JSON.NET - outputting dynamic object data

Question

I'm working on a project that takes an ingested JSON file and outputs a UI based on the file contents. My JSON looks like this:

{
    "template" : {
        "example" : {
            "name" : "Name",
            "wigglies" : [
                {
                    "displayname" : "Artifact Spots"
                }
            ],
            "othersrc" : [
                {
                    "displayname" : "Other Sources"
                }
            ],
            "reward" : "Donation Reward",
            "drops" : [
                {
                    "displayname" : "Monster Drops"
                }
            ],
            "price0base" : "Base Price",
            "edibility" : "Edibility",
            "iridium" : "",
            "image" : ""
        },
        "metadata" : {
            "author" : "Me",
            "version" : "1.0",
            "published" : "12/21/2019"
        }
    },
    "content" : {
        "categories" : [
            {
                "category" : "Artifacts",
                "subcategories" : [
                    {
                        "subcategory" : "Artifacts",
                        "items" : [
                            {
                                "name" : "Amphibian Fossil",
                                "wigglies" : [
                                    {
                                        "name" : "Forest"
                                    },
                                    {
                                        "name" : "Mountain"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "othersrc" : [
                                    {
                                        "name" : "Fishing Treasure Chest"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "price0base" : "150"
                            },
                            {
                                "name" : "Anchor",
                                "wigglies" : [
                                    {
                                        "name" : "The Beach"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "othersrc" : [
                                    {
                                        "name" : "Fishing Treasure Chest"
                                    },
                                    {
                                        "name" : "Artifact Trove"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "price0base" : "100"
                            }
                        ]
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "category" : "Equipment",
                "subcategories" : [
                    {
                        "subcategory" : "Refining",
                        "items" : [
                            {
                                "name" : "Charcoal Kiln"
                            },
                            {
                                "name" : "Crystalarium"
                            }
                        ]
                    },
                    {
                        "subcategory" : "Artisan",
                        "items" : [
                            {
                                "name" : "Bee House"
                            },
                            {
                                "name" : "Cask"
                            }
                        ]
                    }
                ]
            }
        ]
    }
}

What I'm having trouble with is how to return this data in a useful way, while allowing an arbitrary data structure in the array contained by Content.Categories.Category.Subcategories.Subcategory.Items. My sample JSON is not the only structure for that data; it's just one example. So, there could be more nested arrays in there, too.

I know I can access data through something like:

Content.Categories[0].Subcategories[0].Items[0]["name"]

This returns a Json.Linq.Jtoken though, which isn't super useful. The Items array is a JObject[]. I feel like I'm missing something obvious here.

Answer 1

You can use this:

string jsonData = "";
dynamic templates = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<dynamic>(jsonData);
var name = templates.example.Name;  // prints Name
var categories = templates.Content.Categories; // list of categories

// loop through the categories
// or do whatever

This way your code is easier to read and manage.

Answer 2

I believe you are looking for string representation of the JToken. You can get that by using .ToString() and .ToArray() for name and items respectively.

    JToken name = jsonFeed["content"]["categories"][0]["subcategories"][0]["items"][0]["name"];
    string nameString = jsonFeed["content"]["categories"][0]["subcategories"][0]["items"][0]["name"].ToString();

    JToken[] itemArray = jsonFeed["content"]["categories"][0]["subcategories"][0]["items"].ToArray();