Deserializing JSON list/array to C# classes

Question

I am trying to deserialize the following into C# classes:

{
    "response" : {
        "" : {
            "Expense" : [[{
                        "chart_of_accounts_id" : "45f2fd8f-68b2-44cc-b07ac031c97cd96c",
                        "account_name" : "Salaries",
                        "amount" : "1500.00",
                        "entry_type" : "Debit",
                        "business_id" : "528f00bb-8cd8-4e7f-be6a-0724c327a7be",
                        "account_category" : "5"
                    }, {
                        "chart_of_accounts_id" : "45f2fd8f-68b2-44cc-b07ac031c97cd96c",
                        "account_name" : "Salaries",
                        "amount" : "200.00",
                        "entry_type" : "Debit",
                        "business_id" : "528f00bb-8cd8-4e7f-be6a-0724c327a7be",
                        "account_category" : "5"
                    }
                ]]
        }
    },
    "messages" : {
        "msgs" : "",
        "errs" : ""
    }
}

I have the following so far but I get the error "cannot deserialize the current JSON object (e.g. {"name":"value"}) into type 'Systems.Collections.Generic.List'1[eko_app.Expenses+ExpensesResponse]' because it requires a JSON array (e.g. [1,2,3]) to deserialize correctly"

public class Expense
{
    public string chart_of_accounts_id { get; set; }
    public string account_name { get; set; }
    public decimal amount { get; set; }
    public string entry_type { get; set; }
    public string business_id { get; set; }
    public int account_category { get; set; }
}

public class ExpensesResponse
{
    public List<Expense> Expense { get; set; }
}

public class Messages
{
    public string msgs { get; set; }
    public string errs { get; set; }
}

public class RootObject
{
    public List<ExpensesResponse> response { get; set; }
    public Messages messages { get; set; }
}

// deserialize the json to c# .net
var response = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<RootObject>(jsonData);

if (response != null)
{
          expenses = response.response;
}

What should I do to correct this?

That's a KeyValuePair. You could use a Dictionary<string, string> for it. — Andrei V
– Andrei V, Commented Dec 3, 2013 at 13:02
@Joffrey Kern, I was just sent some Json Api calls and this is the one that I'm having trouble with. — Kinyanjui Kamau
– Kinyanjui Kamau, Commented Dec 3, 2013 at 13:07
If your requirement is oly to acces the values of json.You can use mongoDB Bson dll and do just BsonDocument.Parse("ypur json string") Then you can get all the values for the key. Check out mongoDb driver — shanmugharaj
– shanmugharaj, Commented Dec 3, 2013 at 13:12
Look at "Expense" : [[{ - there are two [ - so you should try something like List<List<Expense>> — Knaģis
– Knaģis, Commented Dec 3, 2013 at 13:14

Ufuk Hacıoğulları · Accepted Answer · 2013-12-03 14:36:38Z

2

I have deserialized the data with following types. There was a property with empty name, it should have JsonPropertyAttribute.

public class Expense
{
    public string chart_of_accounts_id { get; set; }
    public string account_name { get; set; }
    public decimal amount { get; set; }
    public string entry_type { get; set; }
    public string business_id { get; set; }
    public int account_category { get; set; }
}

public class ExpensesResponse
{
    [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "")] 
    public ExpensesResponseContent Content { get; set; }
}

public class ExpensesResponseContent
{
    public List<List<Expense>> Expense { get; set; }

}

public class Messages
{
    public string msgs { get; set; }
    public string errs { get; set; }
}

public class RootObject
{
    public ExpensesResponse response { get; set; }
    public Messages messages { get; set; }
}

You can check how your data is structured with Online JSON Viewer.

edited Dec 3, 2013 at 14:36

answered Dec 3, 2013 at 13:13

Ufuk Hacıoğulları

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3 Comments

Kinyanjui Kamau Over a year ago

Thanks for your answer. Still having trouble with it.

Kinyanjui Kamau Over a year ago

Im getting a null value for the result. However at jsonData = w.DownloadString(expensesURL);, just before desirializing, I am getting valid values.

Ufuk Hacıoğulları Over a year ago

@KinyanjuiKamau I updated the answer. Can you retry?

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