json string creation with c#

Question

I am creating a string variable to use in an rest post call and it is failing. when I debug and look at the json value I am told it is not in json format. It sure seems to be key:value pairs so I an not sure what the issue here is?

instead of double single quotes I also tried escaping the " by using \ like so (neither method is good it seems):

//string postData = "{\"title\":\"Change Title\",  \"description\":\"Create description\",  \"scheduledStartDate\": \"2018-12-24T11:24:48.91Z\",  \"scheduledEndDate'': ''2018-12-25T11:24:48.91Z''  }";

    string postData = @"{''changeNumberForClone'': ''C03688051'',
                        ''scheduledStartDate'': ''2017-12-24T11:24:48.91Z'',
                        ''scheduledEndDate'': ''2017-12-25T11:24:48.91Z''}";

You would be better off using a Dictionary or custom type, then serializing to json. — Crowcoder
– Crowcoder, Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 14:19
Creating the JSON by hand like this is going be very error-prone, and it won't scale at all. Create and serialize a dictionary like Crowcoder suggested. — user47589
– user47589, Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 14:21
(Your attempt to use double quotes is broken because you incorrectly switch to double single-quotes towards the end.) — Andy G
– Andy G, Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 14:22
var postData = "{\"changeNumberForClone\":\"C03688051\", \"scheduledStartDate\":\"2017-12-24T11:24:48.91Z\", \"scheduledEndDate\": \"2017-12-25T11:24:48.91Z\"}"; — Zohar Peled
– Zohar Peled, Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 14:23

Tommaso Belluzzo · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-20 15:44:14Z

4

Using NewtonSoft Json.NET, you could use the following code to obtain a correct json string:

Dictionary<String, String> jsonDict = new Dictionary<String, String>();
jsonDict.Add("changeNumberForClone", "C03688051");
jsonDict.Add("scheduledStartDate", "2017-12-24T11:24:48.91Z");
jsonDict.Add("scheduledEndDate", "2017-12-25T11:24:48.91Z");

String postData = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(jsonDict);

If you don't want to add a new library to your project:

String postData = "{\"changeNumberForClone\":\"C03688051\", \"scheduledStartDate\":\"2017-12-24T11:24:48.91Z\", \"scheduledEndDate\": \"2017-12-25T11:24:48.91Z\"}";

In order to produce json strings with multiple levels of depth using the same approach, you can use anonymous objects as follows:

var obj = new { abc = new { def = new { one="1", two="2" } } };
var json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(obj);

or, if you prefer to use Dictionary instances:

var obj = new Dictionary<String,Object>()
{
    {
        "abc", new Dictionary<String,Object>()
        {
            {
                "def" , new Dictionary<String,Object>()
                {
                    { "one", "1" }, {"two", "2" }
                }
            }
        }
    }
};

the output, for both approaches, would be the following:

{
   "abc": {
      "def" : {
         "one": "1",
         "two": "2",
      },
   }
}

edited Dec 20, 2017 at 15:44

answered Dec 19, 2017 at 14:25

Tommaso Belluzzo

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3 Comments

kacalapy Over a year ago

using this method how can you add a second level of items, lets say a server list with multiple server data points under it? in other words, is dictionary only one level deep?

Tommaso Belluzzo Over a year ago

Dictionary<String,String> wouldn't be enough anymore. Take a look at this question: stackoverflow.com/questions/29808718/…... and this one too that make use of anonymous objects: stackoverflow.com/questions/32529169/…

Nikunj Chaklasiya Over a year ago

I required to add [ ] in Json is it possible like format = new [ "Archive BitTorrent", "JPEG", "JPEG Thumb", "Metadata" ] using above senario.

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