JSON.Net Self referencing loop detected

The fix is to ignore loop references and not to serialize them. This behaviour is specified in JsonSerializerSettings.

Single JsonConvert with an overload:

JsonConvert.SerializeObject((from a in db.Events where a.Active select a).ToList(), Formatting.Indented,
    new JsonSerializerSettings() {
        ReferenceLoopHandling = Newtonsoft.Json.ReferenceLoopHandling.Ignore
    }
);

If you'd like to make this the default behaviour, add a Global Setting with code in Application_Start() in Global.asax.cs:

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

Reference: https://github.com/JamesNK/Newtonsoft.Json/issues/78

If using ASP.NET Core MVC, add this to the ConfigureServices method of your startup.cs file:

services.AddMvc()
    .AddJsonOptions(
        options => options.SerializerSettings.ReferenceLoopHandling =            
        Newtonsoft.Json.ReferenceLoopHandling.Ignore
    );

This may help you.

public MyContext() : base("name=MyContext") 
{ 
    Database.SetInitializer(new MyContextDataInitializer()); 
    this.Configuration.LazyLoadingEnabled = false; 
    this.Configuration.ProxyCreationEnabled = false; 
} 

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/Loop-Reference-handling-in-caaffaf7

You must set Preserving Object References:

var jsonSerializerSettings = new JsonSerializerSettings
{
    PreserveReferencesHandling = PreserveReferencesHandling.Objects
};

Then call your query var q = (from a in db.Events where a.Active select a).ToList(); like

string jsonStr = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.SerializeObject(q, jsonSerializerSettings);

See: https://www.newtonsoft.com/json/help/html/PreserveObjectReferences.htm

I am using Dot.Net Core 3.1 and did an search for

"Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializationException: Self referencing loop detected for property "

I am adding this to this question, as it will be an easy reference. You should use the following in the Startup.cs file:

 services.AddControllers()
                .AddNewtonsoftJson(options =>
                {
                    // Use the default property (Pascal) casing
                    options.SerializerSettings.ContractResolver = new CamelCasePropertyNamesContractResolver();
                    options.SerializerSettings.ReferenceLoopHandling = ReferenceLoopHandling.Ignore;
                });

Add "[JsonIgnore]" to your model class

{
  public Customer()
  {
    Orders = new Collection<Order>();
  }

public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Surname { get; set; }

[JsonIgnore]
public ICollection<Order> Orders { get; set; }
}

for asp.net core 3.1.3 this worked for me

services.AddControllers().AddNewtonsoftJson(opt=>{
            opt.SerializerSettings.ReferenceLoopHandling = Newtonsoft.Json.ReferenceLoopHandling.Ignore;
        });

Make sure you aren't accidentally serializing a Task<T>

You can get this error if you forget to await an asynchronous method whose return value you intended to serialize.

    public async Task<JsonResult> GetTaxTable([FromServices] TaxService taxService)
    {
        var taxTable = /* await */ taxService.GetTaxTable();
        return new JsonResult(taxTable);
    }

In this example I had forgotten to await the GetTaxTable async method. So I inadvertently ended up passing a Task to the JsonResult constructor - and a Task isn't serializable. While it may at first look like everything blew up on you - the simple solution is to add await.

JsonConvert.SerializeObject(ObjectName, new JsonSerializerSettings(){ PreserveReferencesHandling = PreserveReferencesHandling.Objects, Formatting = Formatting.Indented });

The JsonSerializer instance can be configured to ignore reference loops. Like in the following, this function allows to save a file with the content of the json serialized object:

    public static void SaveJson<T>(this T obj, string FileName)
    {
   
       JsonSerializer serializer = new JsonSerializer();
        serializer.ReferenceLoopHandling = ReferenceLoopHandling.Ignore;
        using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(FileName))
        {
            using (JsonWriter writer = new JsonTextWriter(sw))
            {
                writer.Formatting = Formatting.Indented;
                serializer.Serialize(writer, obj);
            }
        }
    }

If you are like me and were previously calling SerializeObject with a converter, you will need to remove the converter parameter and add it to your config... Like so:

var isoConvert = new IsoDateTimeConverter();
isoConvert.DateTimeFormat = _dateFormat;
List<JsonConverter> converters = new List<JsonConverter>();
converters.Add(isoConvert);
JsonSerializerSettings settings = new JsonSerializerSettings()
{
    PreserveReferencesHandling = PreserveReferencesHandling.Objects,
    ReferenceLoopHandling = ReferenceLoopHandling.Ignore,
    Converters = converters
};

// Old Code:
//response.Write(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(Data, isoConvert);
response.Write(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(Data, settings));

Sometimes you have loops becouse your type class have references to other classes and that classes have references to your type class, thus you have to select the parameters that you need exactly in the json string, like this code.

List<ROficina> oficinas = new List<ROficina>();
oficinas = /*list content*/;
var x = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(oficinas.Select(o => new
            {
                o.IdOficina,
                o.Nombre
            }));

JsonIgnoreAttribute attribute allows you to control which properties of your class get serialized into JSON format. By applying [JsonIgnore] directly above a property declaration, you instruct the serializer to skip that property during the process.