How to Parse a Json String That Would Cause Illegal C# Identifiers

How can I parse a JSON string that would cause illegal C# identifiers?

You can deserialize to a dictionary.

public class Item
{
    public string fajr { get; set; }
    public string sunrise { get; set; }
    public string zuhr { get; set; }
    public string asr { get; set; }
    public string maghrib { get; set; }
    public string isha { get; set; }
}

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var dict = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Dictionary<string, Item>>(json);

How do I deserialise json to c# that is valid json but doesn't follow a standard object pattern as it has no base parameter pair

You need to deserialize to List<Dictionary<string, ThemeMyLogin>> like so:

var root = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<Dictionary<string, ThemeMyLogin>>>(json);

The code-generation site http://json2csharp.com/ has some limitations of which you need to be aware:

1. The JSON standard allows for two types of container:

   • The array, which is an ordered collection of values. An array begins with [ (left bracket) and ends with ] (right bracket). Values are separated by , (comma).

   • The object, which is an unordered set of name/value pairs. An object begins with { (left brace) and ends with } (right brace).

   
   If your root container is an array, http://json2csharp.com/ will auto-generate a RootObject model to deserialize each object in the array. To actually deserialize the entire array you need to deserialize to a collection of root objects such as a List<RootObject>. See Serialization Guide: IEnumerable, Lists, and Arrays.

2. When a JSON property corresponds to an invalid c# identifier, http://json2csharp.com/ will "helpfully" add a property to the containing type that looks like this:

   public PropertyType __invalid_name__my-invalid-identifier { get; set; }
   

   Of course this will not compile, so you need to notice any __invalid_name properties and manually fix the generated code. Options for doing this include those covered in How can I parse a JSON string that would cause illegal C# identifiers? and elsewhere:

   • If the property name is fixed and known in advance, rename the c# property to something valid consistent with your coding conventions and mark it with [JsonProperty("my-invalid-identifier")]. (From the answer by ken2k).

   • If the containing type consists entirely of variable property names with a fixed schema for their values corresponding to some type T, replace the containing type with a Dictionary<string, T>. (From the answer by L.B.)

   • If the containing object has a mixture of fixed and variable properties, see Deserialize json with known and unknown fields or How to deserialize a child object with dynamic (numeric) key names?.

You seem to have encountered both limitations. Working sample .Net fiddle.

Deserialize JSON Object to C# class after API call

Your biggest issue is that your model doesn't match your json string. You can use a dictionary to represent your data and your model would look something like this:

        public void Deserialize()
        {
            var obj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<RootObject>(json);
        }

        private string json = @"{""status"": ""ok"",
  ""meta"": {
    ""count"": 1,
    ""hidden"": null
  },
  ""data"": {
    ""111111111"": [
      {
        ""ship_id"": 4180588496
      },
      {
        ""ship_id"": 4284430032
      },
      {
        ""ship_id"": 3767482320
      }
     ]
   }
}";

        public class RootObject
        {
            public string Status { get; set; }
            public MetaData Meta { get; set; }
            public IDictionary<string, IEnumerable<Ship>> Data { get; set; }
        }

        public class MetaData
        {
            public int Count { get; set; }
            public string Hidden { get; set; }
        }       

        public class Ship
        {
            public long Ship_Id { get; set; }
        }

Parse JSON using c#

You can convert this json to c# class structure using a Dictionary to hold the merchants (where the ID is the string key):

public class RootObject
{
    public string AppId { get; set; }
    public Dictionary<string, List<ChildObject>> Merchants { get; set; }
}

public class ChildObject
{
    public string ObjectId { get; set; }
    public string Type { get; set; }
    public long Ts { get; set; }
}

You can then loop over the childobjects like so:

foreach (var kvp in rootObject.Merchants) 
{
    var childObjects = kvp.Value;
    foreach (var childObject in childObjects) {
        Console.WriteLine($"MerchantId: {kvp.Key}, ObjectId: {childObject.ObjectId}, Type: {childObject.Type}");
    }
}

How to deserialize a pseudo-json array into c#

The data property of your JSON object is an associative array. You need to access each element by the appropriate key (in this case a numeric string)

// convert from a String into a JObject
var data = JObject.Parse(json);

// access single property
Response.Write(data["data"]["71489"]);
Response.Write(data["data"]["140141"]);

// iterate all properties
foreach (JProperty prop in data["data"])
{
    Response.Write(prop.Name + ": " + prop.Value);

    // Also possible to access things like:
    // - prop.Value["air_by_date"]
    // - prop.Value["cache"]["banner"]
    // - prop.Value["cache"]["poster"]
    // - prop.Value["language"]
}

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