Entity to json error - A circular reference was detected while serializing an object of type

Question

Following error occurred when trying to convert entity object into JSON String. I'm using C# MVC4 with code first DB designing. It seams its because FKs and relationships between tables create this issue. What will be the workaround ?

A circular reference was detected while serializing an object of type System.Data.Entity.DynamicProxies.User

my code is

  User ma = db.user.First(x => x.u_id == id);
  return Json(ma, JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);

kuma DK · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-05T19:29:12.440

39

Its because it is trying to load child objects and it may be creating some circular loop that will never ending( a=>b, b=>c, c=>d, d=>a)

you can turn it off only for that particular moment as following.So dbcontext will not load customers child objects unless Include method is called on your object

  db.Configuration.ProxyCreationEnabled = false;
  User ma = db.user.First(x => x.u_id == id);
  return Json(ma, JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);

edited Oct 05 '14 at 19:29

answered Oct 05 '14 at 19:20

kuma DK

1,812
1
18
36

Thanks a lot. It works fine now. do i need to enable it afterwords? – Oct 05 '14 at 19:23
No, you don't need to – kuma DK Oct 05 '14 at 19:25
var response = client.PostAsync("api/myController/myAction", new StringContent(new JavaScriptSerializer().Serialize(user), Encoding.UTF8, "application/json")).Result; I am facing same error, can you help me to solve it – Pranesh Janarthanan Mar 19 '16 at 04:32
Thanks alot, after these years your comment still helps – Basil Aug 15 '21 at 19:56

score 6 · Answer 2 · edited Aug 18 '16 at 07:22

6

My problem is solved by using this :

//initialize model db
testdbEntities dc = new testdbEntities();
//get employee details 
List<Employee1> lst = dc.Employee1.ToList(); 
//selecting the desired columns
var subCategoryToReturn = lst.Select(S => new {
    Employee_Id = S.Employee_Id,
    First_Name = S.First_Name,
    Last_Name = S.Last_Name,
    Manager_Id = S.Manager_Id
});
//returning JSON
return this.Json(subCategoryToReturn , JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);

edited Aug 18 '16 at 07:22

Syed Ali hassan

596
4
16

answered Jun 08 '16 at 12:16

Ashish

61
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If you're just trying to solve the circular reference problem, turning off lazy loading will likely solve the issue (`context.Configuration.EnableLazyLoading = false`). If you do this in your controller, it will be temporary and only apply to that method; or you can set it in your context constructor. – Daniel Jan 24 '20 at 17:35

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:16

I was having the same issue, what I have done is have passed only needed column to view , In my my case. only 2.

List<SubCategory> lstSubCategory = GetSubCateroy() // list from repo

 var subCategoryToReturn = lstSubCategory.Select(S => new { Id  = S.Id, Name = S.Name }); 

return this.Json(subCategoryToReturn , JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);

Circular reference detected exception while serializing object to JSON

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 26 '18 at 15:19

2

Why not create a class to hold the query contents? That worked for me

answered Jul 26 '18 at 15:19

Flipponachi

21
3

ABlue · Answer 5 · 2016-09-21T09:18:39.580

it is trying to load child objects and it may be creating some circular loop property that will never end.

also you use [ScriptIgnore] , will not serialize the public property or public field look at this :

   public class BookingHotel : IntBaseEntity            
    {    
        public string BookingName { get; set; }    
        public string BookingReference { get; set; }    
        public DateTime? CheckInDate { get; set; }    
        public DateTime? CheckOutDate { get; set; }    
        public int HotelId { get; set; }    
        [ScriptIgnore]    
        public Hotel Hotel { get; set; }        
     }

Entity to json error - A circular reference was detected while serializing an object of type

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