JSON.NET Property as Javascript Function

Question

I have a C# class like this

public class Person
{
  string firstname {get; set;}
  string lastname {get; set;}
  string onRenderFunction {get; set;}
}

Then I setup the class like this:

var superman = new Person
{ 
    firstname = "Clark",
    lastname = "Kent",
    onRenderFunction = "renderPersonComplete"
}

What I want is the "onRenderFunction" to be serialized to a method - not a string. Like this;

{ 
  "firstname": "Clark",
  "lastname": "Kent",
  "onRenderFunction": renderPersonComplete
}

So when the serialized object is returned via an Ajax call and given to a plugin which has the ability to call a function "onRenderFunction", the plugin would see the function is set and call a function setup like this:

var renderPersonComplete = function() {
   alert('do something on render complete');
};

How would I setup JSON.NET to serialize the Person class to do this?

What do you mean by "onRenderFunction" to be serialized to a method"? Do you want to assign a JavaScript function to a string property in C#? — Saravana
– Saravana, Commented Jan 3, 2015 at 16:52
Added more detail to the function. I am passing the serialized object as a Javascript object via an Ajax call to a jQuery plugin. The plugin sees if the onRenderFunction property on the javascript object is a function and if so calls it. — CmdrTallen
– CmdrTallen, Commented Jan 3, 2015 at 16:56
Why not just add the function to the JS object after you get the data from ajax? — Saravana
– Saravana, Commented Jan 3, 2015 at 17:06
The object to be serialized is setup server side and the callback changes with business logic. I need the ability to setup the entire object given to the plugin. — CmdrTallen
– CmdrTallen, Commented Jan 3, 2015 at 17:13
The way to do it is to use javascript eval. It an be done this way eval(yourjsonobject.onRenderFunction) — genichm
– genichm, Commented Jan 3, 2015 at 17:15

Saravana · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-03 17:20:12Z

1

You have to do some additional processing to assign the function to the property because JSON by definition is just key-value pairs of primitives, it does not know functions.

So initially your data from ajax will look like:

var data = { 
  "firstname": "Clark",
  "lastname": "Kent",
  "onRenderFunction": "renderPersonComplete"
}

Let's say you have a function called renderPersonComplete in window's scope:

window.renderPersonComplete = function() {
   alert('do something on render complete');
};

Now you have to modify your data to assign the function:

data.onRenderFunction = window[data.onRenderFunction] // This assigns the function to onRenderFunction  property.

The name of the function is decided in the server side based on your logic.

answered Jan 3, 2015 at 17:20

Saravana

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