Newtonsoft.Json serialize using property value as root name

Question

I have to serialize a list of objects in Json in C#, I'm using Newtonsoft.Json I need to use the name value of the objects as the root name, like this:

"employees"  :
  {
    "John" :
      {
        "id" : 18,
        "email" : "[email protected]"
       },
    "Jack" :
       {
         "id" : 21,
         "email" : "[email protected]"
        }
   }

Where John and Jack are the values of the name property for my employees

Can you explain why you need that kind of structure to represent something that can be an array of employees with a name property ? — PMerlet, Dec 07 '17 at 15:42
Possible duplicate of [C# JSON.NET - Deserialize response that uses an unusual data structure](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/39461518/c-sharp-json-net-deserialize-response-that-uses-an-unusual-data-structure) — Matt Spinks, Dec 07 '17 at 15:47
can't you challenge the specs? Makes much more sense as an array. — ADyson, Dec 07 '17 at 16:09

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 07 '17 at 16:19

Not the best solution but quick You can use dictionary before serialization like this

class Example
{
    static void Main()
    {
        var l = new[]
        {
            new Employee {Id = 1, Name = "1", Email = "1"},
            new Employee {Id = 2, Name = "2", Email = "2"}, 
            new Employee {Id = 2, Name = "3", Email = "3"}
        };

        var s = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(new { employees = l.ToDictionary(x => x.Name, x => x) });
    }


    class Employee
    {
        public int Id { get; set; }

        [JsonIgnore]
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public string Email { get; set; }
    }
}

Output:

{"employees":{"1":{"Id":1,"Email":"1"},"2":{"Id":2,"Email":"2"},"3":{"Id":2,"Email":"3"}}}

You can find more information here https://www.newtonsoft.com/json/help/html/SerializationAttributes.htm I think you can solve this in more elegant way using JsonConverterAttribute but it can be not easy

Newtonsoft.Json serialize using property value as root name

1 Answers1