How can I change property names when serializing with Json.net?

I have some data in a C# DataSet object. I can serialize it right now using a Json.net converter like this

DataSet data = new DataSet();
// do some work here to populate 'data'
string output = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(data);

However, this uses the property names from data when printing to the .json file. I would like to change the property names to be something different (say, change 'foo' to 'bar').

In the Json.net documentation, under 'Serializing and Deserializing JSON' → 'Serialization Attributes' it says "JsonPropertyAttribute... allows the name to be customized". But there is no example. Does anyone know how to use a JsonPropertyAttribute to change the property name to something else?

(Direct link to documentation)

Json.net's documentation seems to be sparse. If you have a great example I'll try to get it added to the official documentation. Thanks!

You could decorate the property you wish controlling its name with the [JsonProperty] attribute which allows you to specify a different name:

using Newtonsoft.Json;
// ...

[JsonProperty(PropertyName = "FooBar")]
public string Foo { get; set; }

Documentation: Serialization Attributes

If you don't have access to the classes to change the properties, or don't want to always use the same rename property, renaming can also be done by creating a custom resolver.

For example, if you have a class called MyCustomObject, that has a property called LongPropertyName, you can use a custom resolver like this…

public class CustomDataContractResolver : DefaultContractResolver
{
  public static readonly CustomDataContractResolver Instance = new CustomDataContractResolver ();

  protected override JsonProperty CreateProperty(MemberInfo member, MemberSerialization memberSerialization)
  {
    var property = base.CreateProperty(member, memberSerialization);
    if (property.DeclaringType == typeof(MyCustomObject))
    {
      if (property.PropertyName.Equals("LongPropertyName", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
      {
        property.PropertyName = "Short";
      }
    }
    return property;
  }
}

Then call for serialization and supply the resolver:

 var result = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(myCustomObjectInstance,
                new JsonSerializerSettings { ContractResolver = CustomDataContractResolver.Instance });

And the result will be shortened to {"Short":"prop value"} instead of {"LongPropertyName":"prop value"}

More info on custom resolvers here

There is still another way to do it, which is using a particular NamingStrategy, which can be applied to a class or a property by decorating them with [JSonObject] or [JsonProperty].

There are predefined naming strategies like CamelCaseNamingStrategy, but you can implement your own ones.

The implementation of different naming strategies can be found here: https://github.com/JamesNK/Newtonsoft.Json/tree/master/Src/Newtonsoft.Json/Serialization