How do I use JSON.NET to deserialize into nested/recursive Dictionary and List?

Question

I need to deserialize a complex JSON blob into standard .NET containers for use in code that is not aware of JSON. It expects things to be in standard .NET types, specifically Dictionary<string, object> or List<object> where "object" can be primitive or recurse (Dictionary or List).

I cannot use a static type to map the results and JObject/JToken don't fit. Ideally, there would be some way (via Contracts perhaps?) to convert raw JSON into basic .NET containers.

I've search all over for any way to coax the JSON.NET deserializer into creating these simple types when it encounters "{}" or "[]" but with little success.

Any help appreciated!

Answer 1

If you just want a generic method that can handle any arbitrary JSON and convert it into a nested structure of regular .NET types (primitives, Lists and Dictionaries), you can use JSON.Net's LINQ-to-JSON API to do it:

using System.Linq;
using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;

public static class JsonHelper
{
    public static object Deserialize(string json)
    {
        return ToObject(JToken.Parse(json));
    }

    private static object ToObject(JToken token)
    {
        switch (token.Type)
        {
            case JTokenType.Object:
                return token.Children<JProperty>()
                            .ToDictionary(prop => prop.Name,
                                          prop => ToObject(prop.Value));

            case JTokenType.Array:
                return token.Select(ToObject).ToList();

            default:
                return ((JValue)token).Value;
        }
    }
}

You can call the method as shown below. obj will either contain a Dictionary<string, object>, List<object>, or primitive depending on what JSON you started with.

object obj = JsonHelper.Deserialize(jsonString);