Enum Serialization Json vs XML

Question

I have following Enum in my project

public enum CameraAccessMethod
{
    Manual = 0,
    Panasonic = 1,
    Axis = 2,
    AirCam = 3
}

I have an object that is serialized either to json or to XML depending upon different scenarios and one of object's property is of type CameraAccessMethod. The problem i have is that when this property is serialized to XML it will give string representation of enum values (Manual, Panasonic,Axis,Aircam) but in JSON it is serialized to number values (0,1,2,3). How can i avoid this inconsistency? i want strings in JSON serialization as well.

How are you doing the JSON serialization? Depending on which serializer you use, it may or may not have an option of serializing enum values as strings. — carlosfigueira
– carlosfigueira, Commented May 19, 2012 at 14:51
I am using default serializer that ships with asp.net web api beta — Muhammad Adeel Zahid
– Muhammad Adeel Zahid, Commented May 20, 2012 at 19:28
possible duplicate of JSON serialization of c# enum as string — moribvndvs
– moribvndvs, Commented May 20, 2012 at 23:41

Rikin Patel · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-16 11:43:21Z

36

Since Web API RC you can get string representations of enums by applying a StringEnumConvert to the existing JsonMediaTypeFormatter converter collection during Application_Start():

var jsonFormatter = GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.JsonFormatter;
var enumConverter = new Newtonsoft.Json.Converters.StringEnumConverter();
jsonFormatter.SerializerSettings.Converters.Add(enumConverter);

edited Oct 16, 2015 at 11:43

Rikin Patel

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answered Jun 26, 2012 at 12:12

Jonas Lundgren

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1 Comment

Michael Bisbjerg Over a year ago

Needs a single ; at the end of line 1

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 10:28:40Z

1

You can accomplish this easily if you switch to using a formatter based upon Json.NET (which will ship out of the box with next drop of ASP.NET Web API). See this SO post for details:

How to tell Json.Net globally to apply the StringEnumConverter to all enums

edited May 23, 2017 at 10:28

CommunityBot

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answered May 22, 2012 at 5:41

David Peden

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Comments

Rikin Patel · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-16 11:42:58Z

0

To use JsonMediaTypeFormatter and enumConverter both we can use below code. //code start here

var serializerSettings = GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.JsonFormatter.SerializerSettings;
var enumConverter = new Newtonsoft.Json.Converters.StringEnumConverter();
serializerSettings.Converters.Add(enumConverter);
GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.Clear();
GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.Add(new PartialJsonMediaTypeFormatter()
{
     IgnoreCase = true,
     SerializerSettings = serializerSettings
});

edited Oct 16, 2015 at 11:42

Rikin Patel

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answered Jun 24, 2013 at 4:23

John - E

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