Deserialize JSON to an array of objects, instead of to one object list

Question

Apologies for the probably confusing title. I'm new to JSON and I'm working on a Web Application with a piece of software which interfaces with the API. I have control of both.

My applications needs to enumerate a list of "Clients" and their "Projects". Currently it returns the following:

{
  "clients": [
    {
      "client_id": "1",
      "client_name": "Client1",
      "projects": [
        {
          "client_project_id": "1",
          "client_project_title": "WidgetsA",
          "client_project_client": "1",
          "client_project_status": "1"
        },
        {
          "client_project_id": "11",
          "client_project_title": "WidgetsB",
          "client_project_client": "1",
          "client_project_status": "1"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "client_id": "11",
      "client_name": "Client11",
      "projects": [
        {
          "client_project_id": "31",
          "client_project_title": "Install",
          "client_project_client": "11",
          "client_project_status": "1"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "client_id": "21",
      "client_name": "Client21",
      "projects": [
        {
          "client_project_id": "61",
          "client_project_title": "Marketing",
          "client_project_client": "21",
          "client_project_status": "1"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "client_id": "31",
      "client_name": "Client31",
      "projects": [
        {
          "client_project_id": "71",
          "client_project_title": "Fire Everyone",
          "client_project_client": "31",
          "client_project_status": "1"
        },
        {
          "client_project_id": "81",
          "client_project_title": "Buy A Company",
          "client_project_client": "31",
          "client_project_status": "1"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

I can deserialize this easily enough to an object using the following JSON.NET code:

MyObject result = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<MyObject>(response);

However, this only works if my objects look like the following:

  [Serializable, JsonObject]
    internal class MyObject
    {
        [JsonProperty("clients")]
        internal List<ClientObject> ClientList = new List<ClientList>();
    }


 internal class ClientObject
    {

        [JsonProperty("client_id")]internal string ClientID { get; set; }

        [JsonProperty("client_name")] internal string ClientName { get; set; }

        [JsonProperty("projects")] internal List<ProjectObject> ProjectList = new List<ProjectObject>();
    }

(NB: I've changed the names of a lot of properties and objects for privacy, so apologies for any mistakes added)

What I really want to be able to do is use the following code:

List<ClientObject> result = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<ClientObject>>(response);

But no matter how I format the JSON response, JSON.NET throws an error stating that the JSON is not an array. Can anyone advise where I'm going wrong, or what I'm misunderstanding?

Your json format is "object" format - {"clientList": [ {client1properties}, {client2properties}] }. You need change returned json to be a collection format [{client1properties}, {client2properties}] — Fabio
– Fabio, Commented Nov 14, 2016 at 9:22

Alex · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-14 09:53:38Z

4

As others have mentioned, your JSON is an object, not array, so it cannot be deserialized directly to a list.

But you can still use LINQ to JSON to get your clients list from JSON:

string json = @"...";
JObject data = JObject.Parse(json);
List<ClientObject> clients = data["clients"].Select(c => c.ToObject<ClientObject>()).ToList();

edited Nov 14, 2016 at 9:53

answered Nov 14, 2016 at 9:39

Alex

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Comments

Ilya Chernomordik · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-14 09:24:43Z

1

Your JSON is an object, that contains a field that is an array. You cannot directly convert it to array.

You can use this JSON I suppose:

[
    {
      "client_id": "1",      
    },
    {
      "client_id": "2",      
    }
]

But seriously, it does not hurt to have a proper response object that contains an array inside. I would rather us it.

answered Nov 14, 2016 at 9:24

Ilya Chernomordik

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2 Comments

Nobody Over a year ago

Are there any particular pros/cons either way?

Ilya Chernomordik Over a year ago

No, not really I guess. It's just a matter of style, I guess I prefer more explicit ones (e..g you can have the name then, i.e. clients in your case)

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