How to parse this JSON using Newton Soft for nested object

Question

How to parse this JSON

using Newton Soft

I tried but gives me null as my modal should have class 1, 2, 3 ... but that's dynamic .So getting confuse.

Appreciate your help !

{
"data": {
    "1": {
        "test": {
            "col1": "123",
            "col2": "name"
        }
    },
    "2": {
        "test": {
            "col1": "345",
            "col2": "name2"
        }
    },
    "3": {
        "test": {
            "col1": "456",
            "col2": "name3"
        }
    }
}

class root 
{ 
    data data{get; set;};
}

class data
{ 
    List<object> innerObject {get; set;} //not sure as labels are dynamic 
} 

class test
{ 
    col1{get; set;} 
    col2{get; set;} 
} //Calling it in that way .. 

root r = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<root>(result);

"data" isn't a json-array. It's an object. So you can't parse it as an array/list. — J. Steen, Jan 22 '16 at 13:09
@MayankJhawar, can you please [edit](http://stackoverflow.com/posts/34947044/edit) your question to include the code? — Yacoub Massad, Jan 22 '16 at 13:11

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 22 '16 at 14:56

You can use a dictionary to parse a JSON object with custom property names:

public class Test
{
    public string col1 { get; set; }
    public string col2 { get; set; }
}

public class DataValue
{
    public Test test { get; set; }
}

public class RootObject
{
    public RootObject() { this.data = new Dictionary<string, DataValue>(); }
    public Dictionary<string, DataValue> data { get; set; }
}

See Deserialize a Dictionary.

If you are sure the dictionary keys will always be numeric, you can use integer keys, and use a SortedDictionay to order the values:

public class RootObject
{
    public RootObject() { this.data = new SortedDictionary<long, DataValue>(); }
    public SortedDictionary<long, DataValue> data { get; set; }
}

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:44

@dbc's answer is a good option, but you have a few other options as well:

If you have control over the JSON that's being generated, make your life easier by using an Array if you can. It looks like what you would really want is this:

{
    "data": [{
        "test": {
            "col1": "123",
            "col2": "name"
        }, {
        "test": {
            "col1": "345",
            "col2": "name2"
        }, /* etc */
    ]
}

This way, data represents an array and you can deserialize it as such:

class Root 
{ 
    List<Data> Data  { get; set; };
}

class Data
{
    Test Test { get; set; }
}

JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Root>(json);

You could force your JSON into an array structure using a custom converter. This is making a lot of assumptions about your JSON. For example, it's assuming that you have an object with a integer keys, with no spaces in between numbers:

public class ObjectAsArrayConverter : JsonConverter 
{
  public override bool CanConvert(Type type)
  {         
    return
      type.IsGenericType &&
      typeof(List<>) == type.GetGenericTypeDefinition() &&
      typeof(Data) == type.GetGenericArguments()[0];
  }

  public override object ReadJson(
    JsonReader reader,
    Type objectType,
    object existingValue,
    JsonSerializer serializer)
  {
    JObject obj = JObject.ReadFrom(reader).ToObject<JObject>();

    return obj.Properties()
      .Select(p => new { Index = int.Parse(p.Name), Value = obj[p.Name].ToObject<Data>() })
      .OrderBy(p => p.Index)
      .Select(p => p.Value)
      .ToList();
  }

  public override void WriteJson(
    JsonWriter writer,
    object value,
    JsonSerializer serializer)
  {
    throw new NotImplementedException();
  }

}

This would allow you to deserialize your JSON into this structure:

class Root 
{ 
    public List<Data> Data {get; set;}
}

class Data
{
    public Test Test { get; set; }
}

class Test
{ 
    public string Col1 {get; set;} 
    public string Col2 {get; set;}
}

Example: https://dotnetfiddle.net/e2Df7h

You might need to tweak the second suggestion, for example if you expect the array to be sparse you might want to make the code expect that.

Thanks alot everyone I done with using dictonary Dictionary test = obj.response.data; — Mayank Jhawar, Jan 27 '16 at 19:54

How to parse this JSON using Newton Soft for nested object

2 Answers2

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