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Flatten nested JSON with JSON.NET in C#

I receive a bill of materials in JSON format via a WebApi, which has a corresponding hierarchy.
The hierarchy or the nesting can be any depth.
An example bill of materials is shown below:
{
"Quantity":0,
"QuantityUnit":"pcs",
"PartNumber":"12345",
"Parent":"",
"Children":[
{
"Quantity":1,
"QuantityUnit":"pcs",
"PartNumber":"88774",
"Parent":"12345",
"Children":[
{
"Quantity":1,
"QuantityUnit":"pcs",
"PartNumber":"42447",
"Parent":"88774"
},
{
"Quantity":0.420,
"QuantityUnit":"kg",
"PartNumber":"12387",
"Parent":"88774"
}
]
}
]
}
How can I resolve this nested structure into a simple structure using JSON.NET in C#?
I want to transform it to:
[
{
"Quantity":0,
"QuantityUnit":"pcs",
"PartNumber":"12345",
"Parent":""
},
{
"Quantity":1,
"QuantityUnit":"pcs",
"PartNumber":"88774",
"Parent":"12345"
},
{
"Quantity":1,
"QuantityUnit":"pcs",
"PartNumber":"42447",
"Parent":"88774"
},
{
"Quantity":0.420,
"QuantityUnit":"kg",
"PartNumber":"12387",
"Parent":"88774"
}
]
For the deserialization I use the following class:
public class Bom
{
public class TopLevel
{
public double Quantity { get; set; }
public string QuantityUnit { get; set; }
public string PartNumber { get; set; }
public string Parent { get; set; }
public List<Item> Children { get; set; }
}
public class Item
{
public double Quantity { get; set; }
public string QuantityUnit { get; set; }
public string PartNumber { get; set; }
public string Parent { get; set; }
}
public double Quantity { get; set; }
public string QuantityUnit { get; set; }
public string PartNumber { get; set; }
public string Parent { get; set; }
public IList<TopLevel> Children { get; set; }
}
Furthermore, I use this code to deserialize the JSON to an object:
Bom bom = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Bom>(File.ReadAllText(jsonPath));

First let's define a mapper
JObject Map(JObject source)
{
var result = (JObject)source.DeepClone();
result.Remove("Children");
return result;
}
It simply clones the object and removes the Children property
Next let's define a recursive function to accumulate the JObjects
void Flatten(JArray children, JArray accumulator)
{
if (children == null) return;
foreach (JObject child in children)
{
accumulator.Add(Map(child));
Flatten((JArray)child["Children"], accumulator);
}
}
And finally let's make use of them
var semiParsed = JObject.Parse(json);
var accumulator = new JArray();
accumulator.Add(Map(semiParsed));
Flatten((JArray)semiParsed["Children"], accumulator);
The ToString call on the accumulator will return this
[
{
"Quantity": 0,
"QuantityUnit": "pcs",
"PartNumber": "12345",
"Parent": ""
},
{
"Quantity": 1,
"QuantityUnit": "pcs",
"PartNumber": "88774",
"Parent": "12345"
},
{
"Quantity": 1,
"QuantityUnit": "pcs",
"PartNumber": "42447",
"Parent": "88774"
},
{
"Quantity": 0.42,
"QuantityUnit": "kg",
"PartNumber": "12387",
"Parent": "88774"
}
]
UPDATE #1
If your source json contains a deep hierarchy (lets say more than 5 levels) then the DeepClone is not really efficient, since you are copying the whole subtree.
To fix this problem you just need to rewrite the Map function
JObject Map(JObject source)
=> JObject.FromObject(new
{
Quantity = (double)source["Quantity"],
QuantityUnit = (string)source["QuantityUnit"],
PartNumber = (string)source["PartNumber"],
Parent = (string)source["Parent"]
});

Deserialize the original list, flatten it with Enumerable.SelectMany, and serialize the resulting sequence.

Compare Property values of two json objects in c#

I have a two json objects like this below,
Json 1:
{
"data": {
"firstName": "xxx",
"lastName": "yyy",
"age": "29"
}
}
Json 2:
{
"data": {
"firstName": "aaa",
"lastName": "yyy",
"age": "30",
"location": "USA"
},
"meta": {
"browser": "chrome",
"ip": "999.999.999"
}
}
How can i compare properties of json 1 with json 2 and return the bool value if values are equal ?
From the above example the firstName value is different in both json objects so the result will return bool value as false , otherwise it will return true.
Please help, thanks in advance !!!

Approach #1 - Using JObject from Newtonsoft.Json Library
var json1 = File.ReadAllText("json1.json");
var json2 = File.ReadAllText("json2.json");
var jObj1 = JObject.Parse(json1);
var jObj2 = JObject.Parse(json2);
if (jObj1["data"]["firstName"] != null && jObj2["data"]["firstName"] != null && jObj1["data"]["firstName"].ToString() == jObj2["data"]["firstName"].ToString())
{
//condition is true
Console.WriteLine("true");
}
else
{
//condition is false
Console.WriteLine("false");
}
Approach #2 - Using Modal & JsonConvert from Newtonsoft.Json Library. I have used json2csharp to convert the json to c# class
public class Data
{
public string firstName { get; set; }
public string lastName { get; set; }
public string age { get; set; }
public string location { get; set; }
}
public class Meta
{
public string browser { get; set; }
public string ip { get; set; }
}
public class Root
{
public Data data { get; set; }
public Meta meta { get; set; }
}
var jObj1 = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Root>(json1);
var jObj2 = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Root>(json2);
if (jObj1.data.firstName.Equals(jObj2.data.firstName))
{
Console.WriteLine("true");
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("false");
}

Deserialize JSON array with unknown keys inside JSON object to a generic property - C#

Finding the right title for this problem was kinda hard so I'll try to explain the problem a bit better below.
I am making a call to an API which returns the following JSON object:
{{
"id": "jsonrpc",
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"result": {
"result": [
{
"AccountId": 285929,
"Flags": [
"Managed_Obsolete"
],
"PartnerId": 73560,
"Settings": [
{
"AN": "company_1"
},
{
"CD": "1435323320"
},
{
"ED": "2147483647"
},
{
"OS": "Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard Edition (9600), 64-bit"
},
{
"OT": "2"
},
{
"T3": "1085792125772"
},
{
"US": "958222150780"
},
{
"YS": "100"
}
]
},
{
"AccountId": 610474,
"Flags": null,
"PartnerId": 249262,
"Settings": [
{
"AN": "company_2"
},
{
"CD": "1522143635"
},
{
"ED": "2147483647"
},
{
"OS": "Windows 7 Professional Service Pack 1 (7601), 64-bit"
},
{
"OT": "2"
},
{
"T3": "598346102236"
},
{
"US": "758149148249"
},
{
"YS": "100"
}
]
},
],
"totalStatistics": null
},
}}
In above result I listed only the first 2 accounts (total of 80+ accounts normally).
Deserializing the object works fine, I am putting the JSON object fields inside my C# model (list).
The problem however is that I can't get the (inner) Settings array properly in my model. The settings array keys are unknown, I define these keys when I call the API:
JObject requestObject = new JObject();
requestObject.Add(new JProperty("id", "jsonrpc"));
requestObject.Add(new JProperty("jsonrpc", "2.0"));
requestObject.Add(new JProperty("method", "myMethod"));
requestObject.Add(new JProperty("visa", someID));
requestObject.Add(new JProperty("params",
new JObject(
new JProperty("query", new JObject(
new JProperty("PartnerId", partnerId),
new JProperty("StartRecordNumber", 0),
new JProperty("RecordsCount", 9999999),
new JProperty("Columns", new JArray("AR", "AN", "US", "T3", "OT", "OS", "YS"))
)),
new JProperty("timeslice", unixDate),
new JProperty("totalStatistics", "*")
))
);
In above call I define the keys for the Settings array, this could however also be just one key or more. For this reason I want to make my Settings property in my C# model generic (I don't want to list all the possible key names because this are over 100 keys).
What I had so far:
List<EnumerateAccountHistoryStatisticsResult> resultList = new List<EnumerateAccountHistoryStatisticsResult>();
var result = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<JObject>(streamreader.ReadToEnd());
dynamic innerResult = result["result"]["result"];
foreach (var obj in innerResult)
{
resultList.Add(
new EnumerateAccountHistoryStatisticsResult
{
AccountId = obj.AccountId,
Flags = obj.Flags.ToObject<IEnumerable<string>>(),
PartnerId = obj.PartnerId,
Settings = obj.Settings.ToObject<List<ColumnSettingsResult>>(),
});
}
The EnumerateAccountHistoryStatisticsResult Model:
public class EnumerateAccountHistoryStatisticsResult
{
public int AccountId { get; set; }
public IEnumerable<string> Flags { get; set; }
public int PartnerId { get; set; }
public List<ColumnSettingsResult> Settings { get; set; }
}
The ColumnSettingsResult model:
public class ColumnSettingsResult
{
public string AR { get; set; }
public string AN { get; set; }
public string US { get; set; }
public string T3 { get; set; }
public string OT { get; set; }
public string OS { get; set; }
public string YS { get; set; }
// and list all other columns...
}
With above models I would need to list all the possible columns which are over 100 properties, besides that the result of the Settings list is not logical because I get all the property values but for each different key I get null values:
The ColumnSettingsResult model should more be something like:
public class ColumnSettingsResult
{
public string ColumnName { get; set; }
public string ColumnValue { get; set; }
}
I cant get the key and value inside these two properties though without defining the key name inside the model..
I already tried several things without result (links below as reference).
Anyone that can get me in the right direction?
C# deserialize Json unknown keys
Convert JObject into Dictionary<string, object>. Is it possible?
Convert Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JArray to a list of specific object type

Try making Settings of type Dictionary<string,string> (or List<KeyValuePair<string,string>> if Dictionary doesn't give you what you want.
public class MyJsonObject
{
public string id { get; set; }
public string jsonrpc { get; set; }
public Result result { get; set; }
public class Result2
{
public int AccountId { get; set; }
public List<string> Flags { get; set; }
public int PartnerId { get; set; }
public Dictionary<string,string> Settings { get; set; } //or List<KeyValuePair<string,string>>
}
public class Result
{
public List<Result2> result { get; set; }
public object totalStatistics { get; set; }
}
}
Then JsonConvert.DerserializeObject<MyJsonObject>(jsonString);

C#, JSON.net Loop through and store Jobject objects

New to both C# and to using JSON. Trying to make something that works with some JSON from a web API in the following format. Would like to loop through and store the secondUser_id and and the status for later use.
{
"user_list": [
{
"user_id": "12345678910",
"secondUser_id": "5428631729616515697",
"member_since": "1521326679",
"member_since_date": "2018-03-32",
"function": "test",
"rank_int": "1",
"status": "0"
},
{
"user_id": "11345638910",
"secondUser_id": "5428631729616515697",
"member_since": "1521326679",
"member_since_date": "2018-03-32",
"function": "test",
"rank_int": "1",
"status": "0"
},
{
"user_id": "13452578910",
"secondUser_id": "12390478910",
"member_since": "12316578910",
"member_since_date": "2018-03-32",
"function": "test",
"rank_int": "1",
"status": "0"
}
],
"returned": 3
}
string jsonUrl = GetJSON("url");
JObject UsersJObject = JObject.Parse(jsonUrl);
JToken user = UsersJObject["user_list"].First["secondUser_id"];
Console.WriteLine("User ID: " + user);
This will get the first entry but I'm not sure what to use for a enumerator?

try something like this:
foreach (var obj in UsersJObject["user_list"] as JArray)
{
Console.WriteLine(obj["secondUser_id"]);
}
You can iterate over elements of a JArray, and user_list will be of that type, cast it and you can iterate it in a foreach loop.

I will recommend you to use JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<T>.
This can help you to use objects easily
public class UserList
{
public string user_id { get; set; }
public string secondUser_id { get; set; }
public string member_since { get; set; }
public string member_since_date { get; set; }
public string function { get; set; }
public string rank_int { get; set; }
public string status { get; set; }
}
public class JsonData
{
public List<UserList> user_list { get; set; }
public int returned { get; set; }
}
Use like this.
string jsonUrl = GetJSON("url");
JsonData UsersJObject = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<JsonData>(jsonUrl);
foreach (var obj in UsersJObject.user_list)
{
Console.WriteLine(obj.secondUser_id);
}

LINQ grouping in object

I have two classes
public class MyObjects{
public bool Active {get; set;}
public List<OtherObject> OtherObjects {get; set;}
}
public class OtherObject {
public int Id {get; set;}
public bool Enabled {get; set;}
public string Address {get; set;}
public string Name {get; set;}
}
My current result is
MyObject { Active = true; },
OtherObjects: [OtherObject: { Id: 1, Name: 'First'},
OtherObject{Id: 2, Name: 'First'},
OtherObject{Id: 3, Name: 'Second'}];
I want to group them by Name so I would still have Active property and those OtherObjects inside would be grouped by OtherObject Name property. Is it possible to do so only using LINQ?
EDIT:
Final result should be json, that I will use in angular, so it should be something like this:
{
""Active"": true,
""OtherObjects"": [
{
""ObjectName"": ""Second"",
""ObjectOtherProperties"": [
{
""Id"": 1,
""Enabled"": false
},
{
""Id"": 2,
""Enabled"": true
}
],
""ObjectName"": ""Second"",
""ObjectOtherProperties"": [
{
""Id"": 1,
""Enabled"": false
}
],
]
}
}
Any suggestions how to achieve this? Maybe I must make other classes and somehow map them by grouping?

This is how I would do it, keeping it simple:
// 1. Add OtherObjectsDictionary
// 2. Block OtherObjects in the json serialization
public class MyObjects
{
public bool Active { get; set; }
[Newtonsoft.Json.JsonIgnore]
public List<OtherObject> OtherObjects { get; set; }
public Dictionary<string, List<OtherObject>> OtherObjectsDictionary { get; set; }
}
// 3. Block Name in the json serialization
public class OtherObject
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public bool Enabled { get; set; }
public string Address { get; set; }
[Newtonsoft.Json.JsonIgnore]
public string Name { get; set; }
}
// 4. Linq queries to achieve the grouped result
// 5. Serialize to Json
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var myObjects = new MyObjects() { Active = true, OtherObjects = new List<OtherObject>() };
myObjects.OtherObjects.Add(new OtherObject { Id = 1, Name = "First" });
myObjects.OtherObjects.Add(new OtherObject { Id = 2, Name = "First" });
myObjects.OtherObjects.Add(new OtherObject { Id = 3, Name = "Second" });
myObjects.OtherObjectsDictionary = new Dictionary<string, List<OtherObject>>();
var distinctNames = myObjects.OtherObjects.Select(otherObject => otherObject.Name).Distinct();
foreach(var distinctName in distinctNames)
{
var groupedObjectsList = myObjects.OtherObjects.Where(otherObject => otherObject.Name == distinctName).ToList();
myObjects.OtherObjectsDictionary.Add(distinctName, groupedObjectsList);
}
var outputJson = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.SerializeObject(myObjects);
}
This is the json result:
{
"Active": true,
"OtherObjectsDictionary": {
"First": [
{
"Id": 1,
"Enabled": false,
"Address": null
},
{
"Id": 2,
"Enabled": false,
"Address": null
}
],
"Second": [
{
"Id": 3,
"Enabled": false,
"Address": null
}
]
}
}
I hope it helps.

You may also use the System.Web.Extensions .dll as Add References for framework 4.0 projects (not 4.0 Client Profile).
Then add using inside your class.
I also applied a different approach, a more-or-less DB like normalization.
List of classes
public class MyObjects
{
public bool Active { get; set; }
public List<ObjectName> OtherObjects { get; set; }
}
public class ObjectName
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public List<OtherObject> OtherObjectProperties { get; set; }
}
public class OtherObject
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public bool Enabled { get; set; }
[ScriptIgnore]
public string Address { get; set; }
[ScriptIgnore]
public string Name { get; set; }
}
populate the records..
List<OtherObject> oList = new List<OtherObject>();
oList.Add(new OtherObject() { Id = 2, Name = "First" });
oList.Add(new OtherObject() { Id = 3, Name = "Second" });
// each name with objects
List<ObjectName> oNames = new List<ObjectName>();
oNames.AddRange(oList.Select(p => new ObjectName() {
Name = p.Name
, OtherObjectProperties = oList.Where(p1 => p1.Name == p.Name).ToList()
}).Distinct()
);
// parent object with with object names
MyObjects mo = new MyObjects() { Active = true, OtherObjects = oNames };
and finally, the javascript serializer..
JavaScriptSerializer jss = new JavaScriptSerializer();
string b = jss.Serialize(mo);
string b should give you the output like below..
{
"Active":true
,"OtherObjects":[
{
"Name":"First"
,"OtherObjectProperties":[
{
"Id":2
,"Enabled":false}
]},
{
"Name":"Second"
,"OtherObjectProperties":[
{
"Id":3
,"Enabled":false}
]
}]
}
Please advise if you're confused about any of the following.. :)