How do I serialize a C# anonymous type to a JSON string?

c# json anonymous-types datacontractjsonserializer json-serialization
JC Grubbs picture JC Grubbs · Dec 1, 2008 · Viewed 122.1k times · Source

I'm attempting to use the following code to serialize an anonymous type to JSON:

var serializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer(thing.GetType());
var ms = new MemoryStream();
serializer.WriteObject(ms, thing);
var json = Encoding.Default.GetString(ms.ToArray());

However, I get the following exception when this is executed:

Type '<>f__AnonymousType1`3[System.Int32,System.Int32,System.Object[]]' cannot be serialized. Consider marking it with the DataContractAttribute attribute, and marking all of its members you want serialized with the DataMemberAttribute attribute. See the Microsoft .NET Framework documentation for other supported types.

I can't apply attributes to an anonymous type (as far as I know). Is there another way to do this serialization or am I missing something?

Answer

Nick Berardi picture Nick Berardi · Dec 1, 2008

Try the JavaScriptSerializer instead of the DataContractJsonSerializer

JavaScriptSerializer serializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
var output = serializer.Serialize(your_anon_object);

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