CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#asp.netjson
Fearghal
Fearghal

Reputation: 11437

split json string into its constituent 1st child nodes and put keys into string array

I have a Json file which has unknown child nodes each of which have child nodes for an unknown depth.

I want to get the 1st level of child node names into an array.

How do i do this if i dont know their names or the number of child nodes - ie the json structure is dynamic?

eg json input

{
"childNode1":"value", "childNode2":"value", "childNode3":"value", "childNode4":"value"
}

expected output is equivalent to this array:

string[] jsonArray =
     new[] { "childNode1", "childnode2", "childNode3", "childnode4" };

The code i have will show me the children in the debugger 'locals', how can i get their keys and values?

JObject json = JObject.Parse(System.IO.File.ReadAllText(filePath));

I can do it if i know what nodes I'm looking for but i don't in this case?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1698

Answers (2)

Jodrell
Jodrell

Reputation: 35726

you could do,

IEnumerable<string> ParsePropertyNames(string s)
{
    var o = JObject.Parse(s);
    return o.Properties().Select(p => p.Name);
}

which your could use like,

var results = ParsePropertyNames(yourString).ToArray();

Upvotes: 1

Tim S.
Tim S.

Reputation: 56556

If you deserialize the object as a dictionary, you can get the keys easily. Here's an example using Json.NET.

var dict = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Dictionary<string, object>>(s);
string[] jsonArray = dict.Keys.ToArray();

Depending on what you want to do with the object, the second line might be redundant.

If you already have it as a JObject, you can get the names like this:

JObject json = // something
string[] jsonArray = ((IDictionary<string, JToken>)json).Keys.ToArray(); // or
string[] jsonArray = json.Properties().Select(x => x.Name).ToArray();

Upvotes: 3

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