CODEWITHSUNDEEP
asp.net-mvcjsonserializationasp.net-web-apijson.net
Javier
Javier

Reputation: 2169

Make JSON.NET and Serializable attribute work together

I'm using JSON.NET and had some troubles in the past during WEBAPI objects deserialization. After doing some research I've found that the class was marked with [Serializable]. When I removed this the deserialization was just fine.

More detailed information about this can be found here:

Why won't Web API deserialize this but JSON.Net will?

Now it comes to the problem that I use binaryformatter to create a hash value calculated from this object class. But Binaryformatter requires that the class must be marked as [Serializable].

Could you recommend me any approach to make both things work at the same time?

Upvotes: 21

Views: 10086

Answers (3)

ritesh sangani
ritesh sangani

Reputation: 340

I was using a POCO with Serializable attribute. In the first case while Posting Request to a WebApi worked by using the following method:

JsonMediaTypeFormatter f = new JsonMediaTypeFormatter()
{
    SerializerSettings = new JsonSerializerSettings()
    {
        ContractResolver = new DefaultContractResolver()
        {
            IgnoreSerializableAttribute = true
        }
    }
};

var result = client.PostAsJsonAsync<IEnumerable<Company>>("company/savecompanies", companies).Result;

//I have truncated the below class for demo purpose
[Serializable]
public class Company
{
    public string CompanyName {get;set;}
}

However, when I tried to read the response from WebApi (Which was posted back as JSON), the object was not properly deserialized. There was not error, but property values were null. The below code did not work:

var readObject = result.Content.ReadAsAsync<IEnumerable<Company>>().Result;

I read the documentation as given on Newtonsoft.Json website https://www.newtonsoft.com/json/help/html/SerializationAttributes.htm and found the following and I quote from that site:

Json.NET attributes take precedence over standard .NET serialization attributes (e.g. if both JsonPropertyAttribute and DataMemberAttribute are present on a property and both customize the name, the name from JsonPropertyAttribute will be used).

So, it was clear if Newtonsoft.Json attributes are present before the standard .NET attributes they will take precedence. Hence I could use the same class for two purposes. One, when I want to post to a WebApi, Newtonsoft Json serializer will kick in and Two, when I want to use BinaryFormatter.Serialize() method std .NET Serializable attribute will work.

The same was confirmed with the answer given above by @Javier. So I modified the Company Class as under:

[JsonObject]
[Serializable]
public class Company
{
    public string CompanyName {get;set;}
}

I was able to use the same class for both purposes. And there was no need for the below code:

JsonMediaTypeFormatter f = new JsonMediaTypeFormatter()
{
    SerializerSettings = new JsonSerializerSettings()
    {
        ContractResolver = new DefaultContractResolver()
        {
            IgnoreSerializableAttribute = true
        }
    }
};

Upvotes: 1

Mark Jerzykowski
Mark Jerzykowski

Reputation: 982

An alternative to specifying JsonObject on each class is to tell web.api to ignore Serialize attributes globally. This can be done by resetting the DefaultContractResolver on the web api JsonFormatter:

config.Formatters.JsonFormatter.SerializerSettings.ContractResolver = new DefaultContractResolver();

(using NewtonSoft.Json.Serialization where config is the System.Web.Http.HttpConfiguration)

As of NewtonSoft v4.5 the IgnoreSerializableAttribute property on the DefaultContractResolver is set to true but the web api wrapper, around DefaultContractResolver, has this set to false by default.

Upvotes: 6

Javier
Javier

Reputation: 2169

Found the solution:

First, check that your Newtonsoft.JSON version is greater than 4.5 or just update with NuGET

According to the version notes, both can work together starting from this version using some extra annotations.

http://james.newtonking.com/archive/2012/04/11/json-net-4-5-release-2-serializable-support-and-bug-fixes

"Now if you are serializing types that have the attribute and don’t want the new behaviour, it can either be overridden on a type using the JsonObjectAttribute"

[JsonObject]
[Serializable]
public class Foobar {

Now it is possible to use JSON.NET and, in my case, the binaryformatter with the [Serializable] attribute.

Upvotes: 35

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