Json.Net JsonConvert.SerializeObject json not correct

Question

I use the latest version (6.0.6) of Json.net to serialize an object, and in my opinion, the result is not correct.

The result of the c# example below is this :

"Key":"AAA","No":"BBB","Project_No":"CCC","Resource_No":"DDD","Resource_Group_No":"EEE","Stadium_Code":"FFF","Entry_NoSpecified":false,"Line_NoSpecified":false,"Execution_DateSpecified":false,"HoursSpecified":false,"ExecutedSpecified":false,"FixedSpecified":false,"ConfirmedSpecified":false,"Begin_TimeSpecified":false,"Updated_TimeSpecified":false

As you can see, all non string properties are not serialized, eg Entry_No, Line_No, Hours and the dates

Is this a bug in Json.Net?

code to reproduce problem,

using System;
using Newtonsoft.Json;

namespace JSONNET
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var dto = new ProjectPlanningEntryDto()
            {
                Key = "AAA",
                No = "BBB",
                Entry_No = 123,
                Project_No = "CCC",
                Line_No = 456,
                Resource_No = "DDD",
                Resource_Group_No = "EEE",
                Execution_Date = DateTime.Now,
                Hours = 4,
                Begin_Time = DateTime.Now,
                Updated_Time = DateTime.Now,
                Stadium_Code = "FFF"
            };

            var json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(dto);

            Console.WriteLine(json);
            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }

    public class ProjectPlanningEntryDto
    {
        public string Key { get; set; }
        public string No { get; set; }
        public int Entry_No { get; set; }
        public string Project_No { get; set; }
        public int Line_No { get; set; }
        public string Resource_No { get; set; }
        public string Resource_Group_No { get; set; }
        public DateTime Execution_Date { get; set; }
        public decimal Hours { get; set; }
        public bool Executed { get; set; }
        public bool Fixed { get; set; }
        public bool Confirmed { get; set; }
        public DateTime Begin_Time { get; set; }
        public DateTime Updated_Time { get; set; }
        public string Stadium_Code { get; set; }
        public bool Entry_NoSpecified { get; set; }
        public bool Line_NoSpecified { get; set; }
        public bool Execution_DateSpecified { get; set; }
        public bool HoursSpecified { get; set; }
        public bool ExecutedSpecified { get; set; }
        public bool FixedSpecified { get; set; }
        public bool ConfirmedSpecified { get; set; }
        public bool Begin_TimeSpecified { get; set; }
        public bool Updated_TimeSpecified { get; set; }
    }
}

And what happens if you set (for example) Entry_NoSpecified to true? — J. Steen
– J. Steen, Commented Nov 25, 2014 at 9:29
hmm, if I set Entry_NoSpecified to true, the Entry_No field is serialized. This means the Specified properties invoke special behavior I did not know off? — Tomd
– Tomd, Commented Nov 25, 2014 at 9:48
In version 4 (January 2011), they added XmlSerializer style Specified property support. Found it lurking inconspiculously in these release notes: james.newtonking.com/archive/2011/01/03/… — J. Steen
– J. Steen, Commented Nov 25, 2014 at 9:53

J. Steen · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-25 10:18:04Z

3

Json.NET seems to honour the convention of having <Name>Specified properties to see if it should serialize a property or not, according to the version 4 release blog post. So,

var dto = new ProjectPlanningEntryDto()
{
    Key = "AAA",
    No = "BBB",
    Entry_No = 123,
    Entry_NoSpecified = true,
    Project_No = "CCC",
    Line_No = 456,
    Line_NoSpecified = true,
    ...
};

would result in the json object you want. This convention is applied in the same way as it applies to the XmlSerializer, as detailed here: MSDN: System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer.

Another option is to use a special pattern to create a Boolean field recognized by the XmlSerializer, and to apply the XmlIgnoreAttribute to the field. The pattern is created in the form of propertyNameSpecified. For example, if there is a field named "MyFirstName" you would also create a field named "MyFirstNameSpecified" that instructs the XmlSerializer whether to generate the XML element named "MyFirstName". This is shown in the following example.
public class OptionalOrder
{
    // This field should not be serialized 
    // if it is uninitialized.
    public string FirstOrder;

    // Use the XmlIgnoreAttribute to ignore the 
    // special field named "FirstOrderSpecified".
    [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlIgnoreAttribute]
    public bool FirstOrderSpecified;
}

To apply the same logic - and not serialize the <Name>Specified properties in json - just use the JsonIgnoreAttribute to decorate those properties.

edited Nov 25, 2014 at 10:18

answered Nov 25, 2014 at 9:41

J. Steen

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2 Comments

t3chb0t Over a year ago

Could you briefly explain what a Specified Property is? I have no luck googleing for it :(

J. Steen Over a year ago

@t3chb0t Added some further info. Hope that clears things up. Googling for "specified" is kind of difficult, I know since I did a bunch of it to even find the info on Json.NET. ;)

t3chb0t · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-25 10:02:03Z

0

This must be a bug in JSON.NET because when I removed the underscores from the DateTime properties they got serialized correctly.

answered Nov 25, 2014 at 10:02

t3chb0t

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1 Comment

J. Steen Over a year ago

...Yes, because then you don't have matching Specified-properties. So, no. Not a bug.

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