MVC4: Include object name in Json

Question

I have a question on a MVC4 (beta) issue I have been struggling with for some time now. The issue is that I want to create a json with the object name added for my webapi. The json has to be created this was as the receiving side needs this. My .NET/MVC knowledge is limited so please bear with me. I tried searching on the subject, but as MVC4 is still in beta it's difficult to find good info on this subject.

I have already imported the JSON.NET formatter in my solution, but this does not add the Object name

The json that is now created in MVC4:

[{"ID":36,"Name":"Test3","Description":"Description Test3"},{"ID": 37,"Name": "Test4","Description": "Description Test4"}]

And I would like the json to look like this:

{"Goal":[{"ID":36,"Name":"Test3","Description":"Description Test3"},{"ID": 37,"Name": "Test4","Description": "Description Test4"}]}

So I like the object name (Goal) to be included in the json.

The code in my api controller I am using for this is:

    StoreDBContext db = new StoreDBContext();

    //
    // GET /api/goals
    public IQueryable<Goals> Get()
    {
        return db.Goals;
    }

I assume I need to loop through somewhere to add the object name, but I am not sure how... Hopefully someone can help me out with this!

I have edited my post. You were right the json was not valid. Now it is (validated through jsonlint.com). I meant it to be this way. — Hugo
– Hugo, Commented Apr 7, 2012 at 7:19
Please Give answer of my question [enter link description here][1] [1]: stackoverflow.com/questions/31323528/… — Muhammad Saim
– Muhammad Saim, Commented Jul 10, 2015 at 7:46

Paul Tyng · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-08 21:59:48Z

3

Return something like this:

new { Goal = db.Goals().AsEnumerable().ToList() }

You can use an anonymous object to add properties and stuff that aren't in the object.

You can also write custom converters for JSON.NET if you want it to deserialize properly, but if you don't care about deserialization of the output, the above solution will work.

edited Apr 8, 2012 at 21:59

answered Apr 6, 2012 at 12:48

Paul Tyng

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5 Comments

Hugo Over a year ago

Thanks for the reply! For the moment I don't really care about deserialization so this solution should be sufficient. But the db object (StoreDBContext) does not seem to have the Get method implemented. However I do get the following error when trying to return the above command: 'StoreDBContext' does not contain a definition for 'Get' and no extension method 'Get' accepting a first argument of type 'StoreDBContext' could be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference? Am I missing something here?

Hugo Over a year ago

Thank you for the update, but now I get the following error: "Cannot implicitly convert type 'System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<AnonymousType#1>' to 'System.Linq.IQueryable<GoalsApi.Models.Goals>'. An explicit conversion exists (are you missing a cast?) I tried messing around with the code but cannot get it to work...

Paul Tyng Over a year ago

Change the return type to object on the web api action.

Hugo Over a year ago

Thanks this works now, only thing is I get an Goal per record. I want it to be the header. My example might not be clear, as I have only one record there. I have updated the sample json in my question.

Paul Tyng Over a year ago

@Hugo I have updated the answer, just move the anonymous type construction to the outside of the list instead of inside.

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