C# Parse Json string into Array (equivalent of Json.parse in Javascript)

Question

I have following string.

string jsonString = "[['Angelica','Ramos'],['Ashton','Cox']]";

I want to parse it into Javascript array like

[
    [
        "Angelica",
        "Ramos"
    ],
    [
        "Ashton",
        "Cox"
    ]
]

similar to Json.parse command. Any idea how to do this with .NET?

I tried both

JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(jsonString)

and

JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<object>>(jsonString)

but no luck so far

UPDATE ANSWER :

Oluwafemi answer is correct, here's the example between Oluwafemi answer and WHOl

You *can't* parse it "into a JavaScript array", because you're not using JavaScript.. also the "string" shown is JavaScript (or broken C#), *not* JSON. A finally, the problem description - "no luck so far" - is non-existent. — user2864740, Sep 14 '15 at 08:53
Your jsonString is an array, not a string. You could try http://www.newtonsoft.com/json. Or maybe pass it in as an object, instead of an array. So put 'jsonObject = ' at the beginning. — MrFox, Sep 14 '15 at 08:57
did you mean var list = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject>>(json); ? — Sagi, Sep 14 '15 at 08:57
@user2864740: I believe it's a valid JSON because datatables plugin expect this format. — tickwave, Sep 14 '15 at 09:20
@warheat1990 It is still not valid [JSON](http://www.json.org/) - nor does the string literal inside the "following string" represent valid JSON. — user2864740, Sep 14 '15 at 09:21
@user2864740: why not? You can copy the string and paste it to any online JSON converter and it will recognize is as a valid JSON. — tickwave, Sep 14 '15 at 09:24
Please visit the link provided to the JSON grammar rules and/or use a JSON linter. But enough [trying to correct all the wrong on the internet](https://xkcd.com/386/) .. — user2864740, Sep 14 '15 at 09:25
@user2864740: I don't mean to be a jackass, but what am I suppose to look in that page? Is it because my Json start with square bracket? I'm not trying to correct anything, just honest question, it seems like you're getting salty though http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5034444/can-a-json-start-with — tickwave, Sep 14 '15 at 09:32
The railroad tracks - for string :) The *only* valid string (or key, and which is required to be quoted) quote in JSON is a double quote. The RFC JSON updates allow any JSON value to be the root value. — user2864740, Sep 14 '15 at 09:33

Oluwafemi · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-14T09:29:45.443

2

This is a 2 dimension array and to get this to work you need to do it this way:

string result = @"[['Angelica','Ramos'],['Ashton','Cox']]";
string[][] arr = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<string[][]>(result);

edited Sep 14 '15 at 09:29

answered Sep 14 '15 at 09:08

Oluwafemi

14,243
11
43
59

works thanks! please see my updated post to compare between your answer and WHol – tickwave Sep 14 '15 at 09:19
@user2864740 I have just updated my answer with a valid json. – Oluwafemi Sep 14 '15 at 09:28
Still wrong on the replace.. and without the dubious text replace it is *still* [invalid JSON](http://www.json.org/). JSON is a very specific format. Anything else is .. something else, leniency in parsing aside. – user2864740 Sep 14 '15 at 09:29
The problem with the original string literal is `@"foo\bar" == "foo\\bar"`. The slash has *no meaning* in a verbatim string literal. – user2864740 Sep 14 '15 at 09:32
I see. Thanks for the heads up! – Oluwafemi Sep 14 '15 at 09:37

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 14 '15 at 09:08

Add this

using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;

Try this

string jsonString = "[[\"Angelica\",\"Ramos\"],[\"Ashton\",\"Cox\"]]";
JArray ja = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<JArray>(jsonString);

http://www.newtonsoft.com/json/help/html/T_Newtonsoft_Json_Linq_JArray.htm

C# Parse Json string into Array (equivalent of Json.parse in Javascript)

2 Answers2