I am starting the development on windows phone 8, the famous JSON.NET does not support windows phone 8 yet, is there any other library which can be used for this purpose?
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The Windows Phone 7 version of Json.NET works on WP8. – James Newton-King Nov 06 '12 at 23:02
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1@JamesNewton-King, I tried adding the JSON.NET TO my project using NuGet and got "Could not install package 'Newtonsoft.Json 4.5.10'. You are trying to install this package into a project that targets 'WindowsPhone,Version=v8.0', but the package does not contain any assembly references that are compatible with that framework. For more information, contact the package author." – TilalHusain Nov 07 '12 at 07:14
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The developer of JSON.NET answered your question ! kindly retry ! – Apoorv Sep 04 '15 at 09:16
5 Answers
The JSON.NET codeplex site says that WP8 is supported.
Update: The JSON.NET NuGet package should just work with a Windows Phone 8.0 project. Adding it in VS2012 NuGet manager pulls in the WP7 version of JSON.NET. (packages\Newtonsoft.Json.4.5.10\lib\sl3-wp\Newtonsoft.Json.dll
)
JSON.NET is now also available as a Portable Class Library which you can consume from WP8 (available in NuGet or in source form).

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3Here is what I got when installing via NuGet "Could not install package 'Newtonsoft.Json 4.5.10'. You are trying to install this package into a project that targets 'WindowsPhone,Version=v8.0', but the package does not contain any assembly references that are compatible with that framework. For more information, contact the package author." – TilalHusain Nov 07 '12 at 07:14
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1This worked fine for me on a brand new C# Windows Phone 8.0 project. It's picking up "packages\Newtonsoft.Json.4.5.10\lib\sl3-wp\Newtonsoft.Json.dll", i.e. the WP7 version of JSON.NET. I'll update my answer. – Paul Annetts Nov 07 '12 at 10:11
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3If this isn't working for anyone. Upgrade NuGet. With the newest version of NuGet I was able to install Json.Net. – mfperzel Dec 21 '12 at 18:59
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For all newbies (like me) -> Visual Studio -> Project -> Manage NuGet Packages -> Online. There you should find it. If not use the search box on top right. – WarrenFaith Jun 07 '13 at 14:20
Had the exact same problem - turns out I didn't have the newest version of NuGet.
To upgrade, click tools -> extensions and updates
and then click the Updates
-tab. Update everything, restart the program and try again. :-)

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1This is what solved the "You are trying to install this package into a project that targets 'WindowsPhone,Version=v8.0'" issue for me. This affected me even though I only downloaded the VS tools from Microsoft today; they seem to come with older versions of the tools. – Craig Russell Jun 07 '13 at 08:29
I was having this issue. I was able to compile the source for Windows Phone 8 instead of Windows 7.1 and it worked. NuGet would not work for me.
Here is how I did it:
- Open up solution JsonXXrXX.zip\Source\Src\Newtonsoft.JSON.WindowsPhone.sln
- Go to properties for Newtonsoft.Json.WindowsPhone Project(Right click on the project then properties)
- For the dropdown of "Target Windows Phone OS Version" select Windows 8.X
- Compile.
- Grab the DLL, PDB, and XML from the output directory
- Add Reference to the DLL file in your Windows Phone 8 Project
Thats it. I can't vouch that it works 100% or that you'll be able to submit your app. But it should hold you over until there is official support.

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For complex json you might find this website helpful: http://json2csharp.com/#.

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If you don't wanna make too fancy stuff (or need dictionary) suppport, you can also just use the built-in DataContractJsonSerializer (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.runtime.serialization.json.datacontractjsonserializer.aspx)
Btw: At least in https://json.codeplex.com/discussions/401305 some people report that the WP7.1 dll works for them, using this file: "Newtonsoft.Json.4.5.7\lib\sl4-windowsphone71\Newtonsoft.Json.dll".

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Thanks for the reply, Can I parse Dynamic json using DataContractJsonSerializer? because I will be parsing very complex json and creating a separate class for each object seems hectic task – TilalHusain Nov 06 '12 at 15:53
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No, if the JSON structure is getting complex, esp. dynamic data what most probably means that it's a dictionary object on code level, this is still not supported. – Marco Nov 06 '12 at 15:55
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Ok, So I think I have to leave json for now, what about XML, can you please recommend any dynamic xml parsing library? Thanks – TilalHusain Nov 06 '12 at 15:57