How to deserialize a JSON array containing an object that contains an array of arrays with Json.NET and C#?

Question

How can I deserialize the following JSON into a custom object using C# and Json.NET:

[ {
    'data': [
        [ '100473','3481282801.0' ],
        [ '100472','3481275600.0' ],
        [ '100471','3481273800.0' ],
        [ '100470','3481263900.0' ],
        [ '100469','3481263000.0' ]
    ],
    'error': '',
    'statement_time': 0.00440700000000000030,
    'total_time': 0.00475200000000000010
} ]

It is an array containing a single object. To make things more interesting the object contains an array of arrays. (I have no control over the format, unfortunately.) I am relatively new to JSON and thought I'd try Json.NET. I am open to other JSON frameworks if it would make things easier.

I4V · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-10 21:48:59Z

4

Using Json.Net

var result = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<MyObject>>(str);

public class MyObject
{
    public List<List<string>> data { get; set; }
    public string error { get; set; }
    public double statement_time { get; set; }
    public double total_time { get; set; }
}

answered May 10, 2013 at 21:48

I4V

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4 Comments

Ryan Over a year ago

This is what I had tried at first but it gives me the following error message: Cannot deserialize the current JSON array (e.g. [1,2,3]) into type 'Target' because the type requires a JSON object (e.g. {"name":"value"}) to deserialize correctly. To fix this error either change the JSON to a JSON object (e.g. {"name":"value"}) or change the deserialized type to an array or a type that implements a collection interface (e.g. ICollection, IList) like List<T> that can be deserialized from a JSON array. JsonArrayAttribute can also be added to the type to force it to deserialize from a JSON array.

Ryan Over a year ago

I programmatically removed the square brackets from the beginning and end (the outer array) before attempting to deserialize the object. It's working now but is this the best way to do it? I don't know why the system I'm querying returns the object in an array. I don't see any advantage to this format.

I4V Over a year ago

@Ryan Given your json in question, above code runs perfectly. (I tested it again before writing this comment)

Ryan Over a year ago

You're right. I was attempting to deserialize to a single object instead of a list of objects. Once I changed that it worked without having to remove the brackets.

filipko · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-10 22:00:28Z

0

If you're using C# 4.0 or higher, use dynamic object:

dynamic json = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(jsonstring);

Then you can access members of JSON using dot notation like this:

string s = json[0].data[0][0][1];

This, for example, will return you number 100473.

edited May 10, 2013 at 22:00

answered May 10, 2013 at 21:51

filipko

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1 Comment

filipko Over a year ago

I know, it should just illustrate that using this way you'll get this number out from the JSON object.

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