How can I parse a JSON string that would cause illegal C# identifiers?

Question

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.

Your logic is wrong. from what I see, you have a list of items with the same structure. So your class should represent that structure, NOT the list, and you should parse your JSON to a .NET List, not to several classes. — Laurent S., Jul 02 '14 at 16:40
As soon as it looks like key-value pairs, the answer below is spot on — Konstantin Chernov, Jul 02 '14 at 16:40
Yeah there is another class which has the two properties one for class 1 and other for class 2 — TaLha Khan, Jul 02 '14 at 16:42
L.B. here unders explained this much more clearly than me :-) — Laurent S., Jul 02 '14 at 16:43

score 66 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 02 '14 at 16:37

66

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);

answered Jul 02 '14 at 16:37

L.B

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19
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224

thanks a ton..worked like a charm......problem solved. but still i dont know how it worked. can you please explain how dictionary worked ? – TaLha Khan Jul 02 '14 at 16:42
5

@TaLhaKhan Because your json represents key-value pairs. "1" is the key, `{...}` is the value. – L.B Jul 02 '14 at 16:44

score 49 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 02 '14 at 16:48

49

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; }
}

answered Jul 02 '14 at 16:48

ken2k

48,145
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5

Of course, if the number of *Keys* and their names are known beforehand. Not suitable for dynamically created objects like `userid : {name:aa,surname:bb}, anotheruserid:{}` – I4V Jul 03 '14 at 11:55
@I4V If they are dynamically created objects you probably couldn't use predefined classes anyway. – Roman Jul 07 '14 at 17:58
1

@R0MANARMY I didn't mean it . Keys can be dynamic, for example a guid or an id comming from db. But its value is a known type. `{{1232574:{name:john}, 755344674:{name:doe}}` – I4V Jul 07 '14 at 18:14

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered May 24 '20 at 02:11

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);
    }
}

How can I parse a JSON string that would cause illegal C# identifiers?

3 Answers3

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