Converting large httpresponse stream to a JSON string?

Question

Question Background:

Update:

I'm still not sure how to go about extracting the relevant information from this response. I have tried setting my response type to JSON but still receive the response as shown below. I have taken into account what has been said in regards to using NameValueCollection but still cant see how this will help with such a large response. Ideally I'd like this mapped to an object structure of some kind, it dosen't necessarily have to be JSON.

Question:

I'm currently using the PayPal Api 'ExpressCheckout' method to allow users to pay for items on my test site. A HTTP response from the API provides a large response containing key information I need to extract - such as the buyers address, if the payment was succesful etc.

The Issue:

Currently I'm stuck on how to work with the response. Ideally I'd convert the data to a JSON string then use Newtonsoft to map the data to C# classes thus allowing easy access to the data. Here is an example of the Httpresponse:

TOKEN=EC%2XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXR&BILLINGAGREEMENTACCEPTEDSTATUS=0&CHECKOUTSTATUS=PaymentActionNotInitiated&TIMESTAMP=2015%2d01%2d02T21%3a11%3a30Z&CORRELATIONID=ab184fdba7a30&ACK=Success&VERSION=88%2e0&BUILD=14443165&EMAIL=test%40aol%2ecom&PAYERID=3XXXXXXXXXX4N&PAYERSTATUS=verified&BUSINESS=Test%20Biz%27s%20Test%20Store&FIRSTNAME=Joe&LASTNAME=King&COUNTRYCODE=GB&SHIPTONAME=Joe%20King%27s%20Test%20Store&SHIPTOSTREET=1%20Main%20Terrace&SHIPTOCITY=Wolverhampton&SHIPTOSTATE=West%20Midlands&SHIPTOZIP=W12%204LQ&SHIPTOCOUNTRYCODE=GB&SHIPTOCOUNTRYNAME=United%20Kingdom&ADDRESSSTATUS=Confirmed&CURRENCYCODE=GBP&AMT=15%2e56&ITEMAMT=15%2e56&SHIPPINGAMT=0%2e00&HANDLINGAMT=0%2e00&TAXAMT=0%2e00&INSURANCEAMT=0%2e00&SHIPDISCAMT=0%2e00&L_NAME0=ItemOne&L_QTY0=4&L_TAXAMT0=0%2e00&L_AMT0=3%2e89&L_ITEMWEIGHTVALUE0=%20%20%200%2e00000&L_ITEMLENGTHVALUE0=%20%20%200%2e00000&L_ITEMWIDTHVALUE0=%20%20%200%2e00000&L_ITEMHEIGHTVALUE0=%20%20%200%2e00000&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_CURRENCYCODE=GBP&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT=15%2e56&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_ITEMAMT=15%2e56&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPPINGAMT=0%2e00&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_HANDLINGAMT=0%2e00&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_TAXAMT=0%2e00&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_INSURANCEAMT=0%2e00&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPDISCAMT=0%2e00&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_INSURANCEOPTIONOFFERED=false&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTONAME=Joe%20King%27s%20Test%20Store&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOSTREET=1%20Main%20Terrace&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOCITY=Wolverhampton&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOSTATE=West%20Midlands&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOZIP=W12%204LQ&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOCOUNTRYCODE=GB&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOCOUNTRYNAME=United%20Kingdom&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_ADDRESSSTATUS=Confirmed&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_NAME0=ItemOne&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_QTY0=4&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_TAXAMT0=0%2e00&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT0=3%2e89&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_ITEMWEIGHTVALUE0=%20%20%200%2e00000&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_ITEMLENGTHVALUE0=%20%20%200%2e00000&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_ITEMWIDTHVALUE0=%20%20%200%2e00000&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_ITEMHEIGHTVALUE0=%20%20%200%2e00000&PAYMENTREQUESTINFO_0_ERRORCODE=0

If anyone could give me an easy way to map this data to a C# object that would be great.

To be able to convert the response to a model using Json.Net you need paypal to send you Json. What you posted is not Json, so you'd need to parse manually. — zaitsman, Jan 02 '15 at 21:23
Is this from a server side call? You could refer to : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11129286/get-json-from-httpresponse — james, Jan 02 '15 at 22:23
What's the problem with dealing with it as a `NameValueCollection` to map (why would the "extra" JSON conversion be "ideal")? — EdSF, Jan 03 '15 at 20:01

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 11 '15 at 08:45

Is there any specific reason why you want it in JSON format? If its not requirement and if you can live with key value pair then here is one way you can process response as key value pair.

public partial class Form1 : Form
{
    Dictionary<string, string> processedResponse = null;
    public Form1()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
    }

    private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        string rawResponse = "TOKEN=EC%2XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXR&BILLINGAGREEMENTACCEPTEDSTATUS=0&CHECKOUTSTATUS=PaymentActionNotInitiated&TIMESTAMP=2015%2d01%2d02T21%3a11%3a30Z&CORRELATIONID=ab184fdba7a30&ACK=Success&VERSION=88%2e0&BUILD=14443165&EMAIL=test%40aol%2ecom&PAYERID=3XXXXXXXXXX4N&PAYERSTATUS=verified&BUSINESS=Test%20Biz%27s%20Test%20Store&FIRSTNAME=Joe&LASTNAME=King&COUNTRYCODE=GB&SHIPTONAME=Joe%20King%27s%20Test%20Store&SHIPTOSTREET=1%20Main%20Terrace&SHIPTOCITY=Wolverhampton&SHIPTOSTATE=West%20Midlands&SHIPTOZIP=W12%204LQ&SHIPTOCOUNTRYCODE=GB&SHIPTOCOUNTRYNAME=United%20Kingdom&ADDRESSSTATUS=Confirmed&CURRENCYCODE=GBP&AMT=15%2e56&ITEMAMT=15%2e56&SHIPPINGAMT=0%2e00&HANDLINGAMT=0%2e00&TAXAMT=0%2e00&INSURANCEAMT=0%2e00&SHIPDISCAMT=0%2e00&L_NAME0=ItemOne&L_QTY0=4&L_TAXAMT0=0%2e00&L_AMT0=3%2e89&L_ITEMWEIGHTVALUE0=%20%20%200%2e00000&L_ITEMLENGTHVALUE0=%20%20%200%2e00000&L_ITEMWIDTHVALUE0=%20%20%200%2e00000&L_ITEMHEIGHTVALUE0=%20%20%200%2e00000&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_CURRENCYCODE=GBP&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT=15%2e56&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_ITEMAMT=15%2e56&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPPINGAMT=0%2e00&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_HANDLINGAMT=0%2e00&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_TAXAMT=0%2e00&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_INSURANCEAMT=0%2e00&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPDISCAMT=0%2e00&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_INSURANCEOPTIONOFFERED=false&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTONAME=Joe%20King%27s%20Test%20Store&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOSTREET=1%20Main%20Terrace&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOCITY=Wolverhampton&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOSTATE=West%20Midlands&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOZIP=W12%204LQ&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOCOUNTRYCODE=GB&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOCOUNTRYNAME=United%20Kingdom&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_ADDRESSSTATUS=Confirmed&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_NAME0=ItemOne&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_QTY0=4&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_TAXAMT0=0%2e00&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT0=3%2e89&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_ITEMWEIGHTVALUE0=%20%20%200%2e00000&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_ITEMLENGTHVALUE0=%20%20%200%2e00000&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_ITEMWIDTHVALUE0=%20%20%200%2e00000&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_ITEMHEIGHTVALUE0=%20%20%200%2e00000&PAYMENTREQUESTINFO_0_ERRORCODE=0";
        //Process response
        processedResponse = ProcessResponse(rawResponse);

        //Use received data e.g.

        //Get First name
        string fName = GetRecordValue("FIRSTNAME");

        //Get Last name
        string lName = GetRecordValue("LASTNAME");
    }

    private Dictionary<string,string> ProcessResponse(string response)
    {
        Dictionary<string, string> responseData = new Dictionary<string, string>();

        if(!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(response))
        {
            string[] firstPass = response.Split(new char[] { '&' });
            foreach(string pair in firstPass)
            {
                string[] secondPass = pair.Split(new char[] { '=' });
                if(secondPass!=null && secondPass.Length>0)
                {
                    responseData.Add(secondPass[0].Trim(), secondPass[1].Trim());
                }
            }
        }
        return responseData;
    }

    private string GetRecordValue(string record)
    {
        string recordValue = null;
        if(processedResponse!=null)
        {
            if(!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(record) && processedResponse.ContainsKey(record))
            {
                recordValue= processedResponse[record];
            }
        }
        return recordValue;
    }
}

This is a great answer thank you. I now have a populated NameValueCollection I can work with. The only item I added to your answer was the use of 'HttpUtility.UrlDecode(rawResponse) to remove all of the HTML codes on the 'rawResponse' string. I will award you the 50 point bounty in 8 hours when I'm allowed. Again thank you! — user1352057, Jan 10 '15 at 14:16

EdSF · Answer 2 · 2015-01-11T16:21:41.100

Still unsure what's the problem with dealing with it as a NameValueCollection.

E.g.

//NameValueCollection 
//or use  HttpUtility.ParseQueryString(some_string_of_names_values)
var foo = Request.QueryString; 

var bar = foo["FIRSTNAME"]; //based on above this is "Joe"

Update:

It is response string which is being processed here and not request hence you wont be able to retrieve details using Request.QueryString

As stated in comments:

string rawResponse = "TOKEN=EC%2XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXR&BILLINGAGREEMENTACCEPTEDSTATUS=0&CHECKOUTSTATUS=PaymentActionNotInitiated&TIMESTAMP=2015%2d01%2d02T21%3a11%3a30Z&CORRELATIONID=ab184fdba7a30&ACK=Success&VERSION=88...."

var foo = HttpUtility.ParseQueryString(rawResponse); //NameValueCollection
var bar = foo["FIRSTNAME"]; //Joe

It is response string which is being processed here and not request hence you wont be able to retrieve details using Request.QueryString. — Pankaj Kapare, Jan 11 '15 at 12:42

Converting large httpresponse stream to a JSON string?

2 Answers2