Cannot deserialize JSON message because property has spaces in C#

Question

I am trying to deserialize a JSON message using Newtonsoft.Json but one of his attributes has a space and returns null as result.

My code to deserialize the message:

JavaScriptSerializer jss;
jss = new JavaScriptSerializer();

using (reader = new StreamReader(stream))
{
    string message = reader.ReadToEnd();

    JsonError jsonError = new JsonError();
    jsonError = jss.Deserialize<JsonError>(message);

    btxErrorMemo.Visible = true;
    btxErrorMemo.Text = errorMessage;
    btxStatusLbl.Text = "ERROR";
}

I show that you have to specify Json attributes to class when the message contains spaces

JsonError class

public class JsonError
{
        [JsonProperty("error")]   //this one works
        public string error { get; set; }
        public string description { get; set; }
        [JsonProperty("error message")]  //this one doesnt work
        public IList<string> errorMessage { get; set; }
}

The JSON message is like this

{
    "error":"xml data validation ",
    "error message": ["\u03a4\u03bf \u03c0\u03b5\u03b4\u03af\u03bf MesIdeMES19 \u03c0\u03c1\u03ad\u03c0\u03b5\u03b9 \u03bd\u03b1 \u03b5\u03af\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9 \u03bc\u03bf\u03bd\u03b1\u03b4\u03af\u03ba\u03bf\u03c2 \u03b1\u03c1\u03b9\u03b8\u03bc\u03cc\u03c2.(\u03a0\u03c1\u03bf\u03c4\u03b5\u03af\u03bd\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9 \u03bd\u03b1 \u03b5\u03af\u03bd\u03b1\u03af \u03bf \u03b1\u03c1\u03b9\u03b8\u03bc\u03cc\u03c2 VAT \u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 \u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9\u03c1\u03b5\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 \u03b7 \u03c3\u03b7\u03bc\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03bd\u03ae \u0397\u03bc\u03b5\u03c1\u03bf\u03bc\u03b7\u03bd\u03af\u03b1. \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 6 \u03c4\u03c5\u03c7\u03b1\u03af\u03b1 \u03b1\u03bb\u03c6\u03b1\u03c1\u03b1\u03c1\u03b9\u03b8\u03bc\u03b9\u03c4\u03ba\u03ac)","\u03a3\u03c4\u03bf \u03b5\u03bc\u03c0\u03cc\u03c1\u03b5\u03c5\u03bc\u03b1:1 \u03a4\u03bf \u03c0\u03ad\u03b4\u03b9\u03bf (GooDesGDS23) \u03a0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03b3\u03c1\u03b1\u03c6\u03ae \u03b5\u03af\u03b4\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2 \u03c0\u03c1\u03ad\u03c0\u03b5\u03b9 \u03bd\u03b1 \u03b5\u03af\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b1\u03bb\u03c6\u03b1\u03c1\u03b9\u03b8\u03bc\u03b7\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03cc"]
}

I changed the "error message" from

public string errorMessage { get; set; }

to

public IList<string> errorMessage { get; set; }

because I saw that the error message belongs to array and not just string but I keep getting null as result.

`JsonProperty` attribute only works with `Newtonsoft.Json` Nuget package or `json.net` serializer, reference [how-to-deserialize-json-with-spaces-in-the-attribute-names](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/57598818/how-to-deserialize-json-with-spaces-in-the-attribute-names) — Ryan Wilson, Apr 05 '21 at 12:08
You have confused `System.Web.Script.Serialization.JavaScriptSerializer` and `Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializer`. — Alexander Petrov, Apr 05 '21 at 12:15
As mentioned above you are using an attribute `[JsonProperty]` from [tag:json.net] with `JavaScriptSerializer` which is a completely different serializer. You should use `var jsonError = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(message);`. See: [JavaScriptSerializer - custom property name](https://stackoverflow.com/q/32487483). — dbc, Apr 05 '21 at 12:48

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 05 '21 at 14:54

Thanks to @Ryan Wilson , @Alexander Petrov and @dbc. The solution was simple. I was using Nettonsoft.Json to declare Json attributes but I was using System.Web.Script.Serialization to deserialize the message. In my case a simple change to code

JavaScriptSerializer jss;    
var jsonError = jss.Deserialize<JsonError>(message);

to

var jsonError = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<JsonError>(message);

did the trick.

Thank you all for your help.

Cannot deserialize JSON message because property has spaces in C#

1 Answers1