c# .net - read JSON

Question

I am trying to read an environment variable from a JSON object that looks like this:

{
  "staging_env_json": {},
  "running_env_json": {},
  "system_env_json": {
    "EN_VAR_NAME": {
      "mysql": [
        {
          "name": "name-here",
          "label": "label-here",
          "tags": [
            "mysql",
            "relational"
          ],
          "plan": "",
          "credentials": {
            "hostname": "host",
            "port": "port",
            "name": "name-here",
            "username": "username",
            "password": "password",
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Using C# how would I access the username and password? I have tried this....

envVariable = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("EN_VAR_NAME");      
var obj = JObject.Parse(envVariable);
var hostname = (string)obj["mysql"]["credentials"]["username"];

But this isn't getting me where.. can anyone please point me in the right direction?

Very tongue-in-cheek @Lee, but that's what `JObject.Parse()` is from. — CodeCaster, Jan 12 '16 at 16:07
is `VAR_NAME` the name of your environment variable, or the name of the root element of your JSON object? — Frank Bryce, Jan 12 '16 at 16:08
@CodeCaster :D Actually, although I am often like that, I hadn't noticed the JObject line. I just assumed the OP wasn't aware of the library... — Lee Taylor, Jan 12 '16 at 16:08
@samcooper11 - Please edit your question and put the full JSON in there — Lee Taylor, Jan 12 '16 at 16:09
Also, please include more details about the failure and what you have done to debug it. Is there an exception? Have you tried each step of the path (mysql/credentials/username) to see where it fails? — Jack A., Jan 12 '16 at 16:10
One problem: `obj["mysql"]` represents an array, not an object, so you'll need to index it before you try to read the property of the objects within the array. — Frank Bryce, Jan 12 '16 at 16:13
Lee / Jack i will edit my q with the full JSON and the error — samcooper11, Jan 12 '16 at 16:18
For parsing JSON arrays: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15726197/parsing-a-json-array-using-json-net — Frank Bryce, Jan 12 '16 at 16:21
It's a little unclear from your question what exactly you are trying to do. Furthermore, the fact that you "aren't getting anywhere" doesn't really give someone a clear problem to solve. Are exceptions being thrown? If so, what do they say? Are you getting an unexpected value? If so, what is it? — Dan Forbes, Jan 12 '16 at 18:05

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 12 '16 at 18:07

1

You can parse it as dynamic:

dynamic result = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<dynamic>(input);
Console.WriteLine(result.system_env_json.EN_VAR_NAME.mysql[0].credentials.username);

answered Jan 12 '16 at 18:07

Richard

29,854
11
77
120

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 12 '16 at 18:34

1

dynamic obj = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<dynamic>(envVariable);
var userName = ((dynamic)obj).system_env_json.EN_VAR_NAME.mysql[0].credentials.username

answered Jan 12 '16 at 18:34

joordan831

720
5
6

Sorry if this is a stupid question - but where there is 'mysql' in the JSON object this is actually being returned as p-mysql but i cannot build using this: var hostname = obj.system_env_json.EN_VAR_NAME.p-mysql[0].credentials.username; as it doesn't like the p- any ideas on how i can resolve this? – samcooper11 Jan 15 '16 at 11:24
1

This should work. ((dynamic)obj).system_env_json.EN_VAR_NAME["p-mysql"][0].credentials.username – joordan831 Jan 15 '16 at 18:21

c# .net - read JSON

2 Answers2