantime, here's a custom JsonConverter with the necessary logic to emulate the behavior of MergeArrayHandling.Merge:
public class ArrayMergeConverter<T> : ArrayMergeConverter
{
public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
{
return objectType.IsArray && objectType.GetArrayRank() == 1 && objectType.GetElementType() == typeof(T);
}
}
public class ArrayMergeConverter : JsonConverter
{
public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
if (!objectType.IsArray)
throw new JsonSerializationException(string.Format("Non-array type {0} not supported.", objectType));
var contract = (JsonArrayContract)serializer.ContractResolver.ResolveContract(objectType);
if (contract.IsMultidimensionalArray)
throw new JsonSerializationException("Multidimensional arrays not supported.");
if (reader.TokenType == JsonToken.Null)
return null;
if (reader.TokenType != JsonToken.StartArray)
throw new JsonSerializationException(string.Format("Invalid start token: {0}", reader.TokenType));
var itemType = contract.CollectionItemType;
var existingList = existingValue as IList;
IList list = new List<object>();
while (reader.Read())
{
switch (reader.TokenType)
{
case JsonToken.Comment:
break;
case JsonToken.Null:
list.Add(null);
break;
case JsonToken.EndArray:
var array = Array.CreateInstance(itemType, list.Count);
list.CopyTo(array, 0);
return array;
default:
// Add item to list
var existingItem = existingList != null && list.Count < existingList.Count ? existingList[list.Count] : null;
if (existingItem == null)
{
existingItem = serializer.Deserialize(reader, itemType);
}
else
{
serializer.Populate(reader, existingItem);
}
list.Add(existingItem);
break;
}
}
// Should not come here.
throw new JsonSerializationException("Unclosed array at path: " + reader.Path);
}
public override bool CanWrite { get { return false; } }
public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, object value, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}
Then add the converter to your subClass member as follows:
[JsonConverter(typeof(ArrayMergeConverter))]
public SubClass[] subClass;
Or, if you don't want to add Json.NET attributes to your data model, you can add it in serializer settings:
var settings = new JsonSerializerSettings
{
Converters = new[] { new ArrayMergeConverter<MainClass.SubClass>() },
};
JsonSerializer.CreateDefault(settings).Populate(sr, MainClass.array[i]);
The converter is specifically designed for arrays but a similar converter could easily be created for read/write collections such as List<T>.