Deserialize JSON array(or list) in C#

Question

here is the basic code:

public static string DeserializeNames()
{

    jsonData = "{\"name\":[{\"last\":\"Smith\"},{\"last\":\"Doe\"}]}";

    JavaScriptSerializer ser = new JavaScriptSerializer();

    nameList myNames = ser.Deserialize<nameList>(jsonData);

    return ser.Serialize(myNames);
}

//Class descriptions

public class name
{

   public string last { get; set; }

}

public class nameList
{

   public List<name> { get; set; }

}

I have tried:

nameList myNames = ser.Deserialize<nameList>(jsonData);

and:

List<name> myNames = ser.Deserialize<List<name>>(jsonData);

and neither work. Anyone have any ideas?

You say "neither work," but could you be more specific? Are you getting an exception? A null result? Does it even compile? Your nameList class is invalid (I'll assume the property is actually public List<name> name { get; set; }. — Jacob
– Jacob, Commented Aug 4, 2011 at 2:25
I am getting a null result from both. You are correct about the property...forgot the second "name". Thank you for the response. — sadermine
– sadermine, Commented Aug 4, 2011 at 4:14
I just ran your code (fixing the property and putting var before jsonData) and it worked for me. There must be more to your code that's causing this to not work. — Jacob
– Jacob, Commented Aug 4, 2011 at 4:19
I just figured out what was wrong. The property you assumed should have been called "name" (from your first comment) actually was being called "names". I switched it to "name" and it worked perfect. I didn't realize that the name of the property in the C# object had to exactly match the name of the property in JSON. I thought it went by the structure of the object. I appreciate you pointing that out for me. — sadermine
– sadermine, Commented Aug 4, 2011 at 4:38

Jacob · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-04 04:22:19Z

20

This code works for me:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Web.Script.Serialization;

namespace Json
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(DeserializeNames());
            Console.ReadLine();
        }

        public static string DeserializeNames()
        {
            var jsonData = "{\"name\":[{\"last\":\"Smith\"},{\"last\":\"Doe\"}]}";

            JavaScriptSerializer ser = new JavaScriptSerializer();

            nameList myNames = ser.Deserialize<nameList>(jsonData);

            return ser.Serialize(myNames);
        }

        //Class descriptions

        public class name
        {
            public string last { get; set; }
        }

        public class nameList
        {
            public List<name> name { get; set; }
        }
    }
}

answered Aug 4, 2011 at 4:22

Jacob

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3 Comments

Piotr Kula Over a year ago

Ahh very good answer. I used DeseriliseObject with a cast to a list- This works right away. Tjanks :) +1

Djeroen Over a year ago

great answer, but what if there is another layer?

computercarguy Over a year ago

I have a List<T> that's several layers into a JSON string that JavaScriptSerializer didn't deserialize, nor did it correctly deserialize a decimal/double number. Using JsonConvert from Dasith Wijes answer worked for me, including the number missed using this answer.

Dasith Wijes · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-04 02:20:11Z

7

Download Json.NET from here http://james.newtonking.com/projects/json-net.aspx

name deserializedName = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<name>(jsonData);

answered Aug 4, 2011 at 2:20

Dasith Wijes

1,35812 silver badges23 bronze badges

3 Comments

Jacob Over a year ago

JavaScriptSerializer should work; does this one provide any benefits over that?

Dasith Wijes Over a year ago

To quote "50% faster than DataContractJsonSerializer, and 250% faster than JavaScriptSerializer." 1. james.newtonking.com/archive/2010/01/01/… 2. devenva.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/…

computercarguy Over a year ago

This worked for a fairly deeply nested JSON object, which included a nested List<T>.

Charles Stewart · Accepted Answer · 2012-12-10 10:20:32Z

I was having the similar issue and solved by understanding the Classes in asp.net C#

I want to read following JSON string :

[
    {
        "resultList": [
            {
                "channelType": "",
                "duration": "2:29:30",
                "episodeno": 0,
                "genre": "Drama",
                "genreList": [
                    "Drama"
                ],
                "genres": [
                    {
                        "personName": "Drama"
                    }
                ],
                "id": 1204,
                "language": "Hindi",
                "name": "The Great Target",
                "productId": 1204,
                "productMasterId": 1203,
                "productMasterName": "The Great Target",
                "productName": "The Great Target",
                "productTypeId": 1,
                "productTypeName": "Movie",
                "rating": 3,
                "releaseyear": "2005",
                "showGoodName": "Movies ",
                "views": 8333
            },
            {
                "channelType": "",
                "duration": "2:30:30",
                "episodeno": 0,
                "genre": "Romance",
                "genreList": [
                    "Romance"
                ],
                "genres": [
                    {
                        "personName": "Romance"
                    }
                ],
                "id": 1144,
                "language": "Hindi",
                "name": "Mere Sapnon Ki Rani",
                "productId": 1144,
                "productMasterId": 1143,
                "productMasterName": "Mere Sapnon Ki Rani",
                "productName": "Mere Sapnon Ki Rani",
                "productTypeId": 1,
                "productTypeName": "Movie",
                "rating": 3,
                "releaseyear": "1997",
                "showGoodName": "Movies ",
                "views": 6482
            },
            {
                "channelType": "",
                "duration": "2:34:07",
                "episodeno": 0,
                "genre": "Drama",
                "genreList": [
                    "Drama"
                ],
                "genres": [
                    {
                        "personName": "Drama"
                    }
                ],
                "id": 1520,
                "language": "Telugu",
                "name": "Satyameva Jayathe",
                "productId": 1520,
                "productMasterId": 1519,
                "productMasterName": "Satyameva Jayathe",
                "productName": "Satyameva Jayathe",
                "productTypeId": 1,
                "productTypeName": "Movie",
                "rating": 3,
                "releaseyear": "2004",
                "showGoodName": "Movies ",
                "views": 9910
            }
        ],
        "resultSize": 1171,
        "pageIndex": "1"
    }
]

My asp.net c# code looks like following

First, Class3.cs page created in APP_Code folder of Web application

using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Security;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;
using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;
using System.Collections;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
using System.Web.Script.Serialization;
using System.Collections.Generic;

/// <summary>
/// Summary description for Class3
/// </summary>
public class Class3
{

    public List<ListWrapper_Main> ResultList_Main { get; set; }

    public class ListWrapper_Main
    {
        public List<ListWrapper> ResultList { get; set; }

        public string resultSize { get; set; }
        public string pageIndex { get; set; }
    }

    public class ListWrapper
    {
        public string channelType { get; set; }
        public string duration { get; set; }
        public int episodeno { get; set; }
        public string genre { get; set; }
        public string[] genreList { get; set; }
        public List<genres_cls> genres { get; set; }
        public int id { get; set; }
        public string imageUrl { get; set; }
        //public string imageurl { get; set; }
        public string language { get; set; }
        public string name { get; set; }
        public int productId { get; set; }
        public int productMasterId { get; set; }
        public string productMasterName { get; set; }
        public string productName { get; set; }
        public int productTypeId { get; set; }
        public string productTypeName { get; set; }
        public decimal rating { get; set; }
        public string releaseYear { get; set; }
        //public string releaseyear { get; set; }
        public string showGoodName { get; set; }
        public string views { get; set; }
    }
    public class genres_cls
    {
        public string personName { get; set; }
    }

}

Then, Browser page that reads the string/JSON string listed above and displays/Deserialize the JSON objects and displays the data

JavaScriptSerializer ser = new JavaScriptSerializer();


        string final_sb = sb.ToString();

        List<Class3.ListWrapper_Main> movieInfos = ser.Deserialize<List<Class3.ListWrapper_Main>>(final_sb.ToString());

        foreach (var itemdetail in movieInfos)
        {

            foreach (var itemdetail2 in itemdetail.ResultList)
            {
                Response.Write("channelType=" + itemdetail2.channelType + "<br/>");
                Response.Write("duration=" + itemdetail2.duration + "<br/>");
                Response.Write("episodeno=" + itemdetail2.episodeno + "<br/>");
                Response.Write("genre=" + itemdetail2.genre + "<br/>");

                string[] genreList_arr = itemdetail2.genreList;
                for (int i = 0; i < genreList_arr.Length; i++)
                    Response.Write("genreList1=" + genreList_arr[i].ToString() + "<br>");

                foreach (var genres1 in itemdetail2.genres)
                {
                    Response.Write("genres1=" + genres1.personName + "<br>");
                }

                Response.Write("id=" + itemdetail2.id + "<br/>");
                Response.Write("imageUrl=" + itemdetail2.imageUrl + "<br/>");
                //Response.Write("imageurl=" + itemdetail2.imageurl + "<br/>");
                Response.Write("language=" + itemdetail2.language + "<br/>");
                Response.Write("name=" + itemdetail2.name + "<br/>");
                Response.Write("productId=" + itemdetail2.productId + "<br/>");
                Response.Write("productMasterId=" + itemdetail2.productMasterId + "<br/>");
                Response.Write("productMasterName=" + itemdetail2.productMasterName + "<br/>");
                Response.Write("productName=" + itemdetail2.productName + "<br/>");
                Response.Write("productTypeId=" + itemdetail2.productTypeId + "<br/>");
                Response.Write("productTypeName=" + itemdetail2.productTypeName + "<br/>");
                Response.Write("rating=" + itemdetail2.rating + "<br/>");
                Response.Write("releaseYear=" + itemdetail2.releaseYear + "<br/>");
                //Response.Write("releaseyear=" + itemdetail2.releaseyear + "<br/>");
                Response.Write("showGoodName=" + itemdetail2.showGoodName + "<br/>");
                Response.Write("views=" + itemdetail2.views + "<br/><br>");
                //Response.Write("resultSize" + itemdetail2.resultSize + "<br/>");
                //  Response.Write("pageIndex" + itemdetail2.pageIndex + "<br/>");


            }



            Response.Write("resultSize=" + itemdetail.resultSize + "<br/><br>");
            Response.Write("pageIndex=" + itemdetail.pageIndex + "<br/><br>");

        }

'sb' is the actual string, i.e. JSON string of data mentioned very first on top of this reply

This is basically - web application asp.net c# code....

N joy...

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