How to parse JSON array (as a string) to Dictionary<string,string> in C#?

Question

I have a string in the following format:

{ "Updated" : [ { "FIRST_NAME" : "Aaa", "LAST_NAME" : "Bbb" } ] }

How can I get a dictionary out of this so I can call dict["FIRST_NAME"]?

I've tried the following, but I think they don't work because my string is a JSON array? If that's the case, how do I change it to a regular JSON string? I don't think it needs to be an array with the simple type of data that is in it... The size of the array will never be more than 1 - i.e., there will be no repeating fields.

Dictionary<string, string> dict = serializer.Deserialize<Dictionary<string, string>>(jsonString); //didn't work

JArray jArray = JArray.Parse(jsonString); //didn't work

You can't (meaningfully) parse a JSON array into a dictionary. — Hot Licks
– Hot Licks, Commented Jan 14, 2013 at 19:24
But of course, what you have is an object (dictionary) containing a single-element array containing an object (dictionary). Peel the onion. — Hot Licks
– Hot Licks, Commented Jan 14, 2013 at 19:25
@HotLicks the problem is that I don't know how to do that. Could you help? — Kalina
– Kalina, Commented Jan 14, 2013 at 19:28
Peel the onion. From the initial parse you get a dictionary. Ask for the "Updated" element of that, which will be an array. Ask for the zeroth element of the array, which will be a dictionary. Ask for your target values in that dictionary. — Hot Licks
– Hot Licks, Commented Jan 14, 2013 at 20:20

Kamyar Nazeri · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-14 19:48:49Z

2

What you are having is a complex object, which can be parsed as a Dictionary of an Array of a Dictionary!

So you can parse it like:

var dic = serializer.Deserialize<Dictionary<string, Dictionary<string, string>[]>>(jsonString)["Updated"][0];
var firstName = dic["FIRST_NAME"];
var lastName = dic["LAST_NAME"];

answered Jan 14, 2013 at 19:48

Kamyar Nazeri

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Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:14:22Z

0

It might be easier to just work with a dynamic variable. See Deserialize JSON into C# dynamic object? for more details.

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:14

CommunityBot

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answered Jan 14, 2013 at 19:16

Richard Schneider

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