How to convert JSON property value to array of keys and values

Question

I am using Newtonsoft.JSON to serialize a DataTable into a single JSON payload.

The resulting payload looks like:

[
    {
        "Name" : "Example_Name_1",
        "Value": "Example Value 1"
    },
    {
        "Name" : "Example_Name_2",
        "Value": "Example Value 2"
    },...
]

For use with an external library, I need it to like:

[
    {
        "Name" : "Example_Name_1",
        "Value": {
            "Value": "Example Value 1"
        }
    },
    {
        "Name" : "Example_Name_2",
        "Value": {
            "Value": "Example Value 2"
        }
    },...
]

Is the any way to make this transformation? I've been looking at Regular Expressions, but haven't had any luck.

I've been playing with different regex patterns and I saw another SO solution that was similar, but used JavaScript Mappings?

var strJson = "[{\"Name\": \"Example_Name_1\",\"Value\": \"Example Value 1\"}]";

var pattern = "{\"Name\": \"*\",\"Value\": \"*\"}";
var replacement = "{\"Name\": \"*\",\"Value\": {\"Value\": \"*\"}}";
var input = strJSON;
var result = Regex.Replace(input, pattern, replacement);

return result;

[EDIT] The DataTable has just 2 columns: Property_Name, & Property_Value I'm serializing it with

    JsonConvert.SerializeObject(myDataTable);

Please provide serialization code too

ingvar
– ingvar

2019-09-03 20:43:39 +00:00
Commented Sep 3, 2019 at 20:43 — ingvar
– ingvar, Commented Sep 3, 2019 at 20:43
@ingvar 'JsonConvert.SerializeObject(myDataTable);'

Rhystic
– Rhystic

2019-09-03 20:55:07 +00:00
Commented Sep 3, 2019 at 20:55 — Rhystic
– Rhystic, Commented Sep 3, 2019 at 20:55

TheHvidsten · Accepted Answer · 2019-09-03 20:43:53Z

3

I would probably use LINQ to transform the datatable to your preferred format. You didn't provide the actual datatable, but the transformation would be something like this:

IEnumerable<Data> yourData = GetData();

var transformedData = yourData.Select(d => new {
    Name = d.Name,
    Value = new {
        Value = d.Value
    }
});

string json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(transformedData);

The json variable should now (hopefully) be in the format you want without needing to use regex.

answered Sep 3, 2019 at 20:43

TheHvidsten

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Comments

Victor P · Accepted Answer · 2019-09-04 00:18:56Z

2

Take a look at the Newtonsoft.Json.Linq namespace. It contains classes like JObject, JArray, and JToken to achieve what you're trying to do.

Here's a short snippet to start you along:

var strJson = "[{\"Name\": \"Example_Name_1\",\"Value\": \"Example Value 1\"}]";
var newObject = JArray.Parse(strJson);
for(int i = 0; i < newObject.Count; i++)
{
    newObject[i]["Value"] = new JObject()
    {
        { "Value", newObject[i]["Value"] }
    };
}

You can iterate through the Descendants of the original JObject looking for the key "Value", or something else, to convert it from a string to a JObject, like my code sample.

edited Sep 4, 2019 at 0:18

answered Sep 3, 2019 at 20:48

Victor P

1,61119 silver badges30 bronze badges

3 Comments

Rhystic Over a year ago

System.ArgumentException: 'Can not add Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JValue to Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JObject.'

Victor P Over a year ago

@Rhystic, I updated the answer so it works correctly. This time I tested the code :)

Rhystic Over a year ago

to get a minified Json string, I added: return newObject.ToString(Formatting.None);

Shabbir · Accepted Answer · 2019-09-03 20:56:08Z

2

You can just parse the response into json and loop through the data to create a new object. Please check out the code which i created using your sample data.

var runCode = function(){
  var strJson = "[{\"Name\": \"Example_Name_1\",\"Value\": \"Example Value 1\"},{\"Name\": \"Example_Name_2\",\"Value\": \"Example Value 2\"}]";
  parsedJson = JSON.parse(strJson)
  new_json = []
  for (var i = 0; i < parsedJson.length; i++) {
    temp_json = {}
    temp_json['Name'] = parsedJson[i]['Name']
    temp_json['Value'] = {
      'Value': parsedJson[i]['Value']
    }
    new_json.push(temp_json)
  }
  console.log(new_json)
}

runCode()

answered Sep 3, 2019 at 20:56

Shabbir

1538 bronze badges

2 Comments

Rhystic Over a year ago

The snipped looks like it works great. Would you mind converting it to a C# function please?

Shabbir Over a year ago

@Rhystic sorry for that but i do not have a good knowledge of c#. But you can use this logic to loop through the json. All you need to do is loop through the json and store the value in a temp dictionary and then append it to a list

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