Parsing JSON return that is an array of Objects in C#

Question

I am making a call to a web service and the JSON return is an array of objects. Normally I use Json.NET and Visual Studio takes care of the rest, but in this case Visual studio is expecting a single object instead of an array of objects and I'm not sure how to get it to parse correctly.

After making the call normally what I would do is:

var serviceResponse = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Client.orderSummary>(response.Content);

then use the return as serviceResponse.clientID

---

Here is an example response:

{
"list": [
    {
        "clientId": "6974",
        "orderId": "33305",
        "itemsOrdered": {
            "id": [
                156751
            ]
        }
    },
    {
        "clientId": "6974",
        "orderId": "11288",
        "itemsOrdered": {
            "id": [
                156751
            ]
        }
    },
    {
        "clientId": "6974",
        "orderId": "27474",
        "itemsOrdered": {
            "id": [
                108801
            ]
        }
    }
]

}

I expect it to be parsing out so that I can use the return as serviceResponse[0].clientID but I can't figure out how to get VS to recognize it is an array coming back instead of a single object.

---

If I try the following:

var serviceResponse = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<Client2.clientCaseSummary>>(response.Content);

I get this error:

Cannot deserialize the current JSON object (e.g. {"name":"value"}) into type 'System.Collections.Generic.List`1[Client2.clientCaseSummary]' because the type requires a JSON array (e.g. [1,2,3]) to deserialize correctly.

---

I have also tried the following:

var listObject = JObject.Parse(response.Content);

var serviceResponse = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<Client2.clientCaseSummary>>(listObject["list"].ToString());

This works when there is more than one object in the response, but when there is only one object in the response I get this error:

Cannot deserialize the current JSON object (e.g. {"name":"value"}) into type 'System.String[]' because the type requires a JSON array (e.g. [1,2,3]) to deserialize correctly.

As requested here is the Client.orderSummary that VS generate from the xsd files I was given:

/// <remarks/>
[System.CodeDom.Compiler.GeneratedCodeAttribute("xsd", "4.0.30319.17929")]
[System.SerializableAttribute()]
[System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThroughAttribute()]
[System.ComponentModel.DesignerCategoryAttribute("code")]
[System.Xml.Serialization.XmlTypeAttribute(Namespace="http://xxxxx")]
public partial class orderSummary : codexElement {

    private string clientIdField;

    private string orderIdField;

    private string[] itemsOrderedField;


    /// <remarks/>
    [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute(Form=System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchemaForm.Unqualified)]
    public string clientId {
        get {
            return this.clientIdField;
        }
        set {
            this.clientIdField = value;
        }
    }

    /// <remarks/>
    [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute(Form=System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchemaForm.Unqualified)]
    public string orderId {
        get {
            return this.orderIdField;
        }
        set {
            this.orderIdField = value;
        }
    }


    /// <remarks/>
    [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlArrayAttribute(Form=System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchemaForm.Unqualified)]
    [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlArrayItemAttribute("id", Form=System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchemaForm.Unqualified, DataType="integer", IsNullable=false)]
    public string[] itemsOrdered{
        get {
            return this.itemsOrderedField;
        }
        set {
            this.itemsOrderedField = value;
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

You're deserializing to a single Client.ordersummary object. To deserialize to a list of Client.ordersummary, do this:

var serviceResponse = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<Client.orderSummary>>(response.Content);