Parsing Json rest api response in C#

Question

I am trying to pull a value from a rest api json response using C#.

I have the following code:

client.BaseUrl = "https://api.cloud.appcelerator.com";
request.Resource = "/v1/chats/create.json?key=" + cac.AppCode.ToString();
request.Method = Method.POST;
request.AddUrlSegment("appkey", "key");
var response = client.Execute(request);

In the "response" message I got a json content as follows:

{
  "meta": {
    "code": 200,
    "status": "ok",
    "method_name": "createChatMessage"
  },
  "response": {
    "chats": [
      {
        "id": "521cfcd840926a0b3500449e",
        "created_at": "2013-08-27T19:24:08+0000",
        "updated_at": "2013-08-27T19:24:08+0000",
        "message": " join to the chat group, welcome …",
        "from": {
          "id": "520f41e125e74b0b2400130a",
          "first_name": "Administrator",
          "created_at": "2013-08-17T09:26:57+0000",
          "updated_at": "2013-08-27T19:23:10+0000",
          "external_accounts": [

          ],
          "email": "[email protected]",
          "confirmed_at": "2013-08-17T09:26:57+0000",
          "username": "admin",
          "admin": "true",
          "stats": {
            "photos": {
              "total_count": 0
            },
            "storage": {
              "used": 0
            }
          }
        },
        "chat_group": {
          "id": "521cfcd840926a0b3500449d",
          "created_at": "2013-08-27T19:24:08+0000",
          "updated_at": "2013-08-27T19:24:08+0000",
          "message": " join to the chat group, welcome …",
          "participate_users": [
            {
              "id": "520f41e125e74b0b2400130a",
              "first_name": "Administrator",
              "created_at": "2013-08-17T09:26:57+0000",
              "updated_at": "2013-08-27T19:23:10+0000",
              "external_accounts": [

              ],
              "email": "[email protected]",
              "confirmed_at": "2013-08-17T09:26:57+0000",
              "username": "admin",
              "admin": "true",
              "stats": {
                "photos": {
                  "total_count": 0
                },
                "storage": {
                  "used": 0
                }
              }
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

How do I pull the following nested value of "id": "521cfcd840926a0b3500449e" from the returned json response result message?

I am using C#.

Solution 1

1> Add this namspace. using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;

2> use this source code.

JObject joResponse = JObject.Parse(response);                   
JObject ojObject = (JObject)joResponse["response"];
JArray array= (JArray)ojObject ["chats"];
int id = Convert.ToInt32(array[0].toString());

Solution 2

1. Create classes that match your data,
2. then use JSON.NET to convert the JSON data to regular C# objects.

Step 1: a great tool - http://json2csharp.com/ - the results generated by it are below

Step 2: JToken.Parse(...).ToObject<RootObject>().

public class Meta
{
    public int code { get; set; }
    public string status { get; set; }
    public string method_name { get; set; }
}

public class Photos
{
    public int total_count { get; set; }
}

public class Storage
{
    public int used { get; set; }
}

public class Stats
{
    public Photos photos { get; set; }
    public Storage storage { get; set; }
}

public class From
{
    public string id { get; set; }
    public string first_name { get; set; }
    public string created_at { get; set; }
    public string updated_at { get; set; }
    public List<object> external_accounts { get; set; }
    public string email { get; set; }
    public string confirmed_at { get; set; }
    public string username { get; set; }
    public string admin { get; set; }
    public Stats stats { get; set; }
}

public class ParticipateUser
{
    public string id { get; set; }
    public string first_name { get; set; }
    public string created_at { get; set; }
    public string updated_at { get; set; }
    public List<object> external_accounts { get; set; }
    public string email { get; set; }
    public string confirmed_at { get; set; }
    public string username { get; set; }
    public string admin { get; set; }
    public Stats stats { get; set; }
}

public class ChatGroup
{
    public string id { get; set; }
    public string created_at { get; set; }
    public string updated_at { get; set; }
    public string message { get; set; }
    public List<ParticipateUser> participate_users { get; set; }
}

public class Chat
{
    public string id { get; set; }
    public string created_at { get; set; }
    public string updated_at { get; set; }
    public string message { get; set; }
    public From from { get; set; }
    public ChatGroup chat_group { get; set; }
}

public class Response
{
    public List<Chat> chats { get; set; }
}

public class RootObject
{
    public Meta meta { get; set; }
    public Response response { get; set; }
}

Solution 3

Create a C# class that maps to your Json and use Newsoft JsonConvert to Deserialise it.

For example:

public Class MyResponse
{
    public Meta Meta { get; set; }
    public Response Response { get; set; }
}

Comments

[Hajjat]

Dude, the json2csharp website is amazing! Thanks for sharing!

[Jamshaid K.]

I am doing the same thing but it seems it violates the C# Coding Convention like properties without a capital letter starting. Can you recommend how to make this example even better?

[DDuffy]

2 days... that's how long i have been looking for an answer that works. And here it is. Thank you

[Paulo Guimarães]

Finally!! This is the only answer which really works!

[Jaideep Dhumal]

My json was similar to this, so had to modify this code a bit, but yeah, it really helped. Thanks a lot!