How to create my json string by using C#?

Question

I am new to json format. I want to create a following json string by using C# and json.net package.

This is my target Json format:

{
  "GetQuestions": 
  {
    "s1":"Q1,Q2",
    "s2":"Q1,Q3",
    "s3":"Q4,Q5"
  }
}

Here, i am storing each students questions.But sometimes, the total number of students may be vary.for example it may be s1,s2 only or s1,s2,s3,s4.... This is calculated at runtime in C#.So, i want to create the json string depending on the student list....

Please guide me to get out of this issue?

Answer 1

To convert any object or object list into JSON, we have to use the function JsonConvert.SerializeObject.

The below code demonstrates the use of JSON in an ASP.NET environment:

using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Collections;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Security;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;
using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace JSONFromCS
{
    public partial class _Default : System.Web.UI.Page
    {
        protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e1)
        {
            List<Employee> eList = new List<Employee>();
            Employee e = new Employee();
            e.Name = "Minal";
            e.Age = 24;

            eList.Add(e);

            e = new Employee();
            e.Name = "Santosh";
            e.Age = 24;

            eList.Add(e);

            string ans = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(eList, Formatting.Indented);

            string script = "var employeeList = {\"Employee\": " + ans+"};";
            script += "for(i = 0;i<employeeList.Employee.length;i++)";
            script += "{";
            script += "alert ('Name : ='+employeeList.Employee[i].Name+' 
            Age : = '+employeeList.Employee[i].Age);";
            script += "}";

            ClientScriptManager cs = Page.ClientScript;
            cs.RegisterStartupScript(Page.GetType(), "JSON", script, true);
        }
    }
    public class Employee
    {
        public string Name;
        public int Age;
    }
}  

After running this program, you will get two alerts

In the above example, we have created a list of Employee object and passed it to function "JsonConvert.SerializeObject". This function (JSON library) will convert the object list into JSON format. The actual format of JSON can be viewed in the below code snippet:

{ "Maths" : [                {"Name"     : "Minal",        // First element
                             "Marks"     : 84,
                             "age"       : 23 },
                             {
                             "Name"      : "Santosh",    // Second element
                             "Marks"     : 91,
                             "age"       : 24 }
  ],                       
  "Science" :  [ 
                             {
                             "Name"      : "Sahoo",     // First Element
                             "Marks"     : 74,
                             "age"       : 27 }, 
                             {                           
                             "Name"      : "Santosh",    // Second Element
                             "Marks"     : 78,
                             "age"       : 41 }
  ] 
            } 

Syntax:

• {} - acts as 'containers'

• [] - holds arrays

• : - Names and values are separated by a colon

• , - Array elements are separated by commas

This code is meant for intermediate programmers, who want to use C# 2.0 to create JSON and use in ASPX pages.

You can create JSON from JavaScript end, but what would you do to convert the list of object into equivalent JSON string from C#. That's why I have written this article.

In C# 3.5, there is an inbuilt class used to create JSON named JavaScriptSerializer.

The following code demonstrates how to use that class to convert into JSON in C#3.5.

JavaScriptSerializer serializer = new JavaScriptSerializer()
return serializer.Serialize(YOURLIST);   

So, try to create a List of arrays with Questions and then serialize this list into JSON

Answer 2

The json is kind of odd, it's like the students are properties of the "GetQuestion" object, it should be easy to be a List.....

About the libraries you could use are.

• JavaScriptSerializer
• NewtonSoft.Json
• SimpleJson ...

And there could be many more, but that are what I've used

About the json I don't now maybe something like this

public class GetQuestions
{
    public List<Student> Questions { get; set; }
}

public class Student
{
    public string Code { get; set; }
    public string Questions { get; set; }
}

void Main()
{
    var gq = new GetQuestions
    {
        Questions = new List<Student>
        {
            new Student {Code = "s1", Questions = "Q1,Q2"},
            new Student {Code = "s2", Questions = "Q1,Q2,Q3"},
            new Student {Code = "s3", Questions = "Q1,Q2,Q4"},
            new Student {Code = "s4", Questions = "Q1,Q2,Q5"},
        }
    };

    //Using Newtonsoft.json. Dump is an extension method of [Linqpad][4]
    JsonConvert.SerializeObject(gq).Dump();
}

Linqpad

and the result is this

{
     "Questions":[
        {"Code":"s1","Questions":"Q1,Q2"},
        {"Code":"s2","Questions":"Q1,Q2,Q3"},
        {"Code":"s3","Questions":"Q1,Q2,Q4"},
        {"Code":"s4","Questions":"Q1,Q2,Q5"}
      ]
 }

Yes I know the json is different, but the json that you want with dictionary.

void Main()
{
    var f = new Foo
    {
        GetQuestions = new Dictionary<string, string>
                {
                    {"s1", "Q1,Q2"},
                    {"s2", "Q1,Q2,Q3"},
                    {"s3", "Q1,Q2,Q4"},
                    {"s4", "Q1,Q2,Q4,Q6"},
                }
    };

    JsonConvert.SerializeObject(f).Dump();
}

class Foo
{
    public Dictionary<string, string> GetQuestions { get; set; }
}

And with Dictionary is as you want it.....

{
      "GetQuestions":
       {
              "s1":"Q1,Q2",
              "s2":"Q1,Q2,Q3",
              "s3":"Q1,Q2,Q4",
              "s4":"Q1,Q2,Q4,Q6"
       }
 }

Answer 3

No real need for the JSON.NET package. You could use JavaScriptSerializer. The Serialize method will turn a managed type instance into a JSON string.

var serializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
var json = serializer.Serialize(instanceOfThing);