Parsing a nested dictionary with arbitrary numerical keys and object array values

Question

Given the json string

var testJson = @"{'entry1': {
                       '49208118': [
                          {
                             'description': 'just a description'
                          },
                          {
                             'description': 'another description' 
                          }
                       ],
                       '29439559': [
                          {
                             'description': 'just a description'
                          },
                          {
                             'description': 'another description' 
                          }
                       ]
                     }
                }";

The array value of the key 49208118 can be retrieved by

var root = JToken.Parse(testJson);
var descriptions = root.SelectTokens("..49208118[*]").ToList();

according to this answer.

But how can the whole substructure under entry1 be parsed into a dictionary

 Dictionary<string, JArray> descriptions;

mapping the numerical ids to arrays of JObjects?

But if the Key is unknown how do you know which element you want to access? — Freggar
– Freggar, Commented May 15, 2018 at 7:33
For the sake of this example, we can generalize to n numerical key-value pairs with arbitrary , dynamic numerical keys. — Oblomov
– Oblomov, Commented May 15, 2018 at 7:35
I think, I don't really understand your problem, but wouldn't something like var root = d.SelectToken("$..entry1"); give you such a dictionary? — Freggar
– Freggar, Commented May 15, 2018 at 8:19

Evk · Accepted Answer · 2018-05-15 08:21:19Z

1

Since question is how you can parse entry1 to Dictionary<string, JArray> - easiest option is:

JToken root = JToken.Parse(testJson);
Dictionary<string, JArray> descriptions = root["entry1"].ToObject<Dictionary<string, JArray>>();

Json.NET allows mixing of .NET classes (Dictionary) and his own classes (JArray) without problems when parsing.

answered May 15, 2018 at 8:21

Evk

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Comments

Johnathan Barclay · Accepted Answer · 2018-05-15 07:31:04Z

1

How about this:

string selector = String.Format("..{0}[*]", yourKey);
var descriptions = root.SelectTokens(selector).ToList();

answered May 15, 2018 at 7:31

Johnathan Barclay

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3 Comments

Oblomov Over a year ago

What is "yourKey" ? Remember, the id is not known in advance. The only thing known is that there is an arbitrary numerical key with an array value.

Johnathan Barclay Over a year ago

Do you want to retrieve a flattened array or nested arrays?

Oblomov Over a year ago

The latter: Nested. I.e., a dictionarry { id : descriptions}

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