JavaScriptSerializer - JSON serialization of enum as string

Question

I have a class that contains an enum property, and upon serializing the object using JavaScriptSerializer, my json result contains the integer value of the enumeration rather than its string "name". Is there a way to get the enum as a string in my json without having to create a custom JavaScriptConverter? Perhaps there's an attribute that I could decorate the enum definition, or object property, with?

As an example:

enum Gender { Male, Female }

class Person
{
    int Age { get; set; }
    Gender Gender { get; set; }
}

Desired JSON result:

{ "Age": 35, "Gender": "Male" }

Ideally looking for answer with built-in .NET framework classes, if not possible alternatives (like Json.net) are welcome.

Change to which? The highest upvoted answer doesn't actually answer the question - yes it is useful in other contexts, hence the votes, but it is of no practicable use whatsoever if you are stuck with the MS JavaScriptSerializer, as essentially you are if using page methods and, most importantly, as required by the question. The accepted answer says its not possible. My answer whilst a bit of a hack gets the job done. — Stephen Kennedy
– Stephen Kennedy, Commented Jun 6, 2015 at 9:21
Just keep in mind, that if you later rename your enum members, your JSON API may silently break. — Alex Che
– Alex Che, Commented Jun 27 at 13:57

Slava · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-19 15:23:17Z

-5

new JavaScriptSerializer().Serialize(  
    (from p   
    in (new List<Person>() {  
        new Person()  
        {  
            Age = 35,  
            Gender = Gender.Male  
        }  
    })  
    select new { Age =p.Age, Gender=p.Gender.ToString() }  
    ).ToArray()[0]  
);

edited Apr 19, 2016 at 15:23

answered Apr 19, 2016 at 14:50

Slava

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