How do I add comments to Json.NET output?

Question

Is there a way I can automatically add comments to the serialised output from Json.NET?

Ideally, I\'d imagine it\'s something similar to the following:

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Answer 1

Well there is something one can do in order to add a comment to the output, but I would not do it except out of truly desperation.

You can write a custom Converter:

public class JsonCommentConverter : JsonConverter
{
    private readonly string _comment;
    public JsonCommentConverter(string comment)
    {
        _comment = comment;
    }

    public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, object value, JsonSerializer serializer)
    {
        writer.WriteValue(value);
        writer.WriteComment(_comment); // append comment
    }

    public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue,
        JsonSerializer serializer)
    {
        throw new NotImplementedException();
    }

    public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType) => true;
    public override bool CanRead => false;
}

and use it in your classes as:

public class Person
{
    [JsonConverter(typeof(JsonCommentConverter), "Name of the person")]
    public string Name { get; set; }

    [JsonConverter(typeof(JsonCommentConverter), "Age of the person")]
    public int Age { get; set; }
}

Serializing your class

 var person = new Person { Name = "Jack", Age = 22 };
 var personAsJson = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(person, Formatting.Indented);

will create the following output:

{
    "Name": "Jack"/*Name of the person*/,
    "Age": 22/*Age of the person*/
}

Json.net will convert back this string into a Person class without a problem.