Serialize array with Newtonsoft.Json c#

Question

I have some parameters in app.config file of my project. I want to do these parameters as simple as possible for customers

<add key="name" value="Incognito"/>
<add key="emails[0].type" value="Personal"/>
<add key="emails[0].email" value="abc@abc.com"/>

I need to do JSON from these parameters. For now I use Dictionary

var parameters = new Dictionary<string, string>();
for (int i = 0; i < settings.Count; i++)
{
    parameters.Add(settings.GetKey(i), settings[i]);
}
var jsonData = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(parameters);

In that case I have in result:

{ "name": "Incognito", "emails[0].type": "Personal", "emails[0].email": "abc@abc.com" }

But I want to see usual JSON array:

{ "name": "Incognito", "emails": [{"type": "Personal", "email": "abc@abc.com"}, {...}] }

How can I do that? How serialize it properly? Or maybe you know a way to write data in app.config in human readable format?

You would need to create a Model of type : **List** with emails having two properties: **type** and **email** respectively. Then you would need to set these properties in your dictionary. Then a simple serialization would give you your result. — Rahul Sharma, Mar 21 '19 at 11:55
If you've more than a few settings in app/web.config like this which are closely related, it may be worth looking in to [creating a custom ConfigurationSection](https://stackoverflow.com/a/3936194/592958) — phuzi, Mar 21 '19 at 12:05

phuzi · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-21T12:00:33.383

4

To get a JSON array you'll need to use something more like an array, say perhaps an Array or List of a type which has both type and email properties.

public class Parameters{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public List<Email> Emails { get; set; }
}

public class Email{
    public string Type { get; set; }
    public string Email { get; set; }
}

Serialising an instance of Parameters will get you the JSON structure you desire.

edited Mar 21 '19 at 12:00

answered Mar 21 '19 at 11:54

phuzi

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This should be a comment and not an actual answer. Please put code and more explanation on what you mean. – Rahul Sharma Mar 21 '19 at 11:57
@RahulSharma Give me chance mate ;) – phuzi Mar 21 '19 at 11:59
2

Thank you sir for the answer. – Rahul Sharma Mar 21 '19 at 11:59
So, I need to put values in this model and then serialize? Do we have simple way to serialize app.config values to json array with using newtonsoft json? – A. Gladkiy Mar 21 '19 at 12:24
@A.Gladkiy You would need to create a custom ConfigurationSection - see my comment on your question for an example – phuzi Mar 21 '19 at 12:35

Serialize array with Newtonsoft.Json c#

1 Answers1