SerializingCollections.md

Serializing Collections

Serializing Collections

To serialize a collection - a generic list, array, dictionary, or your own custom collection - simply call the serializer with the object you want to get JSON for. Json.NET will serialize the collection and all of the values it contains.

var p1 = new Product
{
    Name = "Product 1",
    Price = 99.95m,
    ExpiryDate = new(2000, 12, 29, 0, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc)
};
var p2 = new Product
{
    Name = "Product 2",
    Price = 12.50m,
    ExpiryDate = new(2009, 7, 31, 0, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc)
};

var products = new List<Product>
{
    p1,
    p2
};

var json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(products, Formatting.Indented);
//[
//  {
//    "Name": "Product 1",
//    "ExpiryDate": "2000-12-29T00:00:00Z",
//    "Price": 99.95,
//    "Sizes": null
//  },
//  {
//    "Name": "Product 2",
//    "ExpiryDate": "2009-07-31T00:00:00Z",
//    "Price": 12.50,
//    "Sizes": null
//  }
//]

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Deserializing Collections

To deserialize JSON into a .NET collection, just specify the collection type you want to deserialize to. Json.NET supports a wide range of collection types.

var json = """
           [
             {
               'Name': 'Product 1',
               'ExpiryDate': '2000-12-29T00:00Z',
               'Price': 99.95,
               'Sizes': null
             },
             {
               'Name': 'Product 2',
               'ExpiryDate': '2009-07-31T00:00Z',
               'Price': 12.50,
               'Sizes': null
             }
           ]
           """;

var products = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<Product>>(json);

Console.WriteLine(products.Count);
// 2

var p1 = products[0];

Console.WriteLine(p1.Name);
// Product 1

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Deserializing Dictionaries

Using Json.NET you can also deserialize a JSON object into a .NET generic dictionary. The JSON object's property names and values will be added to the dictionary.

var json = """{"key1":"value1","key2":"value2"}""";

var values = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Dictionary<string, string>>(json);

Console.WriteLine(values.Count);
// 2

Console.WriteLine(values["key1"]);
// value1

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Related Topics

• SerializationGuide
• Argon.JsonConvert
• Argon.JsonSerializer