Serialize and Deserialize Json and Json Array in Unity

Unity added JsonUtility to their API after 5.3.3 Update. Forget about all the 3rd party libraries unless you are doing something more complicated. JsonUtility is faster than other Json libraries. Update to Unity 5.3.3 version or above then try the solution below.

JsonUtility is a lightweight API. Only simple types are supported. It does not support collections such as Dictionary. One exception is List. It supports List and List array!

If you need to serialize a Dictionary or do something other than simply serializing and deserializing simple datatypes, use a third-party API. Otherwise, continue reading.

Example class to serialize:

[Serializable]
public class Player
{
    public string playerId;
    public string playerLoc;
    public string playerNick;
}

1. ONE DATA OBJECT (NON-ARRAY JSON)

Serializing Part A:

Serialize to Json with the public static string ToJson(object obj); method.

Player playerInstance = new Player();
playerInstance.playerId = "8484239823";
playerInstance.playerLoc = "Powai";
playerInstance.playerNick = "Random Nick";

//Convert to JSON
string playerToJson = JsonUtility.ToJson(playerInstance);
Debug.Log(playerToJson);

Output:

{"playerId":"8484239823","playerLoc":"Powai","playerNick":"Random Nick"}

Serializing Part B:

Serialize to Json with the public static string ToJson(object obj, bool prettyPrint); method overload. Simply passing true to the JsonUtility.ToJson function will format the data. Compare the output below to the output above.

Player playerInstance = new Player();
playerInstance.playerId = "8484239823";
playerInstance.playerLoc = "Powai";
playerInstance.playerNick = "Random Nick";

//Convert to JSON
string playerToJson = JsonUtility.ToJson(playerInstance, true);
Debug.Log(playerToJson);

Output:

{
    "playerId": "8484239823",
    "playerLoc": "Powai",
    "playerNick": "Random Nick"
}

Deserializing Part A:

Deserialize json with the public static T FromJson(string json); method overload.

string jsonString = "{\"playerId\":\"8484239823\",\"playerLoc\":\"Powai\",\"playerNick\":\"Random Nick\"}";
Player player = JsonUtility.FromJson<Player>(jsonString);
Debug.Log(player.playerLoc);

Deserializing Part B:

Deserialize json with the public static object FromJson(string json, Type type); method overload.

string jsonString = "{\"playerId\":\"8484239823\",\"playerLoc\":\"Powai\",\"playerNick\":\"Random Nick\"}";
Player player = (Player)JsonUtility.FromJson(jsonString, typeof(Player));
Debug.Log(player.playerLoc);

Deserializing Part C:

Deserialize json with the public static void FromJsonOverwrite(string json, object objectToOverwrite); method. When JsonUtility.FromJsonOverwrite is used, no new instance of that Object you are deserializing to will be created. It will simply re-use the instance you pass in and overwrite its values.

This is efficient and should be used if possible.

Player playerInstance;
void Start()
{
    //Must create instance once
    playerInstance = new Player();
    deserialize();
}

void deserialize()
{
    string jsonString = "{\"playerId\":\"8484239823\",\"playerLoc\":\"Powai\",\"playerNick\":\"Random Nick\"}";

    //Overwrite the values in the existing class instance "playerInstance". Less memory Allocation
    JsonUtility.FromJsonOverwrite(jsonString, playerInstance);
    Debug.Log(playerInstance.playerLoc);
}

2. MULTIPLE DATA(ARRAY JSON)

Your Json contains multiple data objects. For example playerId appeared more than once. Unity's JsonUtility does not support array as it is still new but you can use a helper class from this person to get array working with JsonUtility.

Create a class called JsonHelper. Copy the JsonHelper directly from below.

public static class JsonHelper
{
    public static T[] FromJson<T>(string json)
    {
        Wrapper<T> wrapper = JsonUtility.FromJson<Wrapper<T>>(json);
        return wrapper.Items;
    }

    public static string ToJson<T>(T[] array)
    {
        Wrapper<T> wrapper = new Wrapper<T>();
        wrapper.Items = array;
        return JsonUtility.ToJson(wrapper);
    }

    public static string ToJson<T>(T[] array, bool prettyPrint)
    {
        Wrapper<T> wrapper = new Wrapper<T>();
        wrapper.Items = array;
        return JsonUtility.ToJson(wrapper, prettyPrint);
    }

    [Serializable]
    private class Wrapper<T>
    {
        public T[] Items;
    }
}

Serializing Json Array:

Player[] playerInstance = new Player[2];

playerInstance[0] = new Player();
playerInstance[0].playerId = "8484239823";
playerInstance[0].playerLoc = "Powai";
playerInstance[0].playerNick = "Random Nick";

playerInstance[1] = new Player();
playerInstance[1].playerId = "512343283";
playerInstance[1].playerLoc = "User2";
playerInstance[1].playerNick = "Rand Nick 2";

//Convert to JSON
string playerToJson = JsonHelper.ToJson(playerInstance, true);
Debug.Log(playerToJson);

Output:

{
    "Items": [
        {
            "playerId": "8484239823",
            "playerLoc": "Powai",
            "playerNick": "Random Nick"
        },
        {
            "playerId": "512343283",
            "playerLoc": "User2",
            "playerNick": "Rand Nick 2"
        }
    ]
}

Deserializing Json Array:

string jsonString = "{\r\n    \"Items\": [\r\n        {\r\n            \"playerId\": \"8484239823\",\r\n            \"playerLoc\": \"Powai\",\r\n            \"playerNick\": \"Random Nick\"\r\n        },\r\n        {\r\n            \"playerId\": \"512343283\",\r\n            \"playerLoc\": \"User2\",\r\n            \"playerNick\": \"Rand Nick 2\"\r\n        }\r\n    ]\r\n}";

Player[] player = JsonHelper.FromJson<Player>(jsonString);
Debug.Log(player[0].playerLoc);
Debug.Log(player[1].playerLoc);

Output:

Powai

User2

If this is a Json array from the server and you did not create it by hand:

You may have to Add {"Items": in front of the received string then add } at the end of it.

I made a simple function for this:

string fixJson(string value)
{
    value = "{\"Items\":" + value + "}";
    return value;
}

then you can use it:

string jsonString = fixJson(yourJsonFromServer);
Player[] player = JsonHelper.FromJson<Player>(jsonString);

3.Deserialize json string without class && De-serializing Json with numeric properties

This is a Json that starts with a number or numeric properties.

For example:

{ 
"USD" : {"15m" : 1740.01, "last" : 1740.01, "buy" : 1740.01, "sell" : 1744.74, "symbol" : "$"}, 

"ISK" : {"15m" : 179479.11, "last" : 179479.11, "buy" : 179479.11, "sell" : 179967, "symbol" : "kr"},

"NZD" : {"15m" : 2522.84, "last" : 2522.84, "buy" : 2522.84, "sell" : 2529.69, "symbol" : "$"}
}

Unity's JsonUtility does not support this because the "15m" property starts with a number. A class variable cannot start with an integer.

Download SimpleJSON.cs from Unity's wiki.

To get the "15m" property of USD:

var N = JSON.Parse(yourJsonString);
string price = N["USD"]["15m"].Value;
Debug.Log(price);

To get the "15m" property of ISK:

var N = JSON.Parse(yourJsonString);
string price = N["ISK"]["15m"].Value;
Debug.Log(price);

To get the "15m" property of NZD:

var N = JSON.Parse(yourJsonString);
string price = N["NZD"]["15m"].Value;
Debug.Log(price);

The rest of the Json properties that doesn't start with a numeric digit can be handled by Unity's JsonUtility.

4.TROUBLESHOOTING JsonUtility:

Problems when serializing with JsonUtility.ToJson?

Getting empty string or "{}" with JsonUtility.ToJson?

A. Make sure that the class is not an array. If it is, use the helper class above with JsonHelper.ToJson instead of JsonUtility.ToJson.

B. Add [Serializable] to the top of the class you are serializing.

C. Remove property from the class. For example, in the variable, public string playerId { get; set; } remove { get; set; }. Unity cannot serialize this.

Problems when deserializing with JsonUtility.FromJson?

A. If you get Null, make sure that the Json is not a Json array. If it is, use the helper class above with JsonHelper.FromJson instead of JsonUtility.FromJson.

B. If you get NullReferenceException while deserializing, add [Serializable] to the top of the class.

C.Any other problems, verify that your json is valid. Go to this site here and paste the json. It should show you if the json is valid. It should also generate the proper class with the Json. Just make sure to remove remove { get; set; } from each variable and also add [Serializable] to the top of each class generated.

Newtonsoft.Json:

If for some reason Newtonsoft.Json must be used then check out the forked version for Unity here. Note that you may experience crash if certain feature is used. Be careful.

To answer your question:

Your original data is

 [{"playerId":"1","playerLoc":"Powai"},{"playerId":"2","playerLoc":"Andheri"},{"playerId":"3","playerLoc":"Churchgate"}]

Add {"Items": in front of it then add } at the end of it.

Code to do this:

serviceData = "{\"Items\":" + serviceData + "}";

Now you have:

 {"Items":[{"playerId":"1","playerLoc":"Powai"},{"playerId":"2","playerLoc":"Andheri"},{"playerId":"3","playerLoc":"Churchgate"}]}

To serialize the multiple data from php as arrays, you can now do

public player[] playerInstance;
playerInstance = JsonHelper.FromJson<player>(serviceData);

playerInstance[0] is your first data

playerInstance[1] is your second data

playerInstance[2] is your third data

or data inside the class with playerInstance[0].playerLoc, playerInstance[1].playerLoc, playerInstance[2].playerLoc ......

You can use playerInstance.Length to check the length before accessing it.

NOTE: Remove { get; set; } from the player class. If you have { get; set; }, it won't work. Unity's JsonUtility does NOT work with class members that are defined as properties.

json deserialize in Unity C#

you should put the text inside the json file for jsonString not the path to file.

for reading text files you have several options:

1- get from the inspector:

define a TextAsset in your class like this:

[SerializeField] TextAsset myfile;

you can also use Resources.Load(resourceRelativePath) for this

then read the jsonString like this:

var jsonString = textFile.text;

2- have the exact path to file:(read documentation about streamingAssets and PersistentDataPath:

        var jsonString = File.ReadAllText(filePath);

Unity C# simple JSON to Array

You can use the JsonUtility. Note that "Unity does not support passing other types directly to the API, such as primitive types or arrays. If you need to convert those, wrap them in a class or struct of some sort.". You have to do something like this:

    [Serializable]
    public struct StringArrayWrapper { public string[] items; }

    private Start()
    {
            var arry = JsonUtility.FromJson<StringArrayWrapper>("{\"items\":[\"EnzoDeg40\",\"EDeg40\",\"AstroGeek\"]}")

Cannot Serialize and Deserialize JSON in Unity

Thanks @dbc for clarification. JsonUtility probably serializes fields not properties. In the question's case, adding { get; set; } makes it a property. Using properties enables adding additional functionalities in the code. However, to make the code work with JsonUtility remove get; and set; from the code. But you will get very limited functionality by using Unity's inbuilt JsonUtility. But it has limitations. It will not work with advanced usage. For that use fork of JamesNK/Newtonsoft.Json mentioned below it works with Unity's IL2CPP builds on Android and iOS and others.

Another method is, use fork of JamesNK/Newtonsoft.Json from Json-for-Unity. The GitHub page contains detailed explanation of how to use, how to install, its features, etc. It works with mobile builds such as Android and iOS and other IL2CPP builds. The Package is open source and is supported by the developer, unlike JSON.Net plugin which is not updated since 2016.

Please note that using JSON.Net is an option but it is not updated since 2016, hence might give problems in latest or upcoming versions of Unity.

Deserializing JSON array with Unity JsonUtility fails to get serialized values

The Json serialization can only handle fields (see supported types https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/JSONSerialization.html) but your Name and Cost look like properties What is the difference between a field and a property?

Since they are marked public and can be accessed directly anyway I would just remove the {get; set}

Deserializing specific JSON fields into a list of objects in Unity

From the docs:

Only plain classes and structures are supported; classes derived from
UnityEngine.Object (such as MonoBehaviour or ScriptableObject) are
not.

How to do JSON parsing in Unity?

Use this function:

public static T[] DeserializeFromJsonArray<T>(string jsonString)
    {        
            string newJson = "{ \"array\": " + jsonString + "}";
            Wrapper<T> wrapper = JsonUtility.FromJson<Wrapper<T>>(newJson);
            return wrapper.array;        
    }

Like this:

JsonObjectModel[] arrayOfObjects = DeserializeFromJsonArray<JsonObjectModel>(jsonArrayString);

If you want to Serialize again, do it with:

public static string SerializeToJsonArray<T>(T[] arrayToSerialize)
    {
        Wrapper<T> wrapper = new Wrapper<T>();
        wrapper.array = arrayToSerialize;
        return JsonUtility.ToJson(wrapper);
    }

And use it like this:

 string jsonString = JsonManager.SerializeToJson<JsonArrayModel>(jsonArrayModel);

If you have more questions, I got a repo with some UnityUtils that include an example of this JsonManaging here: https://github.com/EricBatlle/SimpleUnityUtils/tree/master/Assets/Simple_JsonManager

Serialize and Deserialize Json and Json Array in Unity