return json from JsonConvert.SerializeXNode with proper type

Question

var test = new
            {
                TestStr = \"test\",
                TestNumber = 123,
                TestDate = new DateTime(1986, 1, 13, 17, 50, 31),
         


        

Answer 1

JSON and XML are different serialization formats, and have different capabilities. JSON can differentiate between string, number, and boolean whereas XML treats everything as a string. Therefore, when you convert from JSON to XML and back, the type information gets lost. One way to handle this is to use an strongly-typed intermediate model when converting back and forth. In other words, instead of converting directly from XML to JSON, deserialize your XML to the model, then serialize the model to JSON. The model will force the data to be the correct types.

Here's an example:

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        string xml = @"
        <test>
          <TestDate>1986-01-13T14:50:31Z</TestDate>
          <TestBool>true</TestBool>
          <TestNumber>123</TestNumber>
          <TestStr>test</TestStr>
        </test>";

        XmlSerializer ser = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Test));
        Test test = (Test)ser.Deserialize(new StringReader(xml));
        string json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(test, Formatting.Indented);
        Console.WriteLine(json);
    }
}

[XmlType("test")]
public class Test
{
    public string TestStr { get; set; }
    public int TestNumber { get; set; }
    public DateTime TestDate { get; set; }
    public bool TestBool { get; set; }
}

Output:

{
  "TestStr": "test",
  "TestNumber": 123,
  "TestDate": "1986-01-13T14:50:31Z",
  "TestBool": true
}