Get JSON from website then parse it in C#

Question

So there is 1 website from where I need to get this JSON data. The link is direct (I am using the website's API )

THe problem is, the file is HUGE!. Tens of Thousands of Lines.. Even more..

I have visual studio 2013 and what I need to do is download that JSON data in a callback and then parse it to get a specific value. I am using Newtonsoft.JSON to parse it and here is what I have thought will be able to parse it

var obj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<JContainer>(jsonText);
var value = (int)obj["response"]["prices"]["5021"]["6"]["0"]["current"]["value"];

The problem is, how do I download all of that data and convert it into C# classes? Is there another way? Thanks a lot.

EDIT: If not JSON, I have option to download it in JSONP and VDF format

Here is the link of the JSON data - http://backpack.tf/api/IGetPrices/v3/?format=json&key=52f75dab4dd7b82f698b4568

I'm not convinced you should be sharing that key on the internet for everyone to see? — Liam, Feb 10 '14 at 17:18
I don't think it is a problem.. I can anytime revoke it and get a new one — Bone, Feb 10 '14 at 17:18
K, SO isn't letting me answer your question so... here: your thread is a duplicate of this resolved thread. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4749639/deserializing-json-to-net-object-using-newtonsoft-or-linq-to-json-maybe — Brandon, Feb 10 '14 at 17:19
Also this responds with the error message *You can only request this page once per minute per API key. Try again in 46 seconds.*.... — Liam, Feb 10 '14 at 17:19
Liam, I belive you can understand what it means.. Try again later.. It can be accessed by someone only once per minute — Bone, Feb 10 '14 at 17:19
What's the actual question here? That file isn't huge by any strech. *What exactly are you having trouble with?* Json.Net is probably your best tool for this kind of work. even Micorsoft recommend it these days ahead of their (fundamentally flawed Javascriptserializer) — Liam, Feb 10 '14 at 17:26
@Liam - How do I download it and parse the specific data I need.. I need this part ["response"]["prices"]["5021"]["6"]["0"]["current"]["value"]; — Bone, Feb 10 '14 at 17:27
Um guys.. Thank you for your help and helping me with the basic data. @Brandon - I figured it out after reading a couple more questions. I have edited my main post with the answer included since I cannot post answer before 8 hours — Bone, Feb 10 '14 at 17:50

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Sep 06 '14 at 08:53

I got it working by doing this

using (var webClient = new System.Net.WebClient())
        {
            var json = webClient.DownloadString("http://backpack.tf/api/IGetPrices/v3/?format=json&key=00a00aaa0aa0a00a000a0000");
            Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JObject o = Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JObject.Parse(json);
            var value = (int)o["response"]["prices"]["5021"]["6"]["0"]["current"]["value"];
            Console.WriteLine(value);
        }

Thanks for your help everybody!!

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 10 '14 at 17:58

0

Try restsharp. It let you do something like

var prices = client.Execute<Prices>(request);

Where Prices is the class that matches the returned schema

answered Feb 10 '14 at 17:58

Ivo

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why the vote down? he asked how he can load it into c# classes. – Ivo Feb 10 '14 at 19:36

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:50

Looking at the comment Brandon posted, he's right in principle, but you don't have to switch to Newtonsoft if you don't want. You just need to use a different JSON.NET API

var serializer = new JsonSerializer();
using (var stream = File.OpenRead("C:\\Users\\gweakliem\\Downloads\\sotest.js"))
{
    using (StreamReader streamReader = new StreamReader(stream))
    {
        using (JsonReader reader = new JsonTextReader(streamReader))
        {
            var aThing = serializer.Deserialize<JContainer>(reader);
            var aValue = (int) aThing["response"]["prices"]["5021"]["6"]["0"]["current"]["value"];
            Console.WriteLine("Read a value " + aValue);
        }
    }
}

If you're concerned about blocking on this thread while reading, it looks like you're going to have to write some code. I don't see awaitable methods on JsonTextReader or JsonSerializer, so I expect that those methods will block.

Now if you want to turn this into objects, here's a couple other SO posts:

Or this post covers a bunch of deserialization options.

i fixed it.. i edited my main post.. i cannot answer myself before 8 hours though — Bone, Feb 10 '14 at 18:09

Get JSON from website then parse it in C#

3 Answers3