Parse JSON to C# object using NewtonSoft JSON.net

Question

I am trying to deserialize a JSON response I get from a webservice. I am trying to use NewtonSoft Json.NET.

I am trying this to parse the response

var results = JArray.Parse(response.Content);

I get following exception

Newtonsoft.Json.JsonReaderException occurred HResult=0x80131500
Message=Error reading JArray from JsonReader. Current JsonReader item is not an array: StartObject. Path '', line 1, position 1.
Source=Newtonsoft.Json

I probably need to define the object to return but am not sure how to specify following response (sorry about the formatting, the indentions was removed by the editor here):

{"result": [
      {
      "recordType": "sys_ui_script",
      "hits": [],
      "tableLabel": "UI Script"
   },
      {
      "recordType": "sys_script",
      "hits":       [
                  {
            "name": "Approval Events (Non-Task)",
            "className": "sys_script",
            "tableLabel": "sys_script",
            "matches": [            {
               "field": "script",
               "fieldLabel": "Script",
               "lineMatches":                [
                                    {
                     "line": 21,
                     "context": "         updateRecord(current, current.approver.getDisplayValue() + \" rejected the task.\", ",
                     "escaped": "         updateRecord(current, current.approver.getDisplayValue() + &quot; rejected the task.&quot;, "
                  }
               ],
               "count": 2
            }],
            "sysId": "ad15c8149f4010008f88ed93ee4bcc9f",
            "modified": 1489179469000
         }
      ],
      "tableLabel": "Business Rule"
   }

]}

Does you JSON have a method call in it? Whats the final output you get? This isn't valid. — Sam Marion
{"result": [ is an object, not an array (and the error says so! "item is not an array"). Did you try JObject.Parse(...)? — crashmstr
Above is the output I get which I cannot change as it is an existing rest service on the net. — Tommy

KreepN KreepN · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-20T15:50:27

Define a class and deserialize it:

var results =  JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<RootObject>(response.Content);   

public class LineMatch
{
    public int line { get; set; }
    public string context { get; set; }
    public string escaped { get; set; }
}

public class Match
{
    public string field { get; set; }
    public string fieldLabel { get; set; }
    public List<LineMatch> lineMatches { get; set; }
    public int count { get; set; }
}

public class Hit
{
    public string name { get; set; }
    public string className { get; set; }
    public string tableLabel { get; set; }
    public List<Match> matches { get; set; }
    public string sysId { get; set; }
    public long modified { get; set; }
}

public class Result
{
    public string recordType { get; set; }
    public List<Hit> hits { get; set; }
    public string tableLabel { get; set; }
}

public class RootObject
{
    public List<Result> result { get; set; }
}

Parse JSON to C# object using NewtonSoft JSON.net

2 Answers