How to serialize array into querystring?

Question

I need to serialise an object model containing arrays into a query string, I have the following code:

       public static string ToQueryString(this object query)
    {
        var result = new List<string>();
        var properties = query.GetType().GetProperties().Where(p => p.GetValue(query, null) != null && p.GetValue(query, null).ToString() != "0");

        foreach (var p in properties)
        {
            var value = p.GetValue(query, null);
            var collection = value as ICollection;
            if (collection != null)
            {
                result.AddRange(from object o in collection select string.Format("{0}={1}", p.Name, HttpUtility.UrlEncode(o.ToString())));
            }
            else
            {
                result.Add($"{p.Name}={HttpUtility.UrlEncode(value.ToString())}");
            }
        }

        return string.Join("&", result.ToArray());
    }

and the following example model:

        var model = new exampleModel()
        {
            OrderBy = "name",
            OrderByDesc = true,
            PersonName= "John",
            Languages = new string[] { "French", "English", "Spanish" }
        };

When the model is serialized the querystring is converted like this:

"OrderBy=name&OrderByDesc=true&PersonName=John&Languages=French&Languages=English&Languages=Spanish"

As you can see this is not desirable as the property "Languages" is repeated in the query string for each value in the collection. Does anyone know how can I manage to get the query string such as:

"OrderBy=name&OrderByDesc=true&PersonName=John&Languages=French,English,Spanish"

Note: if you would like to minimize the need for scrolling horizontally, you could reduce indentation by selecting the relevant portion of code, and clicking [{ }] button at the top of the editor. — Sergey Kalinichenko
– Sergey Kalinichenko, Commented Dec 13, 2017 at 18:08

NetMage · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-13 22:18:02Z

2

Change your handling of ICollection to format as you would like:

  public static string ToQueryString(this object query)
{
    var result = new List<string>();
    var properties = query.GetType().GetProperties().Where(p => p.GetValue(query, null) != null && p.GetValue(query, null).ToString() != "0");

    foreach (var p in properties)
    {
        var value = p.GetValue(query, null);
        var collection = value as ICollection;
        if (collection != null)
        {
            result.Add(p.Name+"="+string.Join(",", collection.Select(o => HttpUtility.UrlEncode(o.ToString())).ToArray());
        }
        else
        {
            result.Add($"{p.Name}={HttpUtility.UrlEncode(value.ToString())}");
        }
    }

    return string.Join("&", result.ToArray());
}

answered Dec 13, 2017 at 22:18

NetMage

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Comments

et_dev · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-13 20:59:44Z

1

Check if the property value is an array and since arrays implement IEnumerable you can create a generic function like so:

public string ConvertToQueryString(object obj)
{
    var properties = from p in obj.GetType().GetProperties()
                 where p.GetValue(obj, null) != null
                 select p.Name + "=" + (
                     p.GetValue(obj, null).GetType().IsArray ?
                     string.Join(",", ((IEnumerable)p.GetValue(obj, null)).Cast<object>().Select(x => x.ToString()).ToArray()) :
                     p.GetValue(obj, null).ToString() 
                     );

    return string.Join("&", properties.ToArray());
}

answered Dec 13, 2017 at 20:59

et_dev

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