How would I deserialize an array like this?

Question

I can't quite seem to work out how I would deserialize this specific array in c# (from a string!) to a class

  [
    [
      "PrimaryContact", 
      "=", 
      "Amy R"
    ], 
    "and", 
    [
      "SecondaryContact", 
      "=", 
      "Steven G"
    ],
    "and",
    [
      "ThirdContact",
      "=",
      "Rachel S"
    ]
  ]

Specifically it's the middle section that is throwing me, in this case it is "and". It isn't always just three objects, there could an unlimited amount of objects, with an "and" inbetween each of them.

Is telling whoever wrote the JSON document to grow a brain an option? — dcastro, Jan 16 '15 at 15:03
Is it _always_ "and"? Would you consider just stripping all instances of `"and",` from the string? — James Thorpe, Jan 16 '15 at 15:07
@JamesThorpe There is a possibility it could be `"or",`, i've got no idea what dev express is doing here. Might go to them. — wh-dev, Jan 16 '15 at 15:09
[This question](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8241392/deserializing-heterogenous-json-array-into-covariant-list-using-json-net) may provide some help — James Thorpe, Jan 16 '15 at 15:13

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 16 '15 at 15:13

2

You could deserialize it into a list of objects:

List<object> items = new JavaScriptSerializer().Deserialize<List<object>>(json);

Now every other object will be an Object[] (containing objects that are String), the ones in between String.

answered Jan 16 '15 at 15:13

Guffa

687,336
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1,005

1

Thank you, this works! Bit of a hacky solution so I might go to DevExpress to ask them to 'grow a brain' courtesy of @dcastro! – wh-dev Jan 16 '15 at 15:32

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 16 '15 at 15:14

1

Using Json.NET, parse everything into a JArray, then filter out tokens at even indexes, and then convert each into a List<string>.

You'll end up with a collection of List<string>, where each list contains 3 elements, e.g., "PrimaryContact", "=" and "Amy R"

var array = JArray.Parse(json);

IEnumerable<List<string>> result = array.Where((token, index) => index%2 == 0)
                                        .Select(token => token.ToObject<List<string>>());

This worked for me using your input

answered Jan 16 '15 at 15:14

dcastro

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This removes the `"and"` keyword, which is essential. There are other instances where this keyword *could* be `"or"` – wh-dev Jan 16 '15 at 15:18
I thought you didn't need it.. So whats the type of the object you want to end up with? It seems like you want a `List – dcastro Jan 16 '15 at 15:20

How would I deserialize an array like this?

2 Answers2