Is polymorphic deserialization possible in System.Text.Json?

I try to migrate from Newtonsoft.Json to System.Text.Json. I want to deserialize abstract class. Newtonsoft.Json has TypeNameHandling for this. Is there any way to deserialize abstract class via System.Text.Json on .net core 3.0?

Solution 1:

Is polymorphic deserialization possible in System.Text.Json?

The answer is yes and no, depending on what you mean by "possible".

There is no polymorphic deserialization (equivalent to Newtonsoft.Json's TypeNameHandling) support built-in to System.Text.Json. This is because reading the .NET type name specified as a string within the JSON payload (such as $type metadata property) to create your objects is not recommended since it introduces potential security concerns (see https://github.com/dotnet/corefx/issues/41347#issuecomment-535779492 for more info).

Allowing the payload to specify its own type information is a common source of vulnerabilities in web applications.

However, there is a way to add your own support for polymorphic deserialization by creating a JsonConverter<T>, so in that sense, it is possible.

The docs show an example of how to do that using a type discriminator property: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/serialization/system-text-json-converters-how-to#support-polymorphic-deserialization

Let's look at an example.

Say you have a base class and a couple of derived classes:

public class BaseClass
{
    public int Int { get; set; }
}
public class DerivedA : BaseClass
{
    public string Str { get; set; }
}
public class DerivedB : BaseClass
{
    public bool Bool { get; set; }
}

You can create the following JsonConverter<BaseClass> that writes the type discriminator while serializing and reads it to figure out which type to deserialize. You can register that converter on the JsonSerializerOptions.

public class BaseClassConverter : JsonConverter<BaseClass>
{
    private enum TypeDiscriminator
    {
        BaseClass = 0,
        DerivedA = 1,
        DerivedB = 2
    }

    public override bool CanConvert(Type type)
    {
        return typeof(BaseClass).IsAssignableFrom(type);
    }

    public override BaseClass Read(
        ref Utf8JsonReader reader,
        Type typeToConvert,
        JsonSerializerOptions options)
    {
        if (reader.TokenType != JsonTokenType.StartObject)
        {
            throw new JsonException();
        }

        if (!reader.Read()
                || reader.TokenType != JsonTokenType.PropertyName
                || reader.GetString() != "TypeDiscriminator")
        {
            throw new JsonException();
        }

        if (!reader.Read() || reader.TokenType != JsonTokenType.Number)
        {
            throw new JsonException();
        }

        BaseClass baseClass;
        TypeDiscriminator typeDiscriminator = (TypeDiscriminator)reader.GetInt32();
        switch (typeDiscriminator)
        {
            case TypeDiscriminator.DerivedA:
                if (!reader.Read() || reader.GetString() != "TypeValue")
                {
                    throw new JsonException();
                }
                if (!reader.Read() || reader.TokenType != JsonTokenType.StartObject)
                {
                    throw new JsonException();
                }
                baseClass = (DerivedA)JsonSerializer.Deserialize(ref reader, typeof(DerivedA));
                break;
            case TypeDiscriminator.DerivedB:
                if (!reader.Read() || reader.GetString() != "TypeValue")
                {
                    throw new JsonException();
                }
                if (!reader.Read() || reader.TokenType != JsonTokenType.StartObject)
                {
                    throw new JsonException();
                }
                baseClass = (DerivedB)JsonSerializer.Deserialize(ref reader, typeof(DerivedB));
                break;
            default:
                throw new NotSupportedException();
        }

        if (!reader.Read() || reader.TokenType != JsonTokenType.EndObject)
        {
            throw new JsonException();
        }

        return baseClass;
    }

    public override void Write(
        Utf8JsonWriter writer,
        BaseClass value,
        JsonSerializerOptions options)
    {
        writer.WriteStartObject();

        if (value is DerivedA derivedA)
        {
            writer.WriteNumber("TypeDiscriminator", (int)TypeDiscriminator.DerivedA);
            writer.WritePropertyName("TypeValue");
            JsonSerializer.Serialize(writer, derivedA);
        }
        else if (value is DerivedB derivedB)
        {
            writer.WriteNumber("TypeDiscriminator", (int)TypeDiscriminator.DerivedB);
            writer.WritePropertyName("TypeValue");
            JsonSerializer.Serialize(writer, derivedB);
        }
        else
        {
            throw new NotSupportedException();
        }

        writer.WriteEndObject();
    }
}

This is what serialization and deserialization would look like (including comparison with Newtonsoft.Json):

private static void PolymorphicSupportComparison()
{
    var objects = new List<BaseClass> { new DerivedA(), new DerivedB() };

    // Using: System.Text.Json
    var options = new JsonSerializerOptions
    {
        Converters = { new BaseClassConverter() },
        WriteIndented = true
    };

    string jsonString = JsonSerializer.Serialize(objects, options);
    Console.WriteLine(jsonString);
    /*
     [
      {
        "TypeDiscriminator": 1,
        "TypeValue": {
            "Str": null,
            "Int": 0
        }
      },
      {
        "TypeDiscriminator": 2,
        "TypeValue": {
            "Bool": false,
            "Int": 0
        }
      }
     ]
    */

    var roundTrip = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<List<BaseClass>>(jsonString, options);


    // Using: Newtonsoft.Json
    var settings = new Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializerSettings
    {
        TypeNameHandling = Newtonsoft.Json.TypeNameHandling.Objects,
        Formatting = Newtonsoft.Json.Formatting.Indented
    };

    jsonString = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.SerializeObject(objects, settings);
    Console.WriteLine(jsonString);
    /*
     [
      {
        "$type": "PolymorphicSerialization.DerivedA, PolymorphicSerialization",
        "Str": null,
        "Int": 0
      },
      {
        "$type": "PolymorphicSerialization.DerivedB, PolymorphicSerialization",
        "Bool": false,
        "Int": 0
      }
     ]
    */

    var originalList = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<BaseClass>>(jsonString, settings);

    Debug.Assert(originalList[0].GetType() == roundTrip[0].GetType());
}

Here's another StackOverflow question that shows how to support polymorphic deserialization with interfaces (rather than abstract classes), but a similar solution would apply for any polymorphism: Is there a simple way to manually serialize/deserialize child objects in a custom converter in System.Text.Json?

Solution 2:

I ended up with that solution. It's lightwight and a generic enougth for me.

The type discriminator converter

public class TypeDiscriminatorConverter<T> : JsonConverter<T> where T : ITypeDiscriminator
{
    private readonly IEnumerable<Type> _types;

    public TypeDiscriminatorConverter()
    {
        var type = typeof(T);
        _types = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.GetAssemblies()
            .SelectMany(s => s.GetTypes())
            .Where(p => type.IsAssignableFrom(p) && p.IsClass && !p.IsAbstract)
            .ToList();
    }

    public override T Read(ref Utf8JsonReader reader, Type typeToConvert, JsonSerializerOptions options)
    {
        if (reader.TokenType != JsonTokenType.StartObject)
        {
            throw new JsonException();
        }

        using (var jsonDocument = JsonDocument.ParseValue(ref reader))
        {
            if (!jsonDocument.RootElement.TryGetProperty(nameof(ITypeDiscriminator.TypeDiscriminator), out var typeProperty))
            {
                throw new JsonException();
            }

            var type = _types.FirstOrDefault(x => x.Name == typeProperty.GetString());
            if (type == null)
            {
                throw new JsonException();
            }

            var jsonObject = jsonDocument.RootElement.GetRawText();
            var result = (T) JsonSerializer.Deserialize(jsonObject, type, options);

            return result;
        }
    }

    public override void Write(Utf8JsonWriter writer, T value, JsonSerializerOptions options)
    {
        JsonSerializer.Serialize(writer, (object)value, options);
    }
}

The interface

public interface ITypeDiscriminator
{
    string TypeDiscriminator { get; }
}

And the example models

public interface ISurveyStepResult : ITypeDiscriminator
{
    string Id { get; set; }
}

public class BoolStepResult : ISurveyStepResult
{
    public string Id { get; set; }
    public string TypeDiscriminator => nameof(BoolStepResult);

    public bool Value { get; set; }
}

public class TextStepResult : ISurveyStepResult
{
    public string Id { get; set; }
    public string TypeDiscriminator => nameof(TextStepResult);

    public string Value { get; set; }
}

public class StarsStepResult : ISurveyStepResult
{
    public string Id { get; set; }
    public string TypeDiscriminator => nameof(StarsStepResult);

    public int Value { get; set; }
}

And here is the test method

public void SerializeAndDeserializeTest()
    {
        var surveyResult = new SurveyResultModel()
        {
            Id = "id",
            SurveyId = "surveyId",
            Steps = new List<ISurveyStepResult>()
            {
                new BoolStepResult(){ Id = "1", Value = true},
                new TextStepResult(){ Id = "2", Value = "some text"},
                new StarsStepResult(){ Id = "3", Value = 5},
            }
        };

        var jsonSerializerOptions = new JsonSerializerOptions()
        {
            Converters = { new TypeDiscriminatorConverter<ISurveyStepResult>()},
            WriteIndented = true
        };
        var result = JsonSerializer.Serialize(surveyResult, jsonSerializerOptions);

        var back = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<SurveyResultModel>(result, jsonSerializerOptions);

        var result2 = JsonSerializer.Serialize(back, jsonSerializerOptions);
        
        Assert.IsTrue(back.Steps.Count == 3 
                      && back.Steps.Any(x => x is BoolStepResult)
                      && back.Steps.Any(x => x is TextStepResult)
                      && back.Steps.Any(x => x is StarsStepResult)
                      );
        Assert.AreEqual(result2, result);
    }

Solution 3:

Please try this library I wrote as an extension to System.Text.Json to offer polymorphism: https://github.com/dahomey-technologies/Dahomey.Json

If the actual type of a reference instance differs from the declared type, the discriminator property will be automatically added to the output json:

public class WeatherForecast
{
    public DateTimeOffset Date { get; set; }
    public int TemperatureCelsius { get; set; }
    public string Summary { get; set; }
}

public class WeatherForecastDerived : WeatherForecast
{
    public int WindSpeed { get; set; }
}

Inherited classes must be manually registered to the discriminator convention registry in order to let the framework know about the mapping between a discriminator value and a type:

JsonSerializerOptions options = new JsonSerializerOptions();
options.SetupExtensions();
DiscriminatorConventionRegistry registry = options.GetDiscriminatorConventionRegistry();
registry.RegisterType<WeatherForecastDerived>();

string json = JsonSerializer.Serialize<WeatherForecast>(weatherForecastDerived, options);

Result:

{
  "$type": "Tests.WeatherForecastDerived, Tests",
  "Date": "2019-08-01T00:00:00-07:00",
  "TemperatureCelsius": 25,
  "Summary": "Hot",
  "WindSpeed": 35
}

Solution 4:

Thats my JsonConverter for all abstract types:

        private class AbstractClassConverter : JsonConverter<object>
        {
            public override object Read(ref Utf8JsonReader reader, Type typeToConvert,
                JsonSerializerOptions options)
            {
                if (reader.TokenType == JsonTokenType.Null) return null;

                if (reader.TokenType != JsonTokenType.StartObject)
                    throw new JsonException("JsonTokenType.StartObject not found.");

                if (!reader.Read() || reader.TokenType != JsonTokenType.PropertyName
                                   || reader.GetString() != "$type")
                    throw new JsonException("Property $type not found.");

                if (!reader.Read() || reader.TokenType != JsonTokenType.String)
                    throw new JsonException("Value at $type is invalid.");

                string assemblyQualifiedName = reader.GetString();

                var type = Type.GetType(assemblyQualifiedName);
                using (var output = new MemoryStream())
                {
                    ReadObject(ref reader, output, options);
                    return JsonSerializer.Deserialize(output.ToArray(), type, options);
                }
            }

            private void ReadObject(ref Utf8JsonReader reader, Stream output, JsonSerializerOptions options)
            {
                using (var writer = new Utf8JsonWriter(output, new JsonWriterOptions
                {
                    Encoder = options.Encoder,
                    Indented = options.WriteIndented
                }))
                {
                    writer.WriteStartObject();
                    var objectIntend = 0;

                    while (reader.Read())
                    {
                        switch (reader.TokenType)
                        {
                            case JsonTokenType.None:
                            case JsonTokenType.Null:
                                writer.WriteNullValue();
                                break;
                            case JsonTokenType.StartObject:
                                writer.WriteStartObject();
                                objectIntend++;
                                break;
                            case JsonTokenType.EndObject:
                                writer.WriteEndObject();
                                if(objectIntend == 0)
                                {
                                    writer.Flush();
                                    return;
                                }
                                objectIntend--;
                                break;
                            case JsonTokenType.StartArray:
                                writer.WriteStartArray();
                                break;
                            case JsonTokenType.EndArray:
                                writer.WriteEndArray();
                                break;
                            case JsonTokenType.PropertyName:
                                writer.WritePropertyName(reader.GetString());
                                break;
                            case JsonTokenType.Comment:
                                writer.WriteCommentValue(reader.GetComment());
                                break;
                            case JsonTokenType.String:
                                writer.WriteStringValue(reader.GetString());
                                break;
                            case JsonTokenType.Number:
                                writer.WriteNumberValue(reader.GetInt32());
                                break;
                            case JsonTokenType.True:
                            case JsonTokenType.False:
                                writer.WriteBooleanValue(reader.GetBoolean());
                                break;
                            default:
                                throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException();
                        }
                    }
                }
            }

            public override void Write(Utf8JsonWriter writer, object value, JsonSerializerOptions options)
            {
                writer.WriteStartObject();
                var valueType = value.GetType();
                var valueAssemblyName = valueType.Assembly.GetName();
                writer.WriteString("$type", $"{valueType.FullName}, {valueAssemblyName.Name}");

                var json = JsonSerializer.Serialize(value, value.GetType(), options);
                using (var document = JsonDocument.Parse(json, new JsonDocumentOptions
                {
                    AllowTrailingCommas = options.AllowTrailingCommas,
                    MaxDepth = options.MaxDepth
                }))
                {
                    foreach (var jsonProperty in document.RootElement.EnumerateObject())
                        jsonProperty.WriteTo(writer);
                }

                writer.WriteEndObject();
            }

            public override bool CanConvert(Type typeToConvert) => 
                typeToConvert.IsAbstract && !EnumerableInterfaceType.IsAssignableFrom(typeToConvert);
        }