Json.NET: serializing/deserializing arrays

Question

I\'m using a Json.NET library. What\'s the most convenient way of serializing/deserializing arrays in JSON via C#? For example, I\'m trying to deserialize the following text

Answer 1

Depends on what you're doing. In your case the easiest way would be to create a JsonConverter. So you could do the following:

public class IntArrayConverter : JsonCreationConverter
{

    protected override int[] Create(Type objectType, JArray jArray)
    {
        List tags = new List();

        foreach (var id in jArray)
        {
            tags.Add(id.Value());
        }

        return tags.ToArray();
    }
}

public abstract class JsonCreationConverter : JsonConverter
{
    /// 

    /// Create an instance of objectType, based properties in the JSON Array
    /// 
    /// type of object expected
    /// contents of JSON Array that will be deserialized
    /// 
    protected abstract T Create(Type objectType, JArray jObject);

    public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
    {
        return typeof(T).IsAssignableFrom(objectType);
    }

    public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
    {
        JArray jArray = JArray.Load(reader);

        T target = Create(objectType, jArray);

        return target;
    }

    public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, object value, JsonSerializer serializer)
    {
        throw new NotImplementedException();
    }
}

Then define your model with your new attribute:

public class Person
{  
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Gender { get; set; }
    [JsonConverter(typeof(IntArrayConverter))]
    public int[] Favorite_numbers { get; set; }
}

And you can use it as you normally would:

Person result = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(@"{
                ""Name"": ""Christina"",
                ""Gender"": ""female"",
                ""Favorite_numbers"": [11, 25 ,23]
            }");