JSON.NET serializing as array

Question

I have a some data that I need serialized to json. Below is a simplified version of the code I'm using on the backend to generate the json:

public class RawBarData
{
    public string Month { get; set; }
    public decimal Total { get; set; }
}

List<RawBarData> lstData == getData();

string jdata = JsonConvert.SerializedObject(lstData);

After this runs, jdata looks something like this:

[ 
  { Month: "January", Total: 10}, 
  { Month: "February", Total: 8}, 
  { Month: "March", Total:  4}, 
  { Month: "April", Total: 13}, 
  { Month: "May", Total: 17}, 
  { Month: "June", Total:  9} 
]

However I need the output to look like this:

[ 
  ["January", 10], 
  ["February", 8], 
  ["March", 4], 
  ["April", 13], 
  ["May", 17], 
  ["June", 9] 
]

How can I guide json.net to serialize the data in this format?

The key to getting things in the correct JSON format is to create a C# object that will serialize how you want it to. Two ways to do this. One is to create a new class and the provide a method to convert to the new class. The second method is to create anonymous objects expressly for the purpose of serializing (like recursive's answer). — mason
– mason, Commented Apr 17, 2014 at 18:31

recursive · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-17 20:47:09Z

3

You can do it like this:

List<object[]> converted = getData()
    .Select(r => new object[] { r.Month, r.Total })
    .ToList();
string jdata = JsonConvert.SerializedObject(converted);

This replaces the RawBarData instances with object arrays, which will serialize into... you guessed it, JSON arrays.

edited Apr 17, 2014 at 20:47

answered Apr 17, 2014 at 18:28

recursive

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