How to return JSON Array in ASP.NET Web API C#

Question

I want to return (display in the web browser) json array in below format.

{
    "RainfallAreaAVG": [
    {
        "AreaBbsID": "18",
        "DistCount": "1",
        "SubDistCount": "2",
        "Amount": "14",
        "Hail": "14",
        "ArealDetails": [
                {
                    "DistBbsID": "101",
                    "SubDistCount": "2",
                    "Amount": "14",
                    "Hail": "14",
                    "SubDistCount": "2",
                    "DistDetails": [
                        {
                            "SubDistBbsID": "101",
                            "Amount": "14",
                            "Hail": "2",
                            "Date": "2011-06-13"
                        },
                        {
                            "SubDistBbsID": "102",
                            "Amount": "10",
                            "Hail": "0",
                            "Date": "2011-06-13"
                        }
                    ]
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}

I am using asp.net web API (MVC) in c# and Entity Framework 5.0, ADO.Net Entity Data Model as my model.

I'm using stored procedure to get data from sql server DB:

At present I'm using code below in my controller

namespace RainfallService.Controllers
{
    public class DistAVGController : ApiController
    {

        [HttpGet]
        public List<SP_GetRainfallByDistDateAVG_Result> GetRainfall(string distBbsID, string entryDate)
        {
            using (var db = new Farmer_WebEntities())
            {
                var rainfalls = db.SP_GetRainfallByDistDateAVG(distBbsID, entryDate).ToList();
                return rainfalls;
            }
        }

        [HttpGet]
        public List<SP_GetRainfallByDistDateAVGDetails_Result> GetRainfall(string distBbsID, string entryDate,string type)
        {
            using (var db = new Farmer_WebEntities())
            {
                var rainfalls = db.SP_GetRainfallByDistDateAVGDetails(distBbsID, entryDate).ToList();
                return rainfalls;
            }
        }

    }
}

And my output is like below which I don't want.

ADO.Net Entity Data Model using like below

Model Classes I'm using

namespace RainfallService
{
    using System;

    public partial class SP_GetRainfallByDistDateAVG_Result
    {
        public string AreaBbsId { get; set; }
        public string DistBbsID { get; set; }
        public Nullable<int> SubDistCount { get; set; }
        public Nullable<decimal> Amount { get; set; }
        public Nullable<int> Hail { get; set; }
    }
}

And

namespace RainfallService
{
    using System;

    public partial class SP_GetRainfallByDistDateAVGDetails_Result
    {
        public string AreaBbsId { get; set; }
        public string DistBbsID { get; set; }
        public string SubDistBbsId { get; set; }
        public Nullable<decimal> Amount { get; set; }
        public Nullable<int> Hail { get; set; }
    }
}

My WebApiConfig.cs as below

namespace RainfallService
{
    public class WebApiConfig
    {       
        public static void Register(HttpConfiguration config)
        {
            // Web API configuration and services

            EnableCorsAttribute cors = new EnableCorsAttribute("*", "*", "*");
            config.EnableCors(cors);

            // Web API routes
            config.MapHttpAttributeRoutes();

            config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
                name: "DefaultApi",
                routeTemplate: "api/{controller}/{id}",
                defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }
            );

            config.Formatters.Remove(config.Formatters.XmlFormatter);
            //config.Formatters.JsonFormatter.SerializerSettings.Formatting = Newtonsoft.Json.Formatting.Indented;
            //var jsonFormatter = config.Formatters.OfType<JsonMediaTypeFormatter>().First();
            //jsonFormatter.SerializerSettings.ContractResolver = new CamelCasePropertyNamesContractResolver();
        }
    }
}

Can anybody help me please???

Hi there; please edit your question and post code, data and errors as text with the appropriate formatting. — Stefan, Jun 01 '18 at 18:20
@Stefan It looks to me like he needs a new class which can house the results of his queries, in his DB example it looks like he has 3 procs being executed and returned as a dataset,. — Ryan Wilson, Jun 01 '18 at 18:23
Possible duplicate of pretty print: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9847564/how-do-i-get-asp-net-web-api-to-return-json-instead-of-xml-using-chrome#13277616 — Stefan, Jun 01 '18 at 18:24
So you want it to return your Json prettified? Register your JsonMediaTypeFormatter with the Formatting = Formatting.Indented SerializerSetting in your WebApiConfig. — Jonathon Chase, Jun 01 '18 at 18:25
Please refer this link. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/42566284/return-json-object-asp-net-webapi/42566346 — Isuru Lakshan, Jun 01 '18 at 18:36
Try returning your List as json. Check this link - https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9777731/mvc-how-to-return-a-string-as-json — kaarthick raman, Jun 01 '18 at 19:48

Jonathon Chase · Answer 1 · 2018-06-05T19:39:19.173

If you want to return prettified JSON by default, you'll want to configure the media type formatter in your WebApiConfig.

As a quick example, in a WebApiConfig.Register(HttpConfiguration config) method,

config.Formatters.Clear();
config.Formatters.Add(new JsonMediaTypeFormatter() {
    SerializerSettings = new JsonSerializerSettings {
        Formatting = Formatting.Indented
    }
};

This is also where you can set other default options, such as serializing properties to camelCase (CamelCasePropertyNamesContractResolver), or excluding the output of null properties (NullValueHandling.Ignore).

To add your List to a new object that has a single property, RainfallAreaAVG, I would do the following:

Change the return type on your controller actions to IHttpActionResult
Return an anonymous object with your new property name's value set to the list you wish to return

Your controller could end up looking like this:

namespace RainfallService.Controllers
{
    public class DistAVGController : ApiController
    {

        [HttpGet]
        public IHttpActionResult GetRainfall(string distBbsID, string entryDate)
        {
            using (var db = new Farmer_WebEntities())
            {
                var rainfalls = db.SP_GetRainfallByDistDateAVG(distBbsID, entryDate).ToList();
                return Ok(new {RainfallAreaAVG = rainfalls});
            }
        }

        [HttpGet]
        public IHttpActionResult GetRainfall(string distBbsID, string entryDate,string type)
        {
            using (var db = new Farmer_WebEntities())
            {
                var rainfalls = db.SP_GetRainfallByDistDateAVGDetails(distBbsID, entryDate).ToList();
                return Ok(new {RainfallAreaAVG = rainfalls});
            }
        }

    }
}

@sydur.rahman21 I've updated this answer with an example implementation of your controller for handling encapsulating your list as the value of a json property. — Jonathon Chase, Jun 05 '18 at 19:41

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited May 16 '20 at 08:48

public class ActualRainfall
{
    public List<Rainfallareaavg> RainfallAreaAVG { get; set; }
}

public class Rainfallareaavg
{
    public string AreaBbsID { get; set; }
    public string DistCount { get; set; }
    public string Amount { get; set; }
    public string Hail { get; set; }
    public List<Arealdetail> ArealDetails { get; set; }
}

public class Arealdetail
{
    public string DistBbsID { get; set; }
    public string SubDistCount { get; set; }
    public string Amount { get; set; }
    public string Hail { get; set; }
    public List<Distdetail> DistDetails { get; set; }
}

public class Distdetail
{
    public string SubDistBbsID { get; set; }
    public string Amount { get; set; }
    public string Hail { get; set; }
    public string Date { get; set; }
}

Make this your model class to set the return type of GetRainFall() to be this model class.

GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.Clear();
GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.Add(new JsonMediaTypeFormatter());

in WebApiConfig.cs, or While Making the API request pass Application/json in the header.

How about the controller class? – sydur.rahman21 Jun 02 '18 at 05:08 — sydur.rahman21, Jun 02 '18 at 05:08

How to return JSON Array in ASP.NET Web API C#

2 Answers2