Deserialize JSON into C# dynamic object?

Question

Is there a way to deserialize JSON content into a C# dynamic type? It would be nice to skip creating a bunch of classes in order to use the DataContractJsonSerializer.

Answer 1

If you are happy to have a dependency upon the System.Web.Helpers assembly, then you can use the Json class:

dynamic data = Json.Decode(json);

It is included with the MVC framework as an additional download to the .NET 4 framework. Be sure to give Vlad an upvote if that's helpful! However if you cannot assume the client environment includes this DLL, then read on.

---

An alternative deserialisation approach is suggested here. I modified the code slightly to fix a bug and suit my coding style. All you need is this code and a reference to System.Web.Extensions from your project:

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using System.Dynamic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Web.Script.Serialization;

public sealed class DynamicJsonConverter : JavaScriptConverter
{
    public override object Deserialize(IDictionary<string, object> dictionary, Type type, JavaScriptSerializer serializer)
    {
        if (dictionary == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException("dictionary");

        return type == typeof(object) ? new DynamicJsonObject(dictionary) : null;
    }

    public override IDictionary<string, object> Serialize(object obj, JavaScriptSerializer serializer)
    {
        throw new NotImplementedException();
    }

    public override IEnumerable<Type> SupportedTypes
    {
        get { return new ReadOnlyCollection<Type>(new List<Type>(new[] { typeof(object) })); }
    }

    #region Nested type: DynamicJsonObject

    private sealed class DynamicJsonObject : DynamicObject
    {
        private readonly IDictionary<string, object> _dictionary;

        public DynamicJsonObject(IDictionary<string, object> dictionary)
        {
            if (dictionary == null)
                throw new ArgumentNullException("dictionary");
            _dictionary = dictionary;
        }

        public override string ToString()
        {
            var sb = new StringBuilder("{");
            ToString(sb);
            return sb.ToString();
        }

        private void ToString(StringBuilder sb)
        {
            var firstInDictionary = true;
            foreach (var pair in _dictionary)
            {
                if (!firstInDictionary)
                    sb.Append(",");
                firstInDictionary = false;
                var value = pair.Value;
                var name = pair.Key;
                if (value is string)
                {
                    sb.AppendFormat("{0}:\"{1}\"", name, value);
                }
                else if (value is IDictionary<string, object>)
                {
                    new DynamicJsonObject((IDictionary<string, object>)value).ToString(sb);
                }
                else if (value is ArrayList)
                {
                    sb.Append(name + ":[");
                    var firstInArray = true;
                    foreach (var arrayValue in (ArrayList)value)
                    {
                        if (!firstInArray)
                            sb.Append(",");
                        firstInArray = false;
                        if (arrayValue is IDictionary<string, object>)
                            new DynamicJsonObject((IDictionary<string, object>)arrayValue).ToString(sb);
                        else if (arrayValue is string)
                            sb.AppendFormat("\"{0}\"", arrayValue);
                        else
                            sb.AppendFormat("{0}", arrayValue);

                    }
                    sb.Append("]");
                }
                else
                {
                    sb.AppendFormat("{0}:{1}", name, value);
                }
            }
            sb.Append("}");
        }

        public override bool TryGetMember(GetMemberBinder binder, out object result)
        {
            if (!_dictionary.TryGetValue(binder.Name, out result))
            {
                // return null to avoid exception.  caller can check for null this way...
                result = null;
                return true;
            }

            result = WrapResultObject(result);
            return true;
        }

        public override bool TryGetIndex(GetIndexBinder binder, object[] indexes, out object result)
        {
            if (indexes.Length == 1 && indexes[0] != null)
            {
                if (!_dictionary.TryGetValue(indexes[0].ToString(), out result))
                {
                    // return null to avoid exception.  caller can check for null this way...
                    result = null;
                    return true;
                }

                result = WrapResultObject(result);
                return true;
            }

            return base.TryGetIndex(binder, indexes, out result);
        }

        private static object WrapResultObject(object result)
        {
            var dictionary = result as IDictionary<string, object>;
            if (dictionary != null)
                return new DynamicJsonObject(dictionary);

            var arrayList = result as ArrayList;
            if (arrayList != null && arrayList.Count > 0)
            {
                return arrayList[0] is IDictionary<string, object> 
                    ? new List<object>(arrayList.Cast<IDictionary<string, object>>().Select(x => new DynamicJsonObject(x))) 
                    : new List<object>(arrayList.Cast<object>());
            }

            return result;
        }
    }

    #endregion
}

You can use it like this:

string json = ...;

var serializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
serializer.RegisterConverters(new[] { new DynamicJsonConverter() });

dynamic obj = serializer.Deserialize(json, typeof(object));

So, given a JSON string:

{
  "Items":[
    { "Name":"Apple", "Price":12.3 },
    { "Name":"Grape", "Price":3.21 }
  ],
  "Date":"21/11/2010"
}

The following code will work at runtime:

dynamic data = serializer.Deserialize(json, typeof(object));

data.Date; // "21/11/2010"
data.Items.Count; // 2
data.Items[0].Name; // "Apple"
data.Items[0].Price; // 12.3 (as a decimal)
data.Items[1].Name; // "Grape"
data.Items[1].Price; // 3.21 (as a decimal)

Answer 2

It's pretty simple using Json.NET:

dynamic stuff = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject("{ 'Name': 'Jon Smith', 'Address': { 'City': 'New York', 'State': 'NY' }, 'Age': 42 }");

string name = stuff.Name;
string address = stuff.Address.City;

Also using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq:

dynamic stuff = JObject.Parse("{ 'Name': 'Jon Smith', 'Address': { 'City': 'New York', 'State': 'NY' }, 'Age': 42 }");

string name = stuff.Name;
string address = stuff.Address.City;

Documentation: Querying JSON with dynamic

Answer 3

You can do this using System.Web.Helpers.Json - its Decode method returns a dynamic object which you can traverse as you like.

It's included in the System.Web.Helpers assembly (.NET 4.0).

var dynamicObject = Json.Decode(jsonString);

Answer 4

.NET 4.0 has a built-in library to do this:

using System.Web.Script.Serialization;
JavaScriptSerializer jss = new JavaScriptSerializer();
var d = jss.Deserialize<dynamic>(str);

This is the simplest way.

Answer 5

Simple "string JSON data" to object without any third-party DLL file:

WebClient client = new WebClient();
string getString = client.DownloadString("https://graph.facebook.com/zuck");

JavaScriptSerializer serializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
dynamic item = serializer.Deserialize<object>(getString);
string name = item["name"];

//note: JavaScriptSerializer in this namespaces
//System.Web.Script.Serialization.JavaScriptSerializer

Note: You can also using your custom object.

Personel item = serializer.Deserialize<Personel>(getString);

Answer 6

You can achieve that with the help of Newtonsoft.Json. Install it from NuGet and then:

using Newtonsoft.Json;

dynamic results = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<dynamic>(YOUR_JSON);

Answer 7

JsonFx can deserialize JSON content into dynamic objects.

Serialize to/from dynamic types (default for .NET 4.0):

var reader = new JsonReader(); var writer = new JsonWriter();

string input = @"{ ""foo"": true, ""array"": [ 42, false, ""Hello!"", null ] }";
dynamic output = reader.Read(input);
Console.WriteLine(output.array[0]); // 42
string json = writer.Write(output);
Console.WriteLine(json); // {"foo":true,"array":[42,false,"Hello!",null]}

Answer 8

Another way using Newtonsoft.Json:

dynamic stuff = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.DeserializeObject("{ color: 'red', value: 5 }");
string color = stuff.color;
int value = stuff.value;

Answer 9

I made a new version of the DynamicJsonConverter that uses Expando Objects. I used expando objects, because I wanted to Serialize the dynamic back into JSON using Json.NET.

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using System.Dynamic;
using System.Web.Script.Serialization;

public static class DynamicJson
{
    public static dynamic Parse(string json)
    {
        JavaScriptSerializer jss = new JavaScriptSerializer();
        jss.RegisterConverters(new JavaScriptConverter[] { new DynamicJsonConverter() });

        dynamic glossaryEntry = jss.Deserialize(json, typeof(object)) as dynamic;
        return glossaryEntry;
    }

    class DynamicJsonConverter : JavaScriptConverter
    {
        public override object Deserialize(IDictionary<string, object> dictionary, Type type, JavaScriptSerializer serializer)
        {
            if (dictionary == null)
                throw new ArgumentNullException("dictionary");

            var result = ToExpando(dictionary);

            return type == typeof(object) ? result : null;
        }

        private static ExpandoObject ToExpando(IDictionary<string, object> dictionary)
        {
            var result = new ExpandoObject();
            var dic = result as IDictionary<String, object>;

            foreach (var item in dictionary)
            {
                var valueAsDic = item.Value as IDictionary<string, object>;
                if (valueAsDic != null)
                {
                    dic.Add(item.Key, ToExpando(valueAsDic));
                    continue;
                }
                var arrayList = item.Value as ArrayList;
                if (arrayList != null && arrayList.Count > 0)
                {
                    dic.Add(item.Key, ToExpando(arrayList));
                    continue;
                }

                dic.Add(item.Key, item.Value);
            }
            return result;
        }

        private static ArrayList ToExpando(ArrayList obj)
        {
            ArrayList result = new ArrayList();

            foreach (var item in obj)
            {
                var valueAsDic = item as IDictionary<string, object>;
                if (valueAsDic != null)
                {
                    result.Add(ToExpando(valueAsDic));
                    continue;
                }

                var arrayList = item as ArrayList;
                if (arrayList != null && arrayList.Count > 0)
                {
                    result.Add(ToExpando(arrayList));
                    continue;
                }

                result.Add(item);
            }
            return result;
        }

        public override IDictionary<string, object> Serialize(object obj, JavaScriptSerializer serializer)
        {
            throw new NotImplementedException();
        }

        public override IEnumerable<Type> SupportedTypes
        {
            get { return new ReadOnlyCollection<Type>(new List<Type>(new[] { typeof(object) })); }
        }
    }
}

Answer 10

Creating dynamic objects with Newtonsoft.Json works really great.

//json is your string containing the JSON value
dynamic data = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<dynamic>(json);

Now you can access the data object just like if it was a regular object. This is the JSON object we currently have as an example:

{ "ID":123,"Name":"Jack","Numbers":[1, 2, 3] }

This is how you access it after deserialization:

data.ID //Retrieve the int
data.Name //Retrieve the string
data.Numbers[0] //Retrieve the first element in the array

Answer 11

I use http://json2csharp.com/ to get a class representing the JSON object.

Input:

{
   "name":"John",
   "age":31,
   "city":"New York",
   "Childs":[
      {
         "name":"Jim",
         "age":11
      },
      {
         "name":"Tim",
         "age":9
      }
   ]
}

Output:

public class Child
{
    public string name { get; set; }
    public int age { get; set; }
}

public class Person
{
    public string name { get; set; }
    public int age { get; set; }
    public string city { get; set; }
    public List<Child> Childs { get; set; }
}

After that I use Newtonsoft.Json to fill the class:

using Newtonsoft.Json;

namespace GitRepositoryCreator.Common
{
    class JObjects
    {
        public static string Get(object p_object)
        {
            return JsonConvert.SerializeObject(p_object);
        }
        internal static T Get<T>(string p_object)
        {
            return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<T>(p_object);
        }
    }
}

You can call it like this:

Person jsonClass = JObjects.Get<Person>(stringJson);

string stringJson = JObjects.Get(jsonClass);

PS:

If your JSON variable name is not a valid C# name (name starts with $) you can fix that like this:

public class Exception
{
   [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "$id")]
   public string id { get; set; }
   public object innerException { get; set; }
   public string message { get; set; }
   public string typeName { get; set; }
   public string typeKey { get; set; }
   public int errorCode { get; set; }
   public int eventId { get; set; }
}

Answer 12

I came here to find an answer for .NET Core, without any third-party or additional references. It works fine if you use ExpandoObject with the standard JsonSerializer class. Here is the example that worked for me:

using System.Text.Json;
using System.Dynamic;

dynamic json = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<ExpandoObject>(jsonText);
Console.WriteLine(json.name);

This code prints out the string value of a name property that exists within the JSON text passed into the Deserialize method. Voila - no additional libraries, no nothing. Just .NET core.

Edit: May have a problem for several levels of json with nested elements. Worked for a single-level flat object.

Answer 13

The simplest way is:

Just include this DLL file.

Use the code like this:

dynamic json = new JDynamic("{a:'abc'}");
// json.a is a string "abc"

dynamic json = new JDynamic("{a:3.1416}");
// json.a is 3.1416m

dynamic json = new JDynamic("{a:1}");
// json.a is

dynamic json = new JDynamic("[1,2,3]");
/json.Length/json.Count is 3
// And you can use json[0]/ json[2] to get the elements

dynamic json = new JDynamic("{a:[1,2,3]}");
//json.a.Length /json.a.Count is 3.
// And you can use  json.a[0]/ json.a[2] to get the elements

dynamic json = new JDynamic("[{b:1},{c:1}]");
// json.Length/json.Count is 2.
// And you can use the  json[0].b/json[1].c to get the num.

Answer 14

Another option is to "Paste JSON as classes" so it can be deserialised quick and easy.

1. Simply copy your entire JSON
2. In Visual Studio: Click Edit → Paste Special → Paste JSON as classes

Here is a better explanation n piccas... ‘Paste JSON As Classes’ in ASP.NET and Web Tools 2012.2 RC

Answer 15

You can use using Newtonsoft.Json

var jRoot = 
 JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<dynamic>(Encoding.UTF8.GetString(resolvedEvent.Event.Data));

resolvedEvent.Event.Data is my response getting from calling core Event .

Answer 16

You can extend the JavaScriptSerializer to recursively copy the dictionary it created to expando object(s) and then use them dynamically:

static class JavaScriptSerializerExtensions
{
    public static dynamic DeserializeDynamic(this JavaScriptSerializer serializer, string value)
    {
        var dictionary = serializer.Deserialize<IDictionary<string, object>>(value);
        return GetExpando(dictionary);
    }

    private static ExpandoObject GetExpando(IDictionary<string, object> dictionary)
    {
        var expando = (IDictionary<string, object>)new ExpandoObject();

        foreach (var item in dictionary)
        {
            var innerDictionary = item.Value as IDictionary<string, object>;
            if (innerDictionary != null)
            {
                expando.Add(item.Key, GetExpando(innerDictionary));
            }
            else
            {
                expando.Add(item.Key, item.Value);
            }
        }

        return (ExpandoObject)expando;
    }
}

Then you just need to having a using statement for the namespace you defined the extension in (consider just defining them in System.Web.Script.Serialization... another trick is to not use a namespace, then you don't need the using statement at all) and you can consume them like so:

var serializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
var value = serializer.DeserializeDynamic("{ 'Name': 'Jon Smith', 'Address': { 'City': 'New York', 'State': 'NY' }, 'Age': 42 }");

var name = (string)value.Name; // Jon Smith
var age = (int)value.Age;      // 42

var address = value.Address;
var city = (string)address.City;   // New York
var state = (string)address.State; // NY

Answer 17

Look at the article I wrote on CodeProject, one that answers the question precisely:

Dynamic types with JSON.NET

There is way too much for re-posting it all here, and even less point since that article has an attachment with the key/required source file.

Answer 18

Try this:

  var units = new { Name = "Phone", Color= "White" };
    var jsonResponse = JsonConvert.DeserializeAnonymousType(json, units);

Answer 19

I am using like this in my code and it's working fine

using System.Web.Script.Serialization;
JavaScriptSerializer oJS = new JavaScriptSerializer();
RootObject oRootObject = new RootObject();
oRootObject = oJS.Deserialize<RootObject>(Your JSon String);

Answer 20

Use DataSet(C#) with JavaScript. A simple function for creating a JSON stream with DataSet input. Create JSON content like (multi table dataset):

[[{a:1,b:2,c:3},{a:3,b:5,c:6}],[{a:23,b:45,c:35},{a:58,b:59,c:45}]]

Just client side, use eval. For example,

var d = eval('[[{a:1,b:2,c:3},{a:3,b:5,c:6}],[{a:23,b:45,c:35},{a:58,b:59,c:45}]]')

Then use:

d[0][0].a // out 1 from table 0 row 0

d[1][1].b // out 59 from table 1 row 1

// Created by Behnam Mohammadi And Saeed Ahmadian
public string jsonMini(DataSet ds)
{
    int t = 0, r = 0, c = 0;
    string stream = "[";

    for (t = 0; t < ds.Tables.Count; t++)
    {
        stream += "[";
        for (r = 0; r < ds.Tables[t].Rows.Count; r++)
        {
            stream += "{";
            for (c = 0; c < ds.Tables[t].Columns.Count; c++)
            {
                stream += ds.Tables[t].Columns[c].ToString() + ":'" +
                          ds.Tables[t].Rows[r][c].ToString() + "',";
            }
            if (c>0)
                stream = stream.Substring(0, stream.Length - 1);
            stream += "},";
        }
        if (r>0)
            stream = stream.Substring(0, stream.Length - 1);
        stream += "],";
    }
    if (t>0)
        stream = stream.Substring(0, stream.Length - 1);
    stream += "];";
    return stream;
}

Answer 21

To get an ExpandoObject:

using Newtonsoft.Json;
using Newtonsoft.Json.Converters;

Container container = JsonConvert.Deserialize<Container>(jsonAsString, new ExpandoObjectConverter());

Answer 22

For that I would use JSON.NET to do the low-level parsing of the JSON stream and then build up the object hierarchy out of instances of the ExpandoObject class.

Answer 23

Deserializing in JSON.NET can be dynamic using the JObject class, which is included in that library. My JSON string represents these classes:

public class Foo {
   public int Age {get;set;}
   public Bar Bar {get;set;}
}

public class Bar {
   public DateTime BDay {get;set;}
}

Now we deserialize the string WITHOUT referencing the above classes:

var dyn = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<JObject>(jsonAsFooString);

JProperty propAge = dyn.Properties().FirstOrDefault(i=>i.Name == "Age");
if(propAge != null) {
    int age = int.Parse(propAge.Value.ToString());
    Console.WriteLine("age=" + age);
}

//or as a one-liner:
int myage = int.Parse(dyn.Properties().First(i=>i.Name == "Age").Value.ToString());

Or if you want to go deeper:

var propBar = dyn.Properties().FirstOrDefault(i=>i.Name == "Bar");
if(propBar != null) {
    JObject o = (JObject)propBar.First();
    var propBDay = o.Properties().FirstOrDefault (i => i.Name=="BDay");
    if(propBDay != null) {
        DateTime bday = DateTime.Parse(propBDay.Value.ToString());
        Console.WriteLine("birthday=" + bday.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy"));
    }
}

//or as a one-liner:
DateTime mybday = DateTime.Parse(((JObject)dyn.Properties().First(i=>i.Name == "Bar").First()).Properties().First(i=>i.Name == "BDay").Value.ToString());

See post for a complete example.

Answer 24

The object you want DynamicJSONObject is included in the System.Web.Helpers.dll from the ASP.NET Web Pages package, which is part of WebMatrix.

Answer 25

How to parse easy JSON content with dynamic & JavaScriptSerializer

Please add reference of System.Web.Extensions and add this namespace using System.Web.Script.Serialization; at top:

public static void EasyJson()
{
    var jsonText = @"{
        ""some_number"": 108.541,
        ""date_time"": ""2011-04-13T15:34:09Z"",
        ""serial_number"": ""SN1234""
    }";

    var jss = new JavaScriptSerializer();
    var dict = jss.Deserialize<dynamic>(jsonText);

    Console.WriteLine(dict["some_number"]);
    Console.ReadLine();
}

How to parse nested & complex json with dynamic & JavaScriptSerializer

Please add reference of System.Web.Extensions and add this namespace using System.Web.Script.Serialization; at top:

public static void ComplexJson()
{
    var jsonText = @"{
        ""some_number"": 108.541,
        ""date_time"": ""2011-04-13T15:34:09Z"",
        ""serial_number"": ""SN1234"",
        ""more_data"": {
            ""field1"": 1.0,
            ""field2"": ""hello""
        }
    }";

    var jss = new JavaScriptSerializer();
    var dict = jss.Deserialize<dynamic>(jsonText);

    Console.WriteLine(dict["some_number"]);
    Console.WriteLine(dict["more_data"]["field2"]);
    Console.ReadLine();
}

Answer 26

There is a lightweight JSON library for C# called SimpleJson.

It supports .NET 3.5+, Silverlight and Windows Phone 7.

It supports dynamic for .NET 4.0

It can also be installed as a NuGet package

Install-Package SimpleJson

Answer 27

I want to do this programmatically in unit tests, I do have the luxury of typing it out.

My solution is:

var dict = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<ExpandoObject>(json) as IDictionary<string, object>;

Now I can assert that

dict.ContainsKey("ExpectedProperty");

Answer 28

With Cinchoo ETL - an open source library available to parse JSON into a dynamic object:

string json = @"{
    ""key1"": [
        {
            ""action"": ""open"",
            ""timestamp"": ""2018-09-05 20:46:00"",
            ""url"": null,
            ""ip"": ""66.102.6.98""
        }
    ]
}";
using (var p = ChoJSONReader.LoadText(json)
    .WithJSONPath("$..key1")
    )
{
    foreach (var rec in p)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Action: " + rec.action);
        Console.WriteLine("Timestamp: " + rec.timestamp);
        Console.WriteLine("URL: " + rec.url);
        Console.WriteLine("IP address: " + rec.ip);
    }
}

Output:

Action: open
Timestamp: 2018-09-05 20:46:00
URL: http://www.google.com
IP address: 66.102.6.98

Sample fiddle: https://dotnetfiddle.net/S0ehSV

For more information, please visit codeproject articles

Disclaimer: I'm the author of this library.

Answer 29

try this way!

JSON example:

[{
    "id": 140,
    "group": 1,
    "text": "xxx",
    "creation_date": 123456,
    "created_by": "xxx@gmail.co",
    "tags": ["xxxxx"]
  }, {
    "id": 141,
    "group": 1,
    "text": "xxxx",
    "creation_date": 123456,
    "created_by": "xxx@gmail.com",
    "tags": ["xxxxx"]
}]

C# code:

var jsonString = (File.ReadAllText(Path.Combine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(),"delete_result.json")));
var objects = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<dynamic>(jsonString);
foreach(var o in objects)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{o.id.ToString()}");
}

Answer 30

If you want to skip creating a class while deserializing JSON, you can do it using NewtonSoft.Json's DeserializeAnonymousType method.

The below example can even deserialize JSON to a list of anonymous objects.

var json = System.IO.File.ReadAllText(@"C:\TestJSONFiles\yourJSONFile.json");
var fooDefinition = new { a = "", b = 0 }; // type with fields of string, int
var fooListDefinition = Enumerable.Range(0, 0).Select(e => fooDefinition).ToList();

var foos = JsonConvert.DeserializeAnonymousType(json, fooListDefinition);