Detect if deserialized object is missing a field with the JsonConvert class in Json.NET

I'm trying to deserialize some JSON objects using Json.NET. I've found however that when I deserialize an object that doesn't have the properties I'm looking for that no error is thrown up but a default value is returned for the properties when I access them. It's important that I'm able to detect when I've deserialized the wrong type of object. Example code:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Newtonsoft.Json;

namespace Json_Fail_Test
{
    class Program
    {
        [JsonObject(MemberSerialization.OptOut)]
        private class MyJsonObjView
        {
            [JsonProperty("MyJsonInt")]
            public int MyJsonInt { get; set; }
        }

        const string correctData = @"
        {
            'MyJsonInt': 42
        }";

        const string wrongData = @"
        {
            'SomeOtherProperty': 'fbe8c20b'
        }";

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var goodObj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<MyJsonObjView>(correctData);
            System.Console.Out.WriteLine(goodObj.MyJsonInt.ToString());

            var badObj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<MyJsonObjView>(wrongData);
            System.Console.Out.WriteLine(badObj.MyJsonInt.ToString());
        }
    }
}

The output of this program is: 42 0

I would prefer an exception be thrown to failing silently. Short of that is there a way to detect if the serialization failed to find a parameter?

I know I can parse the data with a Json object and then check for the parameter with a key value lookup but the codebase I'm in uses the pattern above and I'd like keep that consistent if it's possible.

Solution 1:

The Json.Net serializer has a MissingMemberHandling setting which you can set to Error. (The default is Ignore.) This will cause the serializer to throw a JsonSerializationException during deserialization whenever it encounters a JSON property for which there is no corresponding property in the target class.

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    try
    {
        JsonSerializerSettings settings = new JsonSerializerSettings();
        settings.MissingMemberHandling = MissingMemberHandling.Error;

        var goodObj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<MyJsonObjView>(correctData, settings);
        System.Console.Out.WriteLine(goodObj.MyJsonInt.ToString());

        var badObj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<MyJsonObjView>(wrongData, settings);
        System.Console.Out.WriteLine(badObj.MyJsonInt.ToString());
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(ex.GetType().Name + ": " + ex.Message);
    }
}

Result:

42
JsonSerializationException: Could not find member 'SomeOtherProperty' on object
of type 'MyJsonObjView'. Path 'SomeOtherProperty', line 3, position 33.

See: MissingMemberHandling setting.

Solution 2:

Just add [JsonProperty(Required = Required.Always)] to the required properties and it'll throw exception if the property is not there while deserializing.

[JsonProperty(Required = Required.Always)]
 public int MyJsonInt { get; set; }

Solution 3:

Put the following attribute on required properties:

[DataMember(IsRequired = true)]

If the member is not present, it will throw a Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializationException.

As Brian suggested below, you will also need this attribute on your class:

[DataContract]