Serialize array of objects as one object with a named property for each object in C# with JSON serializer

Question

I have a List that, when serialized as JSON gives me an array of objects. However, I need the serialized version to be structured as follows:

{
  "item3":{
    "id":3,
    "name":"monkey"
  },
  "item4":{
    "id":4,
    "name":"turtle"
  }
}

Currently, the JSON serialization is structured like this:

[
  {
    "id":3,
    "name":"monkey"
  },
  {
    "id":4,
    "name":"turtle"
  }
]

My goal is to be able to reference the array by item ID instead of numeric index (ie. arr["item3"].name instead of arr[0].name).

Marc Gravell · Accepted Answer · 2010-12-03 17:51:49Z

2

You might did that just putting the data into a dictionary is enough for JaveScripySerializer:

var dict = list.ToDictionary(
    item => "item" + item.id);

(and serialize dict)

If not:

I don't have a PC handy for an example, but you should be able to:

write a wrapper class that encapsulated the list/array
use the JavaScriptSerializer class
after creating the serializer, associate the wrapper-type with a custom serializer
in the custom serializer, iterate over the data, adding a key to the dictionary per-item, i.e. data.Add("item"+i,list[i]);

Note you don't need to write a deserialize unless you need that too.

If you get stuck, I'll try to ad an example later.

answered Dec 3, 2010 at 17:42

Marc Gravell

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2 Comments

I think this will work just fine. Thank you for the prompt response :)

Okay, thanks for that... I'll give that a shot before diving into the RegisterConverters business. Thanks Marc