How to tell Json.Net globally to apply the StringEnumConverter to all enums

I want to deserialize enumerations to their string representation and vice versa with json.net. The only way I could figure out to tell the framework to apply its StringEnumConverter is to annotate the properties in question like this:

[JsonConverter(typeof(StringEnumConverter))]
public virtual MyEnums MyEnum { get; set; }

However, in my use case, it would be much more convenient to configure json.net globally such that all enumerations get (de)serialized using the StringEnumConverter, without the need of extra annotations.

Is there any way to do so, e.g. with the help of custom JsonSerializerSettings?

Solution 1:

Add a StringEnumConverter to the JsonSerializerSettings Converters collection.

Documentation: Serialize with JsonConverters

If you want the serializer to use camelCasing, you can set this as well:

SerializerSettings.Converters.Add(
    new StringEnumConverter { CamelCaseText = true });

This will serialize SomeValue to someValue.

Solution 2:

The other answers work for ASP.NET, but if you want to set these settings generally for calling JsonConvert in any context you can do:

JsonConvert.DefaultSettings = (() =>
{
    var settings = new JsonSerializerSettings();
    settings.Converters.Add(new StringEnumConverter {CamelCaseText = true});
    return settings;
});

(See http://james.newtonking.com/archive/2013/05/08/json-net-5-0-release-5-defaultsettings-and-extension-data)

Solution 3:

In your Global.asax.cs add

HttpConfiguration config = GlobalConfiguration.Configuration;
config.Formatters.JsonFormatter.SerializerSettings.Converters.Add
                (new Newtonsoft.Json.Converters.StringEnumConverter());