How to return data in object format for web api?

Question

I have to return data in json format but it says cannot implicitly convert type string to system.collection.generic.list(object).

 [HttpGet]
    public List<object> GetAllCompanies2()
    {
        List<object> myCo = DefCompany.AllDefCompany2;
         // return myCo----------> works

        string json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(myCo);
        return  json; ------- > not works conversion error & i need this
    }

I tried tostring() and many other ways but nothing worked. How can I convert string to object?
Here is my function code AllDefCompany2

   public static List<object> AllDefCompany2
    {
        get
        {
            using (var db = new RPDBEntities())
            {

                return db.DefCompanies.Select(b => new 
                {
                    Id = b.Id,

                    CurrentCurrencyCode = b.CurrentCurrencyCode,
                    ShortName = b.ShortName,
                    FullName = b.FullName,
                    ContactPerson = b.ContactPerson,
                    Address1 = b.Address1,
                    CompanyCity = b.CompanyCity,
                    CompanyState = b.CompanyState,
                    CompanyCountry = b.CompanyCountry,
                    ZipPostCode = b.ZipPostCode,
                    TelArea = b.TelArea

                }).ToList<object>();


            }

        }

    }

JsonConvert.SerializeObject(myCo) doesn't return the data in a json format, rather as a string that can be later parsed — Mord Zuber
– Mord Zuber, Commented May 27, 2015 at 6:56

Yasser Shaikh · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-27 08:24:04Z

2

this code helps me to solve both api and kendo problem

[HttpGet]
public List<object> GetAllCompanies2()
{
    List<object> myCo = DefCompany.AllDefCompany2;         

    object json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(myCo);
    return  json;
}

edited May 27, 2015 at 8:24

Yasser Shaikh

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answered May 27, 2015 at 7:50

nouman arshad

4636 silver badges16 bronze badges

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Comments

user4796202 · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-27 12:28:41Z

1

here is configuration settings

 using System.Data.Entity;

  namespace RpManticSolAPI
  {
public class WebApiApplication : System.Web.HttpApplication
{
    protected void Application_Start()
    {
        GlobalConfiguration.Configure(WebApiConfig.Register);
        GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.JsonFormatter.SerializerSettings.ReferenceLoopHandling = Newtonsoft.Json.ReferenceLoopHandling.Ignore;
        GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.Remove(GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.XmlFormatter);          
    }
}
 }

answered May 27, 2015 at 12:28

user4796202

Comments

Ashutosh Vyas · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-27 06:51:18Z

0

return JsonConvert.SerializeObject(myCo);

answered May 27, 2015 at 6:51

Ashutosh Vyas

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4 Comments

Mivaweb Over a year ago

Just code is not enough, explain what you are doing here

Ashutosh Vyas Over a year ago

Assuming the object myCo returns is the List. The error is because you are returning a STRING variable. (return json) whereas the method is expecting a return type of List<object>

Mord Zuber Over a year ago

the return value of JsonConvert.SerializeObject(myCo) is still a string, it won't make a difference if you don't store it in a variable first

user4796202 Over a year ago

i have to call api and populate grid , grid sucessfully populated but api during testing says: The 'ObjectContent`1' type failed to serialize the response body for content type 'application/xml; charset=utf-8'.

Mord Zuber · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-27 06:52:59Z

0

You can convert string to object, but what you are trying to do in the code shown is convert it to a List<object>. You can try calling AsEnumerable or ToList on the json variable.

But if what you want to do is return a string, why not change the return type of the method?

answered May 27, 2015 at 6:52

Mord Zuber

29810 silver badges20 bronze badges

Comments

Tejas Shah · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-27 07:01:44Z

0

[HttpGet]
public string GetAllCompanies2()
{
    List<object> myCo = DefCompany.AllDefCompany2;
     // return myCo----------> works

    string json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(myCo);
    return  json; ------- > not works conversion error & i need this
}

Try this. Need to change function return type based on whether you return list of objects or string (in this case json)

answered May 27, 2015 at 7:01

Tejas Shah

415 bronze badges

1 Comment

user4796202 Over a year ago

i have to populate kendo grid even in this way my kendo grid does not populate

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