JSON Data contract and hypens

Question

Hi

I want to receive a JSON object through WCF - I have set up a data contract and it works fine.  The problem I have now hit is that the object being sent has some parameters with hyphens (e.g. q-125).  As I can't create a property with a hyphen in its name, I'm not sure how I can map these parts of the JSON object to my data contract.

For example, if the JSON object is {"surname":"Pitt","forename":"Mike","q-125":"No"} I set my data contract like this:-

  <DataContract()>

 Public Class theData

        <DataMember()>

        Property forename As String = ""

        <DataMember()>

        Property surname As String = ""

End Class

This works fine with my web service and pulls in forename and surname.  How would I go about receiving q-125 as I can't add:-

Property q-125 as string = ""

Thanks in advance,

Mike.

 

 

Answer 1

Hello, this is not supported. q-125 may be a valid string variable and thus can be used in JSON, it can't be used in programming language (including JavaScript) as variable names. You should change it to q_125.

If you have to use q-125, you cannot use DataContractJsonSerializer. You have to write a custom serializer. Also note even if you've made it to work on the WCF side, it may not work on the client. For example, if you need a JavaScript client, you won't be able to use Eval to turn the response into a JavaScript object.

---

Lante, shanaolanxing This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
If you have feedback about forum business, please contact [e-mail]. But please do not ask technical questions in the email.

Answer 2

You can use the Name property of the <DataMember> attribute to configure the name of the JSON object member. The code below shows how the JSON you mentioned can be received by a WCF service.

Public Class Post_9d1a0c6e_8e83_420a_8bd3_7a13cc8eadb4
    <DataContract()> _
    Public Class TheData
        <DataMember()> _
        Property forename As String
        <DataMember()> _
        Property surname As String
        <DataMember(Name:="q-125")> _
        Property Q125 As String
    End Class

    <ServiceContract()> _
    Public Interface ITest
        <WebInvoke()> _
        Function Process(ByVal data As TheData) As String
    End Interface

    Public Class Service
        Implements ITest

        Public Function Process(ByVal data As TheData) As String Implements ITest.Process
            Return String.Format("TheData[fore={0},sur={1},q-125={2}]", data.forename, data.surname, data.Q125)
        End Function
    End Class

    Public Shared Sub Test()
        Dim baseAddress As String = "http://" + Environment.MachineName + ":8000/Service"
        Dim host As WebServiceHost = New WebServiceHost(GetType(Service), New Uri(baseAddress))
        host.Open()
        Console.WriteLine("Host opened")

        Dim client As WebClient = New WebClient()
        client.Headers(HttpRequestHeader.ContentType) = "application/json"
        Dim json As String = "{""surname"":""Pitt"",""forename"":""Mike"",""q-125"":""No""}"
        Console.WriteLine(client.UploadString(baseAddress + "/Process", json))

        host.Close()
    End Sub
End Class

 

---

Carlos Figueira

Answer 3

Yi-Lun, in JS you can have objects with keys which aren't valid property names; you just need to declare them as strings:

var myObj = {forename: "Mike", surname: "Pitt", "q-125": "No"};

And the DataContractJsonSerializer does support it, you need to configure the name using the Name property in the DataMemberAttribute.

---

Carlos Figueira