Deserialize JSON array with unknown keys inside JSON object to a generic property - C#

Question

Finding the right title for this problem was kinda hard so I'll try to explain the problem a bit better below.

I am making a call to an API which returns the following JSON object:

{{
  "id": "jsonrpc",
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "result": {
    "result": [
      {
        "AccountId": 285929,
        "Flags": [
          "Managed_Obsolete"
        ],
        "PartnerId": 73560,
        "Settings": [
          {
            "AN": "company_1"
          },
          {
            "CD": "1435323320"
          },
          {
            "ED": "2147483647"
          },
          {
            "OS": "Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard Edition (9600), 64-bit"
          },
          {
            "OT": "2"
          },
          {
            "T3": "1085792125772"
          },
          {
            "US": "958222150780"
          },
          {
            "YS": "100"
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "AccountId": 610474,
        "Flags": null,
        "PartnerId": 249262,
        "Settings": [
          {
            "AN": "company_2"
          },
          {
            "CD": "1522143635"
          },
          {
            "ED": "2147483647"
          },
          {
            "OS": "Windows 7 Professional Service Pack 1 (7601), 64-bit"
          },
          {
            "OT": "2"
          },
          {
            "T3": "598346102236"
          },
          {
            "US": "758149148249"
          },
          {
            "YS": "100"
          }
        ]
      },
    ],
    "totalStatistics": null
  },
}}

In above result I listed only the first 2 accounts (total of 80+ accounts normally). Deserializing the object works fine, I am putting the JSON object fields inside my C# model (list). The problem however is that I can't get the (inner) Settings array properly in my model. The settings array keys are unknown, I define these keys when I call the API:

JObject requestObject = new JObject();
    requestObject.Add(new JProperty("id", "jsonrpc"));
    requestObject.Add(new JProperty("jsonrpc", "2.0"));
    requestObject.Add(new JProperty("method", "myMethod"));
    requestObject.Add(new JProperty("visa", someID));
    requestObject.Add(new JProperty("params",
       new JObject(
            new JProperty("query", new JObject(
                new JProperty("PartnerId", partnerId),
                new JProperty("StartRecordNumber", 0),
                new JProperty("RecordsCount", 9999999),
                new JProperty("Columns", new JArray("AR", "AN", "US", "T3", "OT", "OS", "YS"))
            )),
            new JProperty("timeslice", unixDate),
            new JProperty("totalStatistics", "*")
       ))
    );

In above call I define the keys for the Settings array, this could however also be just one key or more. For this reason I want to make my Settings property in my C# model generic (I don't want to list all the possible key names because this are over 100 keys).

What I had so far:

List<EnumerateAccountHistoryStatisticsResult> resultList = new List<EnumerateAccountHistoryStatisticsResult>();
var result = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<JObject>(streamreader.ReadToEnd());
dynamic innerResult = result["result"]["result"];

foreach (var obj in innerResult)
{
    resultList.Add(
        new EnumerateAccountHistoryStatisticsResult
        {
            AccountId = obj.AccountId,
            Flags = obj.Flags.ToObject<IEnumerable<string>>(),
            PartnerId = obj.PartnerId,
            Settings = obj.Settings.ToObject<List<ColumnSettingsResult>>(),
        });
}

The EnumerateAccountHistoryStatisticsResult Model:

public class EnumerateAccountHistoryStatisticsResult
{
    public int AccountId { get; set; }
    public IEnumerable<string> Flags { get; set; }
    public int PartnerId { get; set; }
    public List<ColumnSettingsResult> Settings { get; set; }
}

The ColumnSettingsResult model:

public class ColumnSettingsResult
{
    public string AR { get; set; }
    public string AN { get; set; }
    public string US { get; set; }
    public string T3 { get; set; }
    public string OT { get; set; }
    public string OS { get; set; }
    public string YS { get; set; }
    // and list all other columns...
}

With above models I would need to list all the possible columns which are over 100 properties, besides that the result of the Settings list is not logical because I get all the property values but for each different key I get null values:

The ColumnSettingsResult model should more be something like:

public class ColumnSettingsResult
{
    public string ColumnName { get; set; }
    public string ColumnValue { get; set; }
}

I cant get the key and value inside these two properties though without defining the key name inside the model.. I already tried several things without result (links below as reference).

Anyone that can get me in the right direction?

• C# deserialize Json unknown keys
• Convert JObject into Dictionary<string, object>. Is it possible?
• Convert Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JArray to a list of specific object type

Answer 1

Try making Settings of type Dictionary<string,string> (or List<KeyValuePair<string,string>> if Dictionary doesn't give you what you want.

public class MyJsonObject
{
    public string id { get; set; }
    public string jsonrpc { get; set; }
    public Result result { get; set; }

    public class Result2
    {
        public int AccountId { get; set; }
        public List<string> Flags { get; set; }
        public int PartnerId { get; set; }
        public Dictionary<string,string> Settings { get; set; } //or List<KeyValuePair<string,string>>
    }

    public class Result
    {
        public List<Result2> result { get; set; }
        public object totalStatistics { get; set; }
    }
}

Then JsonConvert.DerserializeObject<MyJsonObject>(jsonString);