Parsing JSON with dynamic properties

Question

I found an example (C# Correct way to deserialze dictionary) of how to use a Dictionary to parse json with dynamic fields. But I can't seem to get it to work on my specifc json data. I have Json data that looks like:

{
    "status": "found",
    "result": {
        "ip_dns": {
            "8.8.8.8": {
                "fetched": 58,
                "found": 58,
                "items": {
                    "dn1.dalebulla.com": "2012-02-25",
                    "dns.wiseapp.net": "2014-10-16",
                    "dns1.reachmakers.com": "2014-10-17",
                    "dns2.xinhui.net": "2012-04-04",
                    "dnscache2.tuxserver.net": "2014-10-17",
                    "google-public-dns-a.google.com": "2014-10-18",
                    "google-public-dns-a.google.com.bge.ru": "2014-10-13",
                    "j6.hkidc.com": "2012-02-26",
                    "ns.aiky.cc": "2014-10-11",
                    "ns01.crimevictimsfirst.org": "2014-10-15",
                    "ns1.7enet.com": "2014-10-15",
                    "ns1.evolucionwebonline.com": "2013-07-31",
                    "ns1.ogloszeniownia.pl": "2012-02-25",
                    "ns1.start-rx.com": "2012-05-13",
                    "ns2.antiquar.pro": "2012-03-30",
                    "ns2.arboriculturajordivicent.com": "2014-10-15",
                    "ns2.bresunto.com": "2013-08-01",
                    "ns2.cafemarea.com": "2012-03-29",
                    "ns2.chrisdeste.com.au": "2013-08-02",
                    "ns2.cibercomputer.com": "2014-03-26",
                    "ns2.clanstars.com": "2013-08-01",
                    "ns2.ebella.ro": "2014-10-17",
                    "ns2.gameburg.net": "2014-10-16",
                    "ns2.i-del.ru": "2014-10-12",
                    "ns2.infersa.com": "2014-10-18",
                    "ns2.jordivicent.com": "2014-10-15",
                    "ns2.julioferrer.com": "2014-10-15",
                    "ns2.kirovnet.ru": "2014-03-22",
                    "ns2.mayimfelcar.com": "2014-10-16",
                    "ns2.moarasm.ro": "2014-03-26",
                    "ns2.muestrasdeverdad.com.ar": "2014-03-26",
                    "ns2.mv-auto.ru": "2013-08-01",
                    "ns2.nosolopcs.com": "2014-10-12",
                    "ns2.nou-model.com": "2012-02-23",
                    "ns2.paipernil.com": "2013-08-01",
                    "ns2.php-fusion.co.uk": "2014-03-21",
                    "ns2.sanfeliu-abogados.com": "2014-10-12",
                    "ns2.securittech.ro": "2014-10-18",
                    "ns2.stavmirsud.ru": "2014-10-14",
                    "ns2.tech-net.ru": "2014-10-15",
                    "ns2.techstation.com.ar": "2012-12-12",
                    "ns2.tecpandegaleana.gob.mx": "2014-10-11",
                    "ns2.tercermillennium.com": "2013-07-30",
                    "ns2.tour812.ru": "2012-05-14",
                    "ns2.validshop.su": "2012-12-09",
                    "ns2.vi-king.ru": "2014-10-11",
                    "ns2.wd-studios.ru": "2014-03-21",
                    "ns2.west-host.ro": "2014-10-15",
                    "ns2.westmedica.ro": "2014-03-26",
                    "ns2.xdiari.com": "2013-08-03",
                    "ns2.ylmbl.ru": "2014-10-14",
                    "ns3-fdns.webflip.net": "2012-12-09",
                    "ns3.eggplantstudios.ca": "2014-10-15",
                    "ns3.hosting24seven.com": "2014-10-16",
                    "ns3.maclean.cl": "2014-10-18",
                    "ns4.gnn.cz": "2012-05-15",
                    "ns4.norkornet.com": "2012-03-28",
                    "pro4.51dns.com": "2012-02-26"
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

I created a classes that looks like:

public class NameserversOnIPAddressRootobject
{
    public string status { get; set; }

    public NameserversOnIPAddressResult result { get; set; }
}

public class NameserversOnIPAddressResult
{
    public Ip_Dns ip_dns { get; set; }
}

public class Ip_Dns
{
    public Dictionary<string, CheckedServer> CheckedServers { get; set; }
}

public class CheckedServer
{
    public int fetched { get; set; }
    public int found { get; set; }
    public Dictionary<string, string> items { get; set; }
}

public class Items
{
    public Dictionary<string, string> ServerInfo { get; set; }
}

Then I use JSON.net to deserialize the JSON data:

string url = String.Format("https://url_to_get_data);

NameserversOnIPAddressRootobject returnValue = new NameserversOnIPAddressRootobject();
HttpClient client = new HttpClient();
string result = client.GetStringAsync(url).Result;
returnValue = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<NameserversOnIPAddressRootobject>(result);

Unfortunately this does not populate the classes correctly. Should I be able to do this without writing any sort of custom converter or manually parse the result?

Answer 1

It looks like the issue is in the NameserversOnIPAddressResult class definition. Its ip_dns property should be directly of type Dictionary<string, CheckedServer>. (This is for the same reason that the items property of CheckedServer is correctly a Dictionary type.)

Although I haven't manually verified this, I believe the affected code should look like:

public class NameserversOnIPAddressResult
{
    public Dictionary<string, CheckedServer> ip_dns { get; set; }
}

...and you can safely remove the Ip_Dns class.

For future reference, an important clue here is that all of the properties in your classes mirror the JSON (e.g. status, ip_dns, fetched), with exception of CheckedServers.