Convert deserialized json class to datatable

Question

I am trying to convert json that I deserialized to a class to a datatable by using the code below ,however the code below fails at the last line.

using (var          


        

Answer 1

Have you tried having your class inherit from the DataTable class? Ideally you would be able to manipulate the data and have the end result still be a DataTable.

Answer 2

For your json string to get deserialized into a DataTable, it needs to be an array of json objects, where each first-level object in the array corresponds to a row. For instance, this would work fine:

string data = "[{\"FirstName\": \"John\", \"LastName\": \"Smith\"}, {\"FirstName\": \"Mohammed\", \"LastName\": \"Lee\"}]"; 
var dt = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<DataTable>(data);

Notice that that whole json string is within a []. It wont work even if it is a json object containing only an array.

If you want to deserialize into a custom type first, then I would suggest that you deserialize the exact same json into a List<T> instead of a DataTable.

class Name 
{
    public string FirstName { get; set; }
    public string LastName { get; set; }
}

...

var names = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<Name>>(data);

And then there are ways to convert the list to a DataTable. Having said that, once you have deserialized into a custom list type, would you still want to convert that into a DataTable? If the DataTable is to be used for data binding on controls, there are other options for binding sources.

Answer 3

If you have only one object serialized then add the square brackets to be parsed to data table correctly.

var json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(zone, Formatting.None,
                        new JsonSerializerSettings()
                        {
                            ReferenceLoopHandling = ReferenceLoopHandling.Ignore
                        });

json = "[" + json + "]";

DataTable table = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<DataTable>(json);