JSON.NET - outputting dynamic object data

Question

I'm working on a project that takes an ingested JSON file and outputs a UI based on the file contents. My JSON looks like this:

{
    "template" : {
        "example" : {
            "name" : "Name",
            "wigglies" : [
                {
                    "displayname" : "Artifact Spots"
                }
            ],
            "othersrc" : [
                {
                    "displayname" : "Other Sources"
                }
            ],
            "reward" : "Donation Reward",
            "drops" : [
                {
                    "displayname" : "Monster Drops"
                }
            ],
            "price0base" : "Base Price",
            "edibility" : "Edibility",
            "iridium" : "",
            "image" : ""
        },
        "metadata" : {
            "author" : "Me",
            "version" : "1.0",
            "published" : "12/21/2019"
        }
    },
    "content" : {
        "categories" : [
            {
                "category" : "Artifacts",
                "subcategories" : [
                    {
                        "subcategory" : "Artifacts",
                        "items" : [
                            {
                                "name" : "Amphibian Fossil",
                                "wigglies" : [
                                    {
                                        "name" : "Forest"
                                    },
                                    {
                                        "name" : "Mountain"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "othersrc" : [
                                    {
                                        "name" : "Fishing Treasure Chest"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "price0base" : "150"
                            },
                            {
                                "name" : "Anchor",
                                "wigglies" : [
                                    {
                                        "name" : "The Beach"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "othersrc" : [
                                    {
                                        "name" : "Fishing Treasure Chest"
                                    },
                                    {
                                        "name" : "Artifact Trove"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "price0base" : "100"
                            }
                        ]
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "category" : "Equipment",
                "subcategories" : [
                    {
                        "subcategory" : "Refining",
                        "items" : [
                            {
                                "name" : "Charcoal Kiln"
                            },
                            {
                                "name" : "Crystalarium"
                            }
                        ]
                    },
                    {
                        "subcategory" : "Artisan",
                        "items" : [
                            {
                                "name" : "Bee House"
                            },
                            {
                                "name" : "Cask"
                            }
                        ]
                    }
                ]
            }
        ]
    }
}

What I'm having trouble with is how to return this data in a useful way, while allowing an arbitrary data structure in the array contained by Content.Categories.Category.Subcategories.Subcategory.Items. My sample JSON is not the only structure for that data; it's just one example. So, there could be more nested arrays in there, too.

I know I can access data through something like:

Content.Categories[0].Subcategories[0].Items[0]["name"]

This returns a Json.Linq.Jtoken though, which isn't super useful. The Items array is a JObject[]. I feel like I'm missing something obvious here.

Jawad · Accepted Answer · 2019-12-26 05:15:15Z

1

I believe you are looking for string representation of the JToken. You can get that by using .ToString() and .ToArray() for name and items respectively.


    JToken name = jsonFeed["content"]["categories"][0]["subcategories"][0]["items"][0]["name"];
    string nameString = jsonFeed["content"]["categories"][0]["subcategories"][0]["items"][0]["name"].ToString();

    JToken[] itemArray = jsonFeed["content"]["categories"][0]["subcategories"][0]["items"].ToArray();

answered Dec 26, 2019 at 5:15

Jawad

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3 Comments

CXL Over a year ago

Sorry my question isn't very clear - how do I enumerate the contents of an item without referring to the properties explicitly? The properties of an item are completely arbitrary. My code doesn't know about them. How doI retreive the list of keys for a given item, and use that list to get the values for outputting as XAML controls in my UI?

Jawad Over a year ago

You can use Properties() method to get the keys of the object . then based on these keys, you can iterate through it. Sample: newtonsoft.com/json/help/html/JObjectProperties.htm

CXL Over a year ago

Thank you!! This got me in the direction I needed to go. :)

Gauravsa · Accepted Answer · 2019-12-26 06:02:14Z

0

You can use this:

string jsonData = "";
dynamic templates = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<dynamic>(jsonData);
var name = templates.example.Name;  // prints Name
var categories = templates.Content.Categories; // list of categories

// loop through the categories
// or do whatever

This way your code is easier to read and manage.

answered Dec 26, 2019 at 6:02

Gauravsa

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1 Comment

CXL Over a year ago

Sorry my question isn't very clear - how do I enumerate the contents of an item without referring to the properties explicitly? The properties of an item are completely arbitrary. My code doesn't know about them. How doI retreive the list of keys for a given item, and use that list to get the values for outputting as XAML controls in my UI?

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