How to replace a string array with an array in c#

Question

Below is a simplified snippet of my data.

{"doc":{"Identifier":"01967R0422-19990101","Year":[],"Embedding":"[0.001, -0.001, 0.002]"}}

I want to cast the embedding string to an array, with an output that looks as follows:

{"doc":{"Identifier":"01967R0422-19990101","Embedding":[0.001, -0.001, 0.002]}}

Some approaches that I have thought of are using Regex, or deserializing the object. However, attempts to deserialize the object has returned some errors

Attempt:

JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Dictionary<string, string>>(json);

Error:

+       e   {"Unexpected character encountered while parsing value: {. Path 'doc', line 1, position 8."}    System.Exception {Newtonsoft.Json.JsonReaderException}

Could anyone please point me in the right direction? New to C# and regex, so the concepts are all pretty new to me. Thanks in advance!

You want a dictionary of object, or you want a more precisely defined doc type — jmoreno
– jmoreno, Commented Jun 9, 2021 at 11:36
I want the string without the "" around the embedding field. — bjornvandijkman
– bjornvandijkman, Commented Jun 9, 2021 at 11:38

Matthias L · Accepted Answer · 2021-06-09 11:39:58Z

2

try sanitizing the json-string before deserealizing it:

string json = "{\"doc\":{ \"Identifier\":\"01967R0422-19990101\",\"Embedding\":\"[0.001, -0.001, 0.002]\"}}";
                        
json = json.Replace("\"[", "[");
json = json.Replace("]\"", "]");

JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Dictionary<string, string>>(json);

answered Jun 9, 2021 at 11:39

Matthias L

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2 Comments

oglester Over a year ago

Sanitize yes. Data types will need to be updated so that re-serialization will produce unquoted numbers as @jmoreno points out.

bjornvandijkman Over a year ago

Thanks! This actually worked fine for what I wanted after doing some minor tweaking!

jmoreno · Accepted Answer · 2021-06-09 11:40:38Z

1

If you want an output that looks like:

{"doc":{"Identifier":"01967R0422-19990101","Embedding":[0.001, -0.001, 0.002]}}

You need a type that looks like that.

public class DS {
    public string Identifier {get;set} 
    public List<decimal> Embedding {get;set}

}

answered Jun 9, 2021 at 11:40

jmoreno

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Comments

AvidJoe · Accepted Answer · 2021-06-09 12:34:50Z

As i understand the question you want to use the json response in your code after you change how it is structured? I might be wrong correct me here. But if you really just need to change the json string and send it forward @Matthias L has the answer. But if you want to deserialize the JSON and use the object in your code.. please structure the Type/Object in a way the JSON string is deserializable to.

Example:

Sanitizing the JSON STRING as pointed out by @Matthias L

// Also here some Arrays are structured as [] and some are structured this way "[]"
var json = "{\"doc\":{\"Identifier\":\"01967R0422-19990101\",\"Year\":[],\"Embedding\":\"[0.001, -0.001, 0.002]\"}}";
json = json.Replace("\"[", "[");
json = json.Replace("]\"", "]");

Creating Objects to deserialize to in your Namespace

using System.Text.Json;
using System.Text.Json.Serialization;

public class Rootobject
{
     [JsonPropertyName("doc")]
     public Doc Doc { get; set; }
}

public class Doc
{
     [JsonPropertyName("Identifier")]
     public string Identifier { get; set; }
     [JsonPropertyName("Year")]
     public object[] Year { get; set; }
     [JsonPropertyName("Embedding")]
     public object[] Embedding { get; set; }
}

Continuing to DeSerialize the sanitized json string

// Also i use JsonSerializer, you could use the JsonConvert too.
var new_object = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<Rootobject>(json);

// You can use the new_object now in memory
// All further serializations from here wont have the "[]"

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How to replace a string array with an array in c#

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Example:

Sanitizing the JSON STRING as pointed out by @Matthias L

Creating Objects to deserialize to in your Namespace

Continuing to DeSerialize the sanitized json string

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Example:

Sanitizing the JSON STRING as pointed out by @Matthias L

Creating Objects to deserialize to in your Namespace

Continuing to DeSerialize the sanitized json string

Comments

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