Json using Newtonsoft.Json in C# - Object serialized to Property. JObject instance expected

Question

I receive the error "Object serialized to Property. JObject instance expected." when trying to use the following:

        SortedList<string,string> results = new SortedList<string,string>();
        results.Add("BOBB", "Bob Brattwurst");
        results.Add("DANG", "Dan Germany");
        results.Add("KON", "Konrad Plith");

        JObject output = JObject.FromObject(
            new JProperty("suggestions",
                new JArray(
                    from r in results
                    orderby r.Value
                    select new JObject(
                        new JProperty("value", r.Key),
                        new JProperty("data", r.Value)
                        )
                )
            )
        );

The error occurs when setting the output variable.

This is placed in a Web service, and the expected Json result should look like:

{
"suggestions": [
    { "value": "BOBB", "data": "Bob Brattwurst" },
    { "value": "DANG", "data": "Dan Germany" },
    { "value": "KON",  "data": "Konraid Plith" }
]
}

I've checked against an example i found here: http://www.newtonsoft.com/json/help/html/CreatingLINQtoJSON.htm However i don't quite see the issue.

Nico · Accepted Answer · 2016-10-27 12:28:56Z

2

you could read your data into a custom data structure (or anonymous types if you prefer), which represents your json:

public class JsonContainer
{
    [JsonProperty("suggestions")]
    public List<JsonData> Suggestions { get;set; }
}

public class JsonData
{
    [JsonProperty("value")]
    public string Value { get; set; }

    [JsonProperty("data")]
    public string Data { get; set; }
}


// ...

var results = new SortedList<string, string>();
results.Add("BOBB", "Bob Brattwurst");
results.Add("DANG", "Dan Germany");
results.Add("KON", "Konrad Plith");

var container = new JsonDataContainer();
container.Suggestions = results.Select(r => new JsonData
{
    Value = r.Key,
    Data = r.Value
}).ToList();

var json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(container);

answered Oct 27, 2016 at 12:28

Nico

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ronanduffey · Accepted Answer · 2016-10-27 12:55:38Z

1

A solution maybe to read the data into an anoymous object, following a similar take to heinzbeinz.

SortedList<string, string> results = new SortedList<string, string>();
        results.Add("BOBB", "Bob Brattwurst");
        results.Add("DANG", "Dan Germany");
        results.Add("KON", "Konrad Plith");

var obj = new
{
    Suggestions = results.Select(x => new { Value = x.Key, Data = x.Value }).ToList()
};

var jsonString = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(obj);

answered Oct 27, 2016 at 12:55

ronanduffey

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