Convert object of any type to JObject with Json.NET

Question

I often need to extend my Domain model with additional info before returning it to the client with WebAPI. To avoid creation of ViewModel I thought I could return JObject with additional properties. I could not however find direct way to convert object of any type to JObject with single call to Newtonsoft JSON library. I came up with something like this:

1. first SerializeObject
2. then Parse
3. and extend JObject

Eg.:

var cycles = cycleSource.AllCycles();

var settings = new JsonSerializerSettings
{
    ContractResolver = new CamelCasePropertyNamesContractResolver()
};

var vm = new JArray();

foreach (var cycle in cycles)
{
    var cycleJson = JObject.Parse(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(cycle, settings));
    // extend cycleJson ......
    vm.Add(cycleJson);
}

return vm;

I this correct way ?

Answer 1

JObject implements IDictionary, so you can use it that way. For ex,

var cycleJson  = JObject.Parse(@"{""name"":""john""}");

//add surname
cycleJson["surname"] = "doe";

//add a complex object
cycleJson["complexObj"] = JObject.FromObject(new { id = 1, name = "test" });

So the final json will be

{
  "name": "john",
  "surname": "doe",
  "complexObj": {
    "id": 1,
    "name": "test"
  }
}

You can also use dynamic keyword

dynamic cycleJson  = JObject.Parse(@"{""name"":""john""}");
cycleJson.surname = "doe";
cycleJson.complexObj = JObject.FromObject(new { id = 1, name = "test" });