Deserializing JSON string to a non-predefined object in C#

Question

I have a JSON response from an API with a number of data. What I actually need is just a few of the items in the result. Is there a way I can deserialize it to a C# object without having to define a class with members to correspond with all the items in the returned JSON. Or, must I have to define a class that has properties to correspond to all the member elements in the returned JSON?

This is a sample of the returned JSON

{"status":"success","message":"Tx Fetched","data":{"txid":993106,"txref":"rgdk3viu.h","flwref":"FLW-MOCK-08efd1cb507f60ae50f7ebab4b27d234","devicefingerprint":"1d3d89c867abc0a84e1e167e2430456a","cycle":"one-time","amount":240,"currency":"NGN","chargedamount":243.36,"appfee":3.36,"merchantfee":0,"merchantbearsfee":0,"chargecode":"00","chargemessage":"Please enter the OTP sent to your mobile number 080****** and email te**@rave**.com","authmodel":"PIN","ip":"197.211.58.150","narration":"CARD Transaction ","status":"successful","vbvcode":"00","vbvmessage":"successful","authurl":"N/A","acctcode":null,"acctmessage":null,"paymenttype":"card","paymentid":"6490","fraudstatus":"ok","chargetype":"normal","createdday":0,"createddayname":"SUNDAY","createdweek":1,"createdmonth":0,"createdmonthname":"JANUARY","createdquarter":1,"createdyear":2020,"createdyearisleap":true,"createddayispublicholiday":0,"createdhour":17,"createdminute":40,"createdpmam":"pm","created":"2020-01-05T17:40:50.000Z","customerid":248784,"custphone":"080123456789","custnetworkprovider":"UNKNOWN PROVIDER","custname":"Chukwuemeka Ekeleme","custemail":"emeka.ekeleme@gmail.com","custemailprovider":"GMAIL","custcreated":"2020-01-05T17:40:50.000Z","accountid":85976,"acctbusinessname":"Learning Suite Nigeria","acctcontactperson":"Joshua Ndukwe","acctcountry":"NG","acctbearsfeeattransactiontime":0,"acctparent":1,"acctvpcmerchant":"N/A","acctalias":null,"acctisliveapproved":0,"orderref":"URF_1578246050675_7111835","paymentplan":null,"paymentpage":null,"raveref":"RV31578246049488BB4A178915","amountsettledforthistransaction":240,"card":{"expirymonth":"09","expiryyear":"22","cardBIN":"553188","last4digits":"2950","brand":" CREDIT","issuing_country":"NIGERIA NG","card_tokens":[{"embedtoken":"flw-t1nf-4542d3a9e7155f1512344b02aaa46255-m03k","shortcode":"534fb","expiry":"9999999999999"}],"type":"MASTERCARD","life_time_token":"flw-t1nf-4542d3a9e7155f1512344b02aaa46255-m03k"},"meta":[]}}

I have tried the following code

 using (var httpClient = new HttpClient())
        {
            StringContent content = new StringContent(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(paymentVerificationRequestData), Encoding.UTF8, "application/json");

            using (var response = await httpClient.PostAsync(paymentVerificationRequestData.Url, content))
            {
                string apiResponse = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
                var paymentVerificationResponse = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<RaveVerificationResponseData>(apiResponse);
                string msg = paymentVerificationResponse.chargemessage;

                return Content(msg);

            }
        }

but all the elements in paymentVerificationResponse including chargemessage are all null or 0

My application is running on ASP.Net-Core 3.1

@PavelAnikhouski, Please could you guide me on how to do that? — Josh, Jan 05 '20 at 18:27
Yes, `JObject.Parse(" your string ")` from the Json.Net library. — Crowcoder, Jan 05 '20 at 18:27
@MahdiAnjam: That's not always the case. Sometimes you really want to be to parse JSON dynamically. — Jon Skeet, Jan 05 '20 at 18:49
@JonSkeet if used api and call it every hours not good to create class? almost anyone used api need to cahnge it to cleanModel for use it — Mahdi Anjam, Jan 05 '20 at 18:55
@MahdiAnjam: In many cases, yes, but not every case. At the very least, it would be worth accepting that there *are* such cases, even if you might want to say that *usually* it's worth creating a class. — Jon Skeet, Jan 05 '20 at 18:59
What I'm talking about is described in Petttkous Pett's answer but you have been shown many good options. — Crowcoder, Jan 05 '20 at 19:17

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 05 '20 at 18:34

2

You don't need to have a class that corresponds to all properties in Json, you can create a class only with needed properties and deserialize it.

public class Result
{
    public string Status { get; set;}
    public string Message { get; set;}
}

var result = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Result>(json);

answered Jan 05 '20 at 18:34

Roman.Pavelko

1,555
2
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Are you saying that I can now possibly get result.Message after that ? I asked this question because I just tried to do that but I am not getting a response – Josh Jan 05 '20 at 18:51
@Josh exactly, make sure you don't have any unescaped characters, it should work perfectly fine. – Roman.Pavelko Jan 05 '20 at 18:57

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 05 '20 at 18:41

Parse the json string using:

var json = JObject.Parse("JsonString");

Then you can access each key using var status = (StatusEnum)json["yourKey"]

Or if you are not sure if the key will always be present you can check by using

json.ContainsKey("yourKey")

or you can try parsing it right away

if (json.TryGetValue("yourKey", out var yourKey))
{
   //property found
   var yourProperty = (YourType)yourKey;
}
else
{ 
   //doesn't contain the property
}

or even by using

if (json["yourKey"] != null)
{
   //property found
}

Hope this helps.

Hadi Samadzad · Accepted Answer · 2020-01-05T19:40:43.520

0

The api response is a nested object. You have some options. You can use object and access to a key using Reflection. for example for chargemessage:

var deserializedObject = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<object>(json);
var data = deserializedObject.GetType().GetProperty("data").GetValue(deserializedObject);
var chargemessage = data.GetType().GetProperty("chargemessage").GetValue(data);

Another option is defining a class with the keys that you need and deserializing the JSON using with.

public class MyClass
{
    public DataClass data { get; set;}
}
public class DataClass
{
    public string chargemessage { get; set;}
}

after deserializing you can access the values like this:

var deserializedObject = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<MyClass>(json);
var status = deserializedObject.data.chargemessage;

edited Jan 05 '20 at 19:40

answered Jan 05 '20 at 18:32

Hadi Samadzad

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Please see my updated question showing where i tried to do as you are suggesting but I am getting null for the elements of the deserialized object. Please see if there is something I am not getting right there – Josh Jan 05 '20 at 19:17
It's because your JSON has is a nested object. Therefore you must define a class and as a result you will have: `paymentVerificationResponse.data.chargemessage`. I will update my answer. – Hadi Samadzad Jan 05 '20 at 19:34

Deserializing JSON string to a non-predefined object in C#

3 Answers3