Serialize a Dictionary as JSON object using DataContractJsonSerializer

Question

I have an [DataContract] object that has some properties and is serialized to JSON using DataContractJsonSerializer.

One of the properties is of type Dictionary<string, string> and when the serialization happens it produces the following JSON schema.

"extra_data": [
  {
    "Key": "aKey",
    "Value": "aValue"
  }
]

Now I need the JSON schema to be like this

"extra_data": { 
        "aKey": "aValue"
}

You can never of course know before what the values are, it is a Dictionary that the user will set keys and values.

I'm thinking if this can happen using anonymous types, or is there a configuration I can take to accomplish my goal?

Thank you.

Duplicate of http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4547550/c-sharp-json-custom-serialization — Konrad Kokosa, Dec 13 '13 at 09:36

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 13 '13 at 09:45

2

Ok, let say you have:

[DataContract]
public class MyObject
{
    [DataMember(Name = "extra_data")]
    public Dictionary<string, string> MyDictionary { get; set; } 

}

Then you can use DataContractJsonSerializerSettings with UseSimpleDictionaryFormat set to true, something like this:

    var myObject = new MyObject { MyDictionary = new Dictionary<string, string> { { "key1", "value1" }, { "key2", "value2" } } };

    DataContractJsonSerializerSettings settings = new DataContractJsonSerializerSettings { UseSimpleDictionaryFormat = true };

    DataContractJsonSerializer serializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer(typeof(MyObject), settings);

    var result = string.Empty;

    using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream())
    {
        serializer.WriteObject(ms, myObject);

        result = Encoding.Default.GetString(ms.ToArray());
    }

answered Dec 13 '13 at 09:45

Jevgenij Nekrasov

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Worked perfect and simple. Thank you. – George Taskos Dec 13 '13 at 17:28
For Windows Phone 8 I used the Newtonsoft JSON serializer Nuget package. http://james.newtonking.com/json – George Taskos Aug 29 '14 at 12:40
I dont have DataContractJsonSerializerSettings at all (running .NET 4.5), it just doest exist. – Ted Mar 15 '17 at 08:42
2

Hi, where can I replace the "normal" serializer with this serializier when I am create the service host in code? – flayn Sep 06 '17 at 06:38
DataContractJsonSerializerSettings is not available in .NET 4.0 – Isuru Madusanka Apr 09 '19 at 17:46

Serialize a Dictionary as JSON object using DataContractJsonSerializer

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