I have been using NewtonSoft JSON Convert library to parse and convert JSON string to C# objects. But now I have came across a really awkward JSON string and I am unable to convert it into C# object because I cant make a C# class out of this JSON string.
Here is the JSON string
{
"1": {
"fajr": "04:15",
"sunrise": "05:42",
"zuhr": "12:30",
"asr": "15:53",
"maghrib": "19:18",
"isha": "20:40"
},
"2": {
"fajr": "04:15",
"sunrise": "05:42",
"zuhr": "12:30",
"asr": "15:53",
"maghrib": "19:18",
"isha": "20:41"
}
}
The C# class required to parse this JSON string should be like this:
public class 1 {
public string fajr { get; set; }
public string sunrise { get; set; }
public string zuhr { get; set; }
public string asr { get; set; }
public string maghrib { get; set; }
public string isha { get; set; }
}
public class 2 {
public string fajr { get; set; }
public string sunrise { get; set; }
public string zuhr { get; set; }
public string asr { get; set; }
public string maghrib { get; set; }
public string isha { get; set; }
}
But it cant be a true C# class because we know that Class names cannot start with a number.
It will be really great if anyone can suggest how to parse such type of json string.
Solution 1
You can deserialize to a dictionary.
public class Item
{
public string fajr { get; set; }
public string sunrise { get; set; }
public string zuhr { get; set; }
public string asr { get; set; }
public string maghrib { get; set; }
public string isha { get; set; }
}
var dict = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Dictionary<string, Item>>(json);
Solution 2
While the dictionary is the best solution for the specific case you had, the question you asked could also be interpreted as:
how do I deserialize objects with property names that cannot be used in C#?
For example what if you had
{
"0": "04:15",
"zzz": "foo"
}
Solution: use annotations:
public class Item
{
[JsonProperty("0")]
public string AnyName { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("zzz")]
public string AnotherName { get; set; }
}
Solution 3
You can use this extensions:
public static class JsonExtensions
{
public static Dictionary<string, T> ToObject<T>(this string json)
{
return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Dictionary<string, T>>(json);
}
public static string ToJson<T>(this T obj)
{
return JsonConvert.SerializeObject(obj);
}
}
