Deserialize to IEnumerable class using Newtonsoft Json.Net

Question

I have a project that is currently using Json.Net for Json deserialization classes like these:

public class Foo {
    public Guid FooGuid { get; set; }
    p         


        

Answer 1

From the Json.Net documentation:

IEnumerable, Lists and Arrays

.NET lists (types that inherit from IEnumerable) and .NET arrays are converted to JSON arrays. Because JSON arrays only support a range of values and not properties, any additional properties and fields declared on .NET collections are not serialized. In situations where a JSON array is not wanted the JsonObjectAttribute can be placed on a .NET type that implements IEnumerable to force the type to be serialized as a JSON object instead.

In other words, since your class implements IEnumerable<T>, Json.Net thinks it is a list. To get around this, simply decorate your class with the [JsonObject] attribute. This will force Json.Net to serialize and deserialize it as a normal class, which is what you want in this case.

[JsonObject]
public class EnumerableFoo : IEnumerable<Bar>
{
    ...
}