JSON and .NET Nirvana Hath Arrived

May 17 2011

I’ve long struggled/grumbled/finagled with .NET’s various stabs at working with JSON data. I think the WCF Web API project has at last come up with a solution that marries the best of JSON with .NET.

Consider the following code:

dynamic user = new JsonObject();
user.ID = Guid.NewGuid();
user.timeStamp = DateTime.Now;
Console.WriteLine(user.ToString());
Console.ReadLine();

Which will emit this:

"{\"ID\":\"fea63ed4-52ea-4322-b2f3-1f32061d7306\",\"timeStamp\":\"2011-05-17T11:45:49.000-07:00\"}

Walla -- dynamic .NET typing serialized into JSON.

Here's one a little more complex:

dynamic ja = new JsonArray 
{
    new JsonObject 
    {
        { "ID", new Guid("538a868a-c575-4fc9-9a3e-e1e1e68c70c5") },
        { "Name", "Yavor" },
        { "DOB", new DateTime(1984, 01, 17) },
        { "OrderAmount", 10000 },
        { "IsMarried", false },
        { "OrderHistory", null },
        { "Friends", new JsonArray
            {
                new Guid("007cf155-7fb4-4070-9d78-ade638df44c7"),
                new Guid("91c50a40-7ade-4c37-a88f-3b7e066644dc")
            }
        }
    },
    new JsonObject 
    {
        { "ID", new Guid("007cf155-7fb4-4070-9d78-ade638df44c7") },
        { "Name", "Joe" },
        { "DOB", new DateTimeOffset(1983, 02, 18, 11, 22, 33, TimeSpan.FromHours(0)) },
        { "OrderAmount", 50000 },
        { "Friends", new JsonArray
            {
                new Guid("91c50a40-7ade-4c37-a88f-3b7e066644dc")
            }
        }
    },
    new JsonObject 
    {
        { "ID", new Guid("91c50a40-7ade-4c37-a88f-3b7e066644dc") },
        { "Name", "Miguel" },
        { "DOB", new DateTimeOffset(1995, 11, 20, 19, 12, 08, TimeSpan.FromHours(-5)) },
        { "OrderAmount", 25300 },
        { "Friends", new JsonArray
            {
                new Guid("007cf155-7fb4-4070-9d78-ade638df44c7")
            }
        }
    }
};

Console.WriteLine(ja.ToString() + Environment.NewLine);

Console.WriteLine("Get a value");

string name = ja[0].Name;
float orderAmount = ja[0].OrderAmount;
Console.WriteLine("{0}, {1}" + Environment.NewLine, name, orderAmount);

That's part of a samples in this download:

http://wcf.codeplex.com/releases/view/64396

Oh, and if you are grabbing JSON from the wire, you just navigate into the typed JSON. Consider this code, which calls the FourSquare API:

WebClient webClient = new WebClient();
dynamic result = JsonValue.Parse(webClient.DownloadString("https://api.foursquare.com/v2/users/self?oauth_token=XXXXXXX"));
Console.WriteLine(result.response.user.firstName);
Console.ReadLine();

Hurray!

Comments (4) -

5/17/2011 11:46:51 AM #

I tend to use anonymous types when possible (not over method boundaries).

tobi

5/18/2011 9:51:06 PM #

Have you heard about Json.Net? Check it out at http://james.newtonking.com/

ms440

5/19/2011 7:29:27 PM #

Yes, I've used JSON.net. This is better methinks.

rhizohm

8/16/2011 3:41:00 PM #

Ive long struggled/grumbled/finagled with . NETs various stabs at working with JSON data. I think the WCF Web API project has at last come up with a solution that marries the best of JSON with .

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