I have the following class defined:
<TypeConverter(GetType(ExpandableObjectConverter))> <DataContract()> Public Class Vector3 <DataMember()> Public Property X As Double <DataMember()> Public Property Y As Double <DataMember()> Public Property Z As Double Public Overrides Function ToString() As String Return String.Format("({0}, {1}, {2})", Format(X, "0.00"), Format(Y, "0.00"), Format(Z, "0.00")) End Function End Class
Using the
DataContractJsonSerializer
I receive the following JSON as expected:{ "Vector": { "X": 1.23, "Y": 4.56, "Z": 7.89 } }
However, JSON.NET produces:
{ "Vector": "(1.23, 4.56, 7.89)" }
If I remove the
ExpandableObjectConverter
attribute from the class, JSON.NET produces results as expected (same as DataContractJsonSerializer).Unfortunately I need the
ExpandableObjectConverter
so that the class works with a property grid.Is there any way to tell JSON.NET to ignore
ExpandableObjectConverters
?I prefer to use JSON.NET instead of
DataContractJsonSerializer
because it is much easier to serialize enums to their string representations.
Answer
Although I appreciate Rivers’ answer I am really looking for a solution that ignores all expandable object converters automatically (like the DataContractJsonSerializer does) rather than building a custom JsonConverter for each offending class.
I have found the following two solutions:
- Use the built in DataContractJsonSerializer instead (at the expense of some other conveniences of JSON.NET).
- Use a custom ExpandableObjectConverter (see below).
Since the default ExpandableObjectConverter supports converting to/from string, JSON.NET is serializing the class with a string. To counteract this I have created my own expandable object converter which does not allow conversions to/from string.
Imports System.ComponentModel
Public Class SerializableExpandableObjectConverter
Inherits ExpandableObjectConverter
Public Overrides Function CanConvertTo(context As System.ComponentModel.ITypeDescriptorContext, destinationType As System.Type) As Boolean
If destinationType Is GetType(String) Then
Return False
Else
Return MyBase.CanConvertTo(context, destinationType)
End If
End Function
Public Overrides Function CanConvertFrom(context As System.ComponentModel.ITypeDescriptorContext, sourceType As System.Type) As Boolean
If sourceType Is GetType(String) Then
Return False
Else
Return MyBase.CanConvertFrom(context, sourceType)
End If
End Function
End Class
Applying the above converter works flawlessly with JSON.NET and with the property grid control!
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : JRS , Answer Author : JRS