I need to serialize an object so that the structure and naming convention are the same as what the MVC engine produces for a strongly typed view. The naming convention I am after is that which is created when using the HTML helpers.
So, for an input: <input type="text" id="Address_Street1" name="Address.Street1"/>
The property in the object would be:
public class Address{
public string Street1 {get; set;}
}
Here is an example object:
public class Listing
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public Address Address { get; set; }
}
public class Address
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Street1 { get; set; }
public Contact Contact { get; set; }
}
public class Contact
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string FirstName { get; set; }
}
I'd like to serialize the object (assuming the Listing is the root object) so it is formatted like this and passed back to the client:
{
"Id":1,
"Address_Id":2,
"Address_Street1":"123 Lane",
"Address_Contact_Id":4
"Address_Contact_FirstName","Bill"
}
It would seem that the MVC helpers are doing this somehow and I was wondering if there are any built-in classes that take care of this type if serialization. I have tried this, but the code doe not compile and not sure what version of the serilaizer they are using. It is exactly what I am looking for.
UPDATE
I feel stupid, but it seems the answer in the reference link might contain code that is assumed to be other classes for parsing.
UPDATE 2
I came up with this, which seems to work fine. I tried to account for Nullable types in some cases. I suppose it depends if I need the property back even if it doesn't have a value. Currently, I check if a value is null, if it is, pass an empty string to the AppendToPathString method
class Program
{
private static void Main(string[] args)
{
var listing = new Listing()
{
Id = 1,
Address = new Address()
{
Id = 1,
Street1 = "sdfsdfsdfsdfsd",
Contact = new Contact()
{
FirstName = "ert34253453",
Id = 5,
Created = DateTime.Now
}
}
};
var json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(listing);
var jss = new JavaScriptSerializer();
var o = jss.Deserialize<Dictionary<string, object>>(json);
var additionalParameters = new Dictionary<string, string>();
BuildVariablesList(o, "", additionalParameters);
}
private static string AppendToPathString(string path, object part)
{
return path.Trim().Length == 0 ? part.ToString() : path + '.' + part;
}
public static void BuildVariablesList(object obj, string path, Dictionary<string, string> result)
{
if (obj is ArrayList)
{
var arrayObj = obj as ArrayList;
for (var i = 0; i < arrayObj.Count; i++)
{
BuildVariablesList(arrayObj[i], AppendToPathString(path, i), result);
}
}
else if (obj is Dictionary<string, object>)
{
var dictObject = obj as Dictionary<string, object>;
foreach (var entry in dictObject)
{
if (entry.Value is Dictionary<string, object>)
{
BuildVariablesList(entry.Value as Dictionary<string, object>, AppendToPathString(path, entry.Key), result);
}
else if (entry.Value is ArrayList)
{
BuildVariablesList(entry.Value as ArrayList, AppendToPathString(path, entry.Key), result);
}
else
{
if (entry.Value != null)
{
result.Add(AppendToPathString(path, entry.Key), entry.Value.ToString());
}
else
{
result.Add(AppendToPathString(path, entry.Key), string.Empty);
}
}
}
}
}
}
public class Listing
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public Address Address { get; set; }
}
public class Address
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Street1 { get; set; }
public Contact Contact { get; set; }
}
public class Contact
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string FirstName { get; set; }
public DateTime Created { get; set; }
public int? SomeId { get; set; }
}
