Serialized JSON with double escape character

Question

When I tried to serialize an object with a string property containing a slash /, the JSON generated escapes twice each slash.

Example:

A random class:

public class Foo
{ 
    [DataMember(Name = "bar"]
    public string Bar { get; set; }
}

And

Foo foo = new Foo() { Bar = " Foo / Bar" };
string json = RandomStaticClass.Serialize(foo);

The JSON will be:

{ 
    \"bar\":\"Foo \\/ Bar\"
}

Which results in:

{ 
    "bar":"Foo \/ Bar"
}

While, I just want:

{ 
    "bar":"Foo / Bar"
}

Any ideas ? Thanks :)

Here is my function to serialize an object :

public static string Serialize(object instance)
    {
        using (MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream())
        {
            DataContractJsonSerializer serializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer(instance.GetType());
            serializer.WriteObject(stream, instance);
            stream.Position = 0;
            using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(stream))
            {
                return reader.ReadToEnd();
            }
        }
    }

The serializer does this and there isn't an option to turn it off. It's valid JSON, so is there a problem with it being escaped? — Sami Kuhmonen
– Sami Kuhmonen, Commented Jan 21, 2015 at 10:53

Andrei Olaru · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-21 11:11:08Z

2

Are you seeing the JSON like this in Visual Studio? Because I believe it is OK like that, while the actual value will not have the escape character.

LE: Tested, you are correct.

I think a workaround might be just to have a Replace call after the string, like this:

        using (MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream())
        {
            DataContractJsonSerializer serializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer(instance.GetType());
            serializer.WriteObject(stream, instance);
            stream.Position = 0;
            using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(stream))
            {
                return reader.ReadToEnd().Replace("\\", "");
            }
        }

If there is a better option, I would like to know how it's been handled.

I hope this answers your question.

LLE (only if you plan to use this in your client-side with JavaScript):

I have to add the fact that it is automatically done like this (forward slashes are not escaped) to treat closing tags - /> (I quote - "HTML does not allow a string inside a tag to contain </"), because in Client-Side '\/' === '/' in JavaScript. So you do not have to worry about it.

edited Jan 21, 2015 at 11:11

answered Jan 21, 2015 at 10:46

Andrei Olaru

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4 Comments

Andrei Olaru Over a year ago

I have to add the fact that it is automatically done like this (forward slashes are not escaped) to treat closing tags - "/>" (I quote - "HTML does not allow a string inside a <script> tag to contain </"), because in Client-Side '\/' === '/' in JavaScript. So you do not have to worry about it.

ShuuZ Over a year ago

The main problem when you remove all backslashes is that you may erase backslashes that are actually in the original string.

ShuuZ Over a year ago

But, I can restrict the problem replacing \/ into /.

Andrei Olaru Over a year ago

That is a solution, too!

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