Output a Tuple List as a JSON object

Question

I'm supposed to out a list of settings in JSON, which I get from a database and store in a Tuple<string, string>.

I was able to print it, but it's not displaying like it should:

[{
    "Item1": "setting1Name",
    "Item2": "setting1Value"
 }, {
    "Item1": "testt",
    "Item2": "testt"
 }, {...
 }]

The output should be:

[
  {"setting1Name":"setting1Value"},
  {"setting2Name":"setting2Value"},{...}
]

How do I serialize a Tuple as JSON?

Controller:

[GET("Settings")]
public async Task<ActionResult> Settings(string userKey)
{             
    if ((await UserManager.FindByIdAsync(userKey)) == null)
        return new HttpUnauthorizedResult();                        

    List<Tuple<string, string>> settings = new List<Tuple<string, string>>();

    var userSettings = settingRepository.Get(new Guid(userKey));

    for (int i = 0; i < userSettings.Count; i++)
    {
        var tuple = Tuple.Create<string, string>(
            userSettings[i].Name.ToString(),
            userSettings[i].Value.ToString()
            );
        settings.Add(tuple);                
    }                      
        return Json(settings,JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);
}

Database repository method:

public List<Setting> Get(Guid userId)
{
    return _context.Settings.Where(s => s.UserId == userId).ToList();
}

Could you show us your view? I think you want to go 1 level deeper, using a loop. — Max, Mar 25 '14 at 14:58
It's for an API, we're not using a view for now, i'm testing with Rest Console — Gloumy, Mar 25 '14 at 15:02
It is because of the way Tuple is serialized, check this: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/16101115/how-does-a-tuple-serialize-to-and-deserialize-from-json — Jportelas, Mar 25 '14 at 15:02
Check this out, it might help: http://forums.asp.net/t/1821729.aspx?JsonMediaTypeFormatter+does+not+work+with+Tuple+int+List+string+ — Jportelas, Mar 25 '14 at 15:06
Well, gotta say i don't fully understand it .. I'll take a look again tonight, after a little rest, it may be easier. But anyway, thank you — Gloumy, Mar 25 '14 at 15:34

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 25 '14 at 15:49

You could play with something like this

Replace this line

return Json(settings,JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);

With

var dict = new Dictionary<string, string>();
settings.ForEach(a => dict.Add(a.Item1, a.Item2));           
return Json(new List<Dictionary<string, string>>{dict}, 
       JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);

Output a Tuple List as a JSON object

Controller:

Database repository method:

1 Answers1