Json.NET deserialize array into property

Question

Is there a way to deserialize a JSON array directly into the property of an object?

I have a JSON consisting of an array of Entry objects. To get them into a Collection class I could go the route of:

var coll = new Collection();
coll.Entries = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<Entry>>(json);

Is there a way to define Collection in a way to skip this step an directly call var coll = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Collection>(json)

I'm not sure, but you can try to let Collection implement IEnumerable<Entry> and see if that works. — silkfire
– silkfire, Commented Jan 23, 2018 at 13:46
If yor json is array of Entry objects why it deserialize to object? deserliazation should do same object structure as source. — BWA
– BWA, Commented Jan 23, 2018 at 13:52
@BWA the request path for the JSON is named in a way that implies getting a collection/single object back, so I want to stick with that. — Dawnkeeper
– Dawnkeeper, Commented Jan 23, 2018 at 14:51

silkfire · Accepted Answer · 2018-01-23 13:53:19Z

2

You could let your Collection class implement IEnumerable<Entry> and decorate it with the JsonObject attribute. This should give Json.NET the ability to deserialize your class correctly.

[JsonObject]
public class Collection : IEnumerable<Entry>
{
    public IEnumerable<Entry> Entries { get; };

    public GetEnumerator() {
       return Entries.GetEnumerator();
    }

    IEnumerator IEnumerable.GetEnumerator()
    {
       return GetEnumerator();
    }
}

answered Jan 23, 2018 at 13:53

silkfire

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1 Comment

jwatts1980 Over a year ago

This works if you change [JsonObject] to [JsonArray] and add a constructor that takes an IEnumerable<Entry>. So, like public Collection(IEnumerable<Entry> entries) { this.Entries = entries; }. (Oh, and adding a set; to the Entries property.)

Dawnkeeper · Accepted Answer · 2018-01-23 14:34:31Z

2

While silkfires answer didn't work for me, it gave me a hint for the solution:

I added the [JsonArray] attribute and implemented ICollection<Entry> by pointing all methods to the Entries list.

[JsonArray]
public class Collection: ICollection<Entry>
{

    public LinkedList<Entry> Entries { get; } = new LinkedList<Entry>();

    public void Add(Entry item)
    {
        Entries.AddLast(item);
    }
...

answered Jan 23, 2018 at 14:34

Dawnkeeper

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6 Comments

silkfire Over a year ago

I could have been a bit off. If you remove the JsonObject attribute, does it work then?

Dawnkeeper Over a year ago

I get a Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializationException :Cannot create and populate list type for that.

silkfire Over a year ago

Which type is it referring to?

Dawnkeeper Over a year ago

The Collection type.

jwatts1980 Over a year ago

@silkfire I added a comment to your answer above. With your solution (and my edits) I did not have to implement the ICollection interface, which is much nicer I think.

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