How to implement custom JsonConverter in JSON.NET?

Solution 1:

Using the standard CustomCreationConverter, I was struggling to work how to generate the correct type (Person or Employee), because in order to determine this you need to analyse the JSON and there is no built in way to do this using the Create method.

I found a discussion thread pertaining to type conversion and it turned out to provide the answer. Here is a link: Type converting.

What's required is to subclass JsonConverter, overriding the ReadJson method and creating a new abstract Create method which accepts a JObject.

The JObject class provides a means to load a JSON object and provides access to the data within this object.

The overridden ReadJson method creates a JObject and invokes the Create method (implemented by our derived converter class), passing in the JObject instance.

This JObject instance can then be analysed to determine the correct type by checking existence of certain fields.

Example

string json = "[{
        \"Department\": \"Department1\",
        \"JobTitle\": \"JobTitle1\",
        \"FirstName\": \"FirstName1\",
        \"LastName\": \"LastName1\"
    },{
        \"Department\": \"Department2\",
        \"JobTitle\": \"JobTitle2\",
        \"FirstName\": \"FirstName2\",
        \"LastName\": \"LastName2\"
    },
        {\"Skill\": \"Painter\",
        \"FirstName\": \"FirstName3\",
        \"LastName\": \"LastName3\"
    }]";

List<Person> persons = 
    JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<Person>>(json, new PersonConverter());

...

public class PersonConverter : JsonCreationConverter<Person>
{
    protected override Person Create(Type objectType, JObject jObject)
    {
        if (FieldExists("Skill", jObject))
        {
            return new Artist();
        }
        else if (FieldExists("Department", jObject))
        {
            return new Employee();
        }
        else
        {
            return new Person();
        }
    }

    private bool FieldExists(string fieldName, JObject jObject)
    {
        return jObject[fieldName] != null;
    }
}

public abstract class JsonCreationConverter<T> : JsonConverter
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Create an instance of objectType, based properties in the JSON object
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="objectType">type of object expected</param>
    /// <param name="jObject">
    /// contents of JSON object that will be deserialized
    /// </param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    protected abstract T Create(Type objectType, JObject jObject);

    public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
    {
        return typeof(T).IsAssignableFrom(objectType);
    }

    public override bool CanWrite
    {
        get { return false; }
    }

    public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, 
                                    Type objectType, 
                                     object existingValue, 
                                     JsonSerializer serializer)
    {
        // Load JObject from stream
        JObject jObject = JObject.Load(reader);

        // Create target object based on JObject
        T target = Create(objectType, jObject);

        // Populate the object properties
        serializer.Populate(jObject.CreateReader(), target);

        return target;
    }
}

Solution 2:

The above solution for the JsonCreationConverter<T> is all over the internet, but has a flaw that manifests itself in rare occasions. The new JsonReader created in the ReadJson method does not inherit any of the original reader's configuration values (Culture, DateParseHandling, DateTimeZoneHandling, FloatParseHandling, etc...). These values should be copied over before using the new JsonReader in serializer.Populate().

This is the best I could come up with to fix some of the problems with the above implementation, but I still think there are some things being overlooked:

Update I updated this to have a more explicit method that makes a copy of an existing reader. This just encapsulates the process of copying over individual JsonReader settings. Ideally this function would be maintained in the Newtonsoft library itself, but for now, you can use the following:

/// <summary>Creates a new reader for the specified jObject by copying the settings
/// from an existing reader.</summary>
/// <param name="reader">The reader whose settings should be copied.</param>
/// <param name="jToken">The jToken to create a new reader for.</param>
/// <returns>The new disposable reader.</returns>
public static JsonReader CopyReaderForObject(JsonReader reader, JToken jToken)
{
    JsonReader jTokenReader = jToken.CreateReader();
    jTokenReader.Culture = reader.Culture;
    jTokenReader.DateFormatString = reader.DateFormatString;
    jTokenReader.DateParseHandling = reader.DateParseHandling;
    jTokenReader.DateTimeZoneHandling = reader.DateTimeZoneHandling;
    jTokenReader.FloatParseHandling = reader.FloatParseHandling;
    jTokenReader.MaxDepth = reader.MaxDepth;
    jTokenReader.SupportMultipleContent = reader.SupportMultipleContent;
    return jTokenReader;
}

This should be used as follows:

public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader,
                                Type objectType,
                                object existingValue,
                                JsonSerializer serializer)
{
    if (reader.TokenType == JsonToken.Null)
        return null;
    // Load JObject from stream
    JObject jObject = JObject.Load(reader);
    // Create target object based on JObject
    T target = Create(objectType, jObject);
    // Populate the object properties
    using (JsonReader jObjectReader = CopyReaderForObject(reader, jObject))
    {
        serializer.Populate(jObjectReader, target);
    }
    return target;
}

Older solution follows:

/// <summary>Base Generic JSON Converter that can help quickly define converters for specific types by automatically
/// generating the CanConvert, ReadJson, and WriteJson methods, requiring the implementer only to define a strongly typed Create method.</summary>
public abstract class JsonCreationConverter<T> : JsonConverter
{
    /// <summary>Create an instance of objectType, based properties in the JSON object</summary>
    /// <param name="objectType">type of object expected</param>
    /// <param name="jObject">contents of JSON object that will be deserialized</param>
    protected abstract T Create(Type objectType, JObject jObject);

    /// <summary>Determines if this converted is designed to deserialization to objects of the specified type.</summary>
    /// <param name="objectType">The target type for deserialization.</param>
    /// <returns>True if the type is supported.</returns>
    public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
    {
        // FrameWork 4.5
        // return typeof(T).GetTypeInfo().IsAssignableFrom(objectType.GetTypeInfo());
        // Otherwise
        return typeof(T).IsAssignableFrom(objectType);
    }

    /// <summary>Parses the json to the specified type.</summary>
    /// <param name="reader">Newtonsoft.Json.JsonReader</param>
    /// <param name="objectType">Target type.</param>
    /// <param name="existingValue">Ignored</param>
    /// <param name="serializer">Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializer to use.</param>
    /// <returns>Deserialized Object</returns>
    public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
    {
        if (reader.TokenType == JsonToken.Null)
            return null;

        // Load JObject from stream
        JObject jObject = JObject.Load(reader);

        // Create target object based on JObject
        T target = Create(objectType, jObject);

        //Create a new reader for this jObject, and set all properties to match the original reader.
        JsonReader jObjectReader = jObject.CreateReader();
        jObjectReader.Culture = reader.Culture;
        jObjectReader.DateParseHandling = reader.DateParseHandling;
        jObjectReader.DateTimeZoneHandling = reader.DateTimeZoneHandling;
        jObjectReader.FloatParseHandling = reader.FloatParseHandling;

        // Populate the object properties
        serializer.Populate(jObjectReader, target);

        return target;
    }

    /// <summary>Serializes to the specified type</summary>
    /// <param name="writer">Newtonsoft.Json.JsonWriter</param>
    /// <param name="value">Object to serialize.</param>
    /// <param name="serializer">Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializer to use.</param>
    public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, object value, JsonSerializer serializer)
    {
        serializer.Serialize(writer, value);
    }
}

Solution 3:

Just thought i would share a solution also based on this that works with the Knowntype attribute using reflection , had to get derived class from any base class, solution can benefit from recursion to find the best matching class though i didn't need it in my case, matching is done by the type given to the converter if it has KnownTypes it will scan them all until it matches a type that has all the properties inside the json string, first one to match will be chosen.

usage is as simple as:

 string json = "{ Name:\"Something\", LastName:\"Otherthing\" }";
 var ret  = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<A>(json, new KnownTypeConverter());

in the above case ret will be of type B.

JSON classes:

[KnownType(typeof(B))]
public class A
{
   public string Name { get; set; }
}

public class B : A
{
   public string LastName { get; set; }
}

Converter code:

/// <summary>
    /// Use KnownType Attribute to match a divierd class based on the class given to the serilaizer
    /// Selected class will be the first class to match all properties in the json object.
    /// </summary>
    public  class KnownTypeConverter : JsonConverter
    {
        public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
        {
            return System.Attribute.GetCustomAttributes(objectType).Any(v => v is KnownTypeAttribute);
        }

        public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
        {
            // Load JObject from stream
            JObject jObject = JObject.Load(reader);

            // Create target object based on JObject
            System.Attribute[] attrs = System.Attribute.GetCustomAttributes(objectType);  // Reflection. 

                // Displaying output. 
            foreach (System.Attribute attr in attrs)
            {
                if (attr is KnownTypeAttribute)
                {
                    KnownTypeAttribute k = (KnownTypeAttribute) attr;
                    var props = k.Type.GetProperties();
                    bool found = true;
                    foreach (var f in jObject)
                    {
                        if (!props.Any(z => z.Name == f.Key))
                        {
                            found = false;
                            break;
                        }
                    }

                    if (found)
                    {
                        var target = Activator.CreateInstance(k.Type);
                        serializer.Populate(jObject.CreateReader(),target);
                        return target;
                    }
                }
            }
            throw new ObjectNotFoundException();


            // Populate the object properties

        }

        public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, object value, JsonSerializer serializer)
        {
            throw new NotImplementedException();
        }
    }

Solution 4:

The project JsonSubTypes implement a generic converter that handle this feature with the helps of attributes.

For the concrete sample provided here is how it works:

    [JsonConverter(typeof(JsonSubtypes))]
    [JsonSubtypes.KnownSubTypeWithProperty(typeof(Employee), "JobTitle")]
    [JsonSubtypes.KnownSubTypeWithProperty(typeof(Artist), "Skill")]
    public class Person
    {
        public string FirstName { get; set; }
        public string LastName { get; set; }
    }

    public class Employee : Person
    {
        public string Department { get; set; }
        public string JobTitle { get; set; }
    }

    public class Artist : Person
    {
        public string Skill { get; set; }
    }

    [TestMethod]
    public void Demo()
    {
        string json = "[{\"Department\":\"Department1\",\"JobTitle\":\"JobTitle1\",\"FirstName\":\"FirstName1\",\"LastName\":\"LastName1\"}," +
                      "{\"Department\":\"Department1\",\"JobTitle\":\"JobTitle1\",\"FirstName\":\"FirstName1\",\"LastName\":\"LastName1\"}," +
                      "{\"Skill\":\"Painter\",\"FirstName\":\"FirstName1\",\"LastName\":\"LastName1\"}]";


        var persons = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<IReadOnlyCollection<Person>>(json);
        Assert.AreEqual("Painter", (persons.Last() as Artist)?.Skill);
    }

Solution 5:

This is an expansion to totem's answer. It does basically the same thing but the property matching is based on the serialized json object, not reflect the .net object. This is important if you're using [JsonProperty], using the CamelCasePropertyNamesContractResolver, or doing anything else that will cause the json to not match the .net object.

Usage is simple:

[KnownType(typeof(B))]
public class A
{
   public string Name { get; set; }
}

public class B : A
{
   public string LastName { get; set; }
}

Converter code:

/// <summary>
/// Use KnownType Attribute to match a divierd class based on the class given to the serilaizer
/// Selected class will be the first class to match all properties in the json object.
/// </summary>
public class KnownTypeConverter : JsonConverter {
    public override bool CanConvert( Type objectType ) {
        return System.Attribute.GetCustomAttributes( objectType ).Any( v => v is KnownTypeAttribute );
    }

    public override bool CanWrite {
        get { return false; }
    }

    public override object ReadJson( JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer ) {
        // Load JObject from stream
        JObject jObject = JObject.Load( reader );

        // Create target object based on JObject
        System.Attribute[ ] attrs = System.Attribute.GetCustomAttributes( objectType );  // Reflection. 

        // check known types for a match. 
        foreach( var attr in attrs.OfType<KnownTypeAttribute>( ) ) {
            object target = Activator.CreateInstance( attr.Type );

            JObject jTest;
            using( var writer = new StringWriter( ) ) {
                using( var jsonWriter = new JsonTextWriter( writer ) ) {
                    serializer.Serialize( jsonWriter, target );
                    string json = writer.ToString( );
                    jTest = JObject.Parse( json );
                }
            }

            var jO = this.GetKeys( jObject ).Select( k => k.Key ).ToList( );
            var jT = this.GetKeys( jTest ).Select( k => k.Key ).ToList( );

            if( jO.Count == jT.Count && jO.Intersect( jT ).Count( ) == jO.Count ) {
                serializer.Populate( jObject.CreateReader( ), target );
                return target;
            }
        }

        throw new SerializationException( string.Format( "Could not convert base class {0}", objectType ) );
    }

    public override void WriteJson( JsonWriter writer, object value, JsonSerializer serializer ) {
        throw new NotImplementedException( );
    }

    private IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<string, JToken>> GetKeys( JObject obj ) {
        var list = new List<KeyValuePair<string, JToken>>( );
        foreach( var t in obj ) {
            list.Add( t );
        }
        return list;
    }
}