Cannot deserialize JSON Object into List

Question

I have the below classes:

public class Datum
{
    public bool Prop1 { get; set; }
    public bool Prop2 { get; set; }
    public bool Prop3 { get; set; }
    public bool Prop4 { get; set; }
    public bool Prop5 { get; set; }
    public bool Prop6 { get; set; }
}

public class Example
{
    public IList<Datum> data { get; set; }
}

And I have the below json in variable:

var json = @"{'data': [
    {
        'Prop1':   true,
        'Prop2':  true,
        'Prop3':        true,
        'Prop4':              true,
        'Prop5':     true,
        'Prop6':     true
    },
    {
                'Prop1':   true,
        'Prop2':  true,
        'Prop3':       true,
        'Prop4':             true,
        'Prop5':     true,
        'Prop6':     false
    },
    {
                'Prop1':   false,
        'Prop2':  true,
        'Prop3':       true,
        'Prop4':             true,
        'Prop5':     false,
        'Prop6':     false
    },
    {
                'Prop1':   false,
        'Prop2':  true,
        'Prop3':       true,
        'Prop4':             false,
        'Prop5':     false,
        'Prop6':     false
    }]
}";

I am Using Netonsoft JSON.NET to deserialize the JSON into C# Objects like below:

var items = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<Example>>(json); But I am getting the below error:

Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializationException: 'Cannot deserialize the current JSON object (e.g. {"name":"value"}) into type 'System.Collections.Generic.List`1[ReadJson.Example]' because the type requires a JSON array (e.g. [1,2,3]) to deserialize correctly. To fix this error either change the JSON to a JSON array (e.g. [1,2,3]) or change the deserialized type so that it is a normal .NET type (e.g. not a primitive type like integer, not a collection type like an array or List) that can be deserialized from a JSON object. JsonObjectAttribute can also be added to the type to force it to deserialize from a JSON object. Path 'data', line 1, position 8.'

I ran the exact same code in some online c# editor and this just works fine. But when I try in my local Visual Studio it gives the error. I am using Newtonsoft Version 12 and above.

Can anybody explain me what is wrong with my code.

Thanks in Advance.

Answer 1

You don't have a list of Example. You have an Example, singular. Example has a data property; your JSON only contains one instance of that property, and its enclosing object isn't in an array.

So,

JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Example>(json)