.NET: Can DataContractJsonSerializer be used to serialize to a JSON associative array?
When using DataContractJsonSerializer to serialize a dictionary like:
[CollectionDataContract]
public class Clazz : Dictionary<String,String> {}
....
var c1 = new Clazz();
c1["Red"] = "Rosso";
c1["Blue"] = "Blu";
c1["Green"] = "Verde";
Serializing c1 with this code:
var dcjs = new DataContractJsonSerializer(c1.GetType());
var json = new Func<String>(() =>
{
using (var ms = new System.IO.MemoryStream())
{
dcjs.WriteObject(ms, c1);
return Encoding.ASCII.GetString(ms.ToArray());
}
})();
... creates this JSON:
[{"Key":"Red","Value":"Rosso"},
{"Key":"Blue","Value":"Blu"},
{"Key":"Green","Value":"Verde"}]
But this is not a Javascript associative array. If I do the relevant thing in javascript: create a dictionary and then serialize it like so:
var a = {};
a["Red"] = "Rosso";
a["Blue"] = "Blu";
a["Green"] = "Verde";
// use utility class from http://www.JSON.org/json2.js
var json = JSON.stringify(a);
Result:
{"Red":"Rosso","Blue":"Blu","Green":"Verde"}
How can I get DCJS to create or use a serialized string for a dictionary that is JSON2.js compatible ?
I know about JavaScriptSerializer from ASP.NET. Not sure if this is very WCF. Does it mean DataMember, DataContract attributes?
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What it does is perfectly sane, the JSON it produces is a sane representation of a .net dictionary in JSON. If you want to get the JSON description that you need to describe, you will need to serialize the class like
public class ColourThingy
{
public string Red {get;set;}
public string Blue {get;set;}
public string Green {get;set;}
}
ColourThingy MyColourThingy = new ColourThingy();
MyColourThingy.Red = "Rosso";
...
Remember that JavaScript associative arrays are not arrays, you are simply using the fact that the ["key"] object is another way to refer to object.key. So when it serializes the .net dictionary to JSON, it creates an array of key / value pair objects as you would expect.
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