C# Json string within a Json string

Question

I'm relatively new to C# and am currently trying to serialize a string in JSON so it basically looks like this:

{ "firstname": "John", "lastname": "Smith", "address": { "street": "1 Main Street", "city": "London", "postcode": "A12 3AB" } }

I currently have the following code:

AddressValues addressStr = new AddressValues();
addressStr.street = "1 Main Street";
addressStr.city= "London";
addressStr.postcode = "A12 3AB";
string addressJson = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(addressStr);

PersonValues personDetails = new PersonValues();
personDetails.firstname = "John";
personDetails.lastname = "Smith";
personDetails.address = addressJson ;
string jsonContent = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(personDetails);

And the classes...

public class AddressValues
{
    public string street;
    public string city;
    public string postcode;
}

public class PersonValues
{
    public string firstname;
    public string lastname;
    public string address;
}

When I run the script the console displays the following:

{ "firstname": "John", "lastname": "Smith", "address": "{\"street\":\"1 Main Street\", \"city\":\"London\", \"postcode\": \"AB12 3AB\"}"}

Can anyone point out how I can go around amending this please? I'm assuming having a backslash means that it ignores the quotation mark?

Thanks

Erm why are you storing the JsonValue on PersonValues class? Why not have a nested object and then serialize PersonValues? — Dr Schizo
– Dr Schizo, Commented Aug 5, 2014 at 13:34
The backslash is expected because you're trying to save a string inside a string. The backslashes means the quotes are escaped and thus not interpreted as being a delimiter of the outer string. — Nzall
– Nzall, Commented Aug 5, 2014 at 13:40

L.B · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-05 13:36:37Z

6

Declare classes as follows

public class Address
{
    public string street;
    public string city;
    public string postcode;
}

public class PersonValues
{
    public string firstname;
    public string lastname;
    public Address address; //SEE THIS LINE
}

and use as

PersonValues personDetails = new PersonValues();
personDetails.firstname = "John";
personDetails.lastname = "Smith";
personDetails.address = new Address();
personDetails.address.street = "1 Main Street";
personDetails.address.city = "London";
personDetails.address.postcode = "A12 3AB";


string jsonContent = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(personDetails);

Final json is

{"firstname":"John","lastname":"Smith","address":{"street":"1 Main Street","city":"London","postcode":"A12 3AB"}}

answered Aug 5, 2014 at 13:36

L.B

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3 Comments

Dr Schizo Over a year ago

This is what I was thinking to, not sure why someone has downvoted?

CPB07 Over a year ago

This worked like a dream and is a lot more concise and cleaner! Thanks L.B

sasjaq Over a year ago

and when using object initializer, code looks almost same as json ;)

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