Convert a string to an array of objects

Question

How can I convert a string to an array of objects?

I am working with the following string

var s = "[{role:staff, storeId: 1234}, {role:admin, storeId: 4321}]";

and i want to be able to convert it to a .net object such as

public class StaffAccountObj
{
    public string role { get; set; }
    public string storeId { get; set; }
}

Is this possible?

Have you tried anything yet? This looks like JSON but implemented badly. Can you affect this string? — DavidG
– DavidG, Commented Apr 30, 2018 at 15:26
It's not valid JSON (unquoted strings) but maybe you could use the AlmostJson.NET library. /s I suggest fixing the input so you can simply use a JSON deserializer like Json.NET. — Dan Wilson
– Dan Wilson, Commented Apr 30, 2018 at 15:27
@user2366842 yes but I would push like hell to get it fixed. Writing a custom JSON parser is a non-trivial task, and likely a never-ending stream of edge cases due to invalid input. — Dan Wilson
– Dan Wilson, Commented Apr 30, 2018 at 15:34
@test The point is that it's not valid JSON so you can't use JObject or JsonConvert, unless you fix the source data - is that possible? — DavidG
– DavidG, Commented Apr 30, 2018 at 15:35
Nope i can't change it, the source will always be a string like in the example — test
– test, Commented Apr 30, 2018 at 15:37

DavidG · Accepted Answer · 2018-04-30 15:55:53Z

2

One solution is to use a regular expression to find the matches. Now this is a bit fragile, but if you are sure your input is in this format then this will work:

var s = "[{role:staff, storeId: 1234}, {role:admin, storeId: 4321}]";

//There is likely a far better RegEx than this...
var staffAccounts = Regex
    .Matches(s, @"\{role\:(\w*), storeId\: (\d*)}")
    .Cast<Match>()
    .Select(m => new StaffAccountObj
    {
        role = m.Groups[1].Value,
        storeId = m.Groups[2].Value
    });

And loop through them like this:

foreach (var staffAccount in staffAccounts)
{
    var role = staffAccount.role;
}

answered Apr 30, 2018 at 15:55

DavidG

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Comments

mohammad mohammad · Accepted Answer · 2018-05-01 07:42:12Z

0

you could use Newtonsoft.Json, since your string is a JSON compaible one:

using Newtonsoft.Json;

var myObject = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<StaffAccountObj>>(s);

answered May 1, 2018 at 7:42

mohammad mohammad

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