Serialize list of objects with JSON.NET in C#

Question

I have a List that looks like:

List<Product> products = new List<Product>();
Product p1 = new Product(1, "Apple", new Description("Red Apple"))
Product p2 = new Product(2, "Banana", new Description("Yellow Banana"))
products.Add(p1);
products.Add(p2);

A product looks like this:

//Product model
public virtual int Id { get; set; }
public virtual string Name { get; set; }
public virtual Description descriptions { get; set; }

//Description model
public string description { get; set }

Now I want to serialize this List<Product> to JSON with JSON.NET. I've tried:

var json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(products);

But I get the following error:

Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializationException: 'Self referencing loop detected for property 'Module' with type 'System.Reflection.RuntimeModule'.

I also have the following line in my Startup.cs file that should avoid loops:

xy.SerializerSettings.ReferenceLoopHandling = Newtonsoft.Json.ReferenceLoopHandling.Ignore;

Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? Can I provide more/better informations? Thanks in advance:)

Kindly provide all the datastructure in details with constructors. Only thing is noticeable is `Product` constructor takes single `Description` so provide all necessary details. — Gaurang Dave, Aug 27 '18 at 07:58
If your `Description` has a Product in it, try to add `[JsonIgnore]` in the variable, or if there is any objects that references the object itself. — Thaun_, Aug 27 '18 at 08:06
Possible duplicate of [JSON.NET Error Self referencing loop detected for type](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7397207/json-net-error-self-referencing-loop-detected-for-type) — Daniel B, Aug 27 '18 at 08:12
@DanielB It's not the exact same issue, because I have another error that could not be solved in your post — , Aug 27 '18 at 08:19
@KeyurRamoliya It's just an example I tried to give that is near on my real project — , Aug 27 '18 at 08:19
Should u add to config.Formatters.JsonFormatter.SerializerSettings? — Daniel B, Aug 27 '18 at 08:33
@DanielB `xy.SerializerSettings` are for the JSON.NET...with that it *should* ignore the loops and normally don't throw this error — , Aug 27 '18 at 08:36
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/21815759/set-default-global-json-serializer-settings — Daniel B, Aug 27 '18 at 08:39
@DanielB THANKS! It works now! You wanna write that as solution and I approve it? — , Aug 27 '18 at 08:52

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 27 '18 at 15:05

1

You should use JsonConvert's default Setting rather than SerializerSettings:

JsonConvert.DefaultSettings = () => new JsonSerializerSettings
{
    ReferenceLoopHandling = Newtonsoft.Json.ReferenceLoopHandling.Ignore
};

answered Aug 27 '18 at 15:05

Daniel B

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Serialize list of objects with JSON.NET in C#

1 Answers1