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How to handle overflow JSON or use JsonElement or JsonNode in System.Text.Json

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This article shows how to handle overflow JSON with the System.Text.Json namespace. It also shows how to deserialize into JsonElement or JsonNode, as an alternative for other scenarios where the target type might not perfectly match all of the JSON being deserialized.

Handle overflow JSON

While deserializing, you might receive data in the JSON that is not represented by properties of the target type. For example, suppose your target type is this:

public class WeatherForecast
{
    public DateTimeOffset Date { get; set; }
    public int TemperatureCelsius { get; set; }
    public string? Summary { get; set; }
}

Public Class WeatherForecast
    Public Property [Date] As DateTimeOffset
    Public Property TemperatureCelsius As Integer
    Public Property Summary As String
End Class

And the JSON to be deserialized is this:

{
  "Date": "2019-08-01T00:00:00-07:00",
  "temperatureCelsius": 25,
  "Summary": "Hot",
  "DatesAvailable": [
    "2019-08-01T00:00:00-07:00",
    "2019-08-02T00:00:00-07:00"
  ],
  "SummaryWords": [
    "Cool",
    "Windy",
    "Humid"
  ]
}

If you deserialize the JSON shown into the type shown, the DatesAvailable and SummaryWords properties have nowhere to go and are lost. To capture extra data such as these properties, apply the [JsonExtensionData] attribute to a property of type Dictionary<string,object> or Dictionary<string,JsonElement>:

public class WeatherForecastWithExtensionData
{
    public DateTimeOffset Date { get; set; }
    public int TemperatureCelsius { get; set; }
    public string? Summary { get; set; }
    [JsonExtensionData]
    public Dictionary<string, JsonElement>? ExtensionData { get; set; }
}

Public Class WeatherForecastWithExtensionData
    Public Property [Date] As DateTimeOffset
    Public Property TemperatureCelsius As Integer
    Public Property Summary As String

    <JsonExtensionData>
    Public Property ExtensionData As Dictionary(Of String, Object)

End Class

The following table shows the result of deserializing the JSON shown earlier into this sample type. The extra data becomes key-value pairs of the ExtensionData property:

Property Value Notes
Date "8/1/2019 12:00:00 AM -07:00"
TemperatureCelsius 0 Case-sensitive mismatch (temperatureCelsius in the JSON), so the property isn't set.
Summary "Hot"
ExtensionData "temperatureCelsius": 25,
"DatesAvailable": ["2019-08-01T00:00:00-07:00","2019-08-02T00:00:00-07:00"],
"SummaryWords": ["Cool","Windy","Humid"]		 Since the case didn't match, temperatureCelsius is an extra and becomes a key-value pair in the dictionary.
Each extra array from the JSON becomes a key-value pair, with an array as the value object.

When the target object is serialized, the extension data key value pairs become JSON properties just as they were in the incoming JSON:

{
  "Date": "2019-08-01T00:00:00-07:00",
  "TemperatureCelsius": 0,
  "Summary": "Hot",
  "temperatureCelsius": 25,
  "DatesAvailable": [
    "2019-08-01T00:00:00-07:00",
    "2019-08-02T00:00:00-07:00"
  ],
  "SummaryWords": [
    "Cool",
    "Windy",
    "Humid"
  ]
}

Notice that the ExtensionData property name doesn't appear in the JSON. This behavior lets the JSON make a round trip without losing any extra data that otherwise wouldn't be deserialized.

The following example shows a round trip from JSON to a deserialized object and back to JSON:

using System.Text.Json;
using System.Text.Json.Serialization;

namespace RoundtripExtensionData
{
    public class WeatherForecast
    {
        public DateTimeOffset Date { get; set; }
        public int TemperatureCelsius { get; set; }
        public string? Summary { get; set; }
        [JsonExtensionData]
        public Dictionary<string, JsonElement>? ExtensionData { get; set; }
    }

    public class Program
    {
        public static void Main()
        {
            string jsonString =
@"{
  ""Date"": ""2019-08-01T00:00:00-07:00"",
  ""temperatureCelsius"": 25,
  ""Summary"": ""Hot"",
  ""SummaryField"": ""Hot"",
  ""DatesAvailable"": [
    ""2019-08-01T00:00:00-07:00"",
    ""2019-08-02T00:00:00-07:00""
  ],
  ""SummaryWords"": [
    ""Cool"",
    ""Windy"",
    ""Humid""
  ]
}";
            WeatherForecast weatherForecast = 
                JsonSerializer.Deserialize<WeatherForecast>(jsonString)!;

            var serializeOptions = new JsonSerializerOptions { WriteIndented = true };
            jsonString = JsonSerializer.Serialize(weatherForecast, serializeOptions);
            Console.WriteLine($"JSON output:\n{jsonString}\n");
        }
    }
}
// output:
//JSON output:
//{
//  "Date": "2019-08-01T00:00:00-07:00",
//  "TemperatureCelsius": 0,
//  "Summary": "Hot",
//  "temperatureCelsius": 25,
//  "SummaryField": "Hot",
//  "DatesAvailable": [
//    "2019-08-01T00:00:00-07:00",
//    "2019-08-02T00:00:00-07:00"
//  ],
//  "SummaryWords": [
//    "Cool",
//    "Windy",
//    "Humid"
//  ]
//}

Deserialize into JsonElement or JsonNode

If you just want to be flexible about what JSON is acceptable for a particular property, an alternative is to deserialize into JsonElement or JsonNode. Any valid JSON property can be deserialized into JsonElement or JsonNode. Choose JsonElement to create an immutable object or JsonNode to create a mutable object.

The following example shows a round trip from JSON and back to JSON for a class that includes properties of type JsonElement and JsonNode.

using System.Text.Json;
using System.Text.Json.Nodes;

namespace RoundtripJsonElementAndNode
{
    public class WeatherForecast
    {
        public DateTimeOffset Date { get; set; }
        public int TemperatureCelsius { get; set; }
        public string? Summary { get; set; }
        public JsonElement DatesAvailable { get; set; }
        public JsonNode? SummaryWords { get; set; }
    }
        public class Program
    {
        public static void Main()
        {
            string jsonString =
@"{
  ""Date"": ""2019-08-01T00:00:00-07:00"",
  ""TemperatureCelsius"": 25,
  ""Summary"": ""Hot"",
  ""DatesAvailable"": [
    ""2019-08-01T00:00:00-07:00"",
    ""2019-08-02T00:00:00-07:00""
  ],
  ""SummaryWords"": [
    ""Cool"",
    ""Windy"",
    ""Humid""
  ]
}";
            WeatherForecast? weatherForecast = 
                JsonSerializer.Deserialize<WeatherForecast>(jsonString);

            var serializeOptions = new JsonSerializerOptions { WriteIndented = true };
            jsonString = JsonSerializer.Serialize(weatherForecast, serializeOptions);
            Console.WriteLine(jsonString);
        }
    }
}
// output:
//{
//  "Date": "2019-08-01T00:00:00-07:00",
//  "TemperatureCelsius": 25,
//  "Summary": "Hot",
//  "DatesAvailable": [
//    "2019-08-01T00:00:00-07:00",
//    "2019-08-02T00:00:00-07:00"
//  ],
//  "SummaryWords": [
//    "Cool",
//    "Windy",
//    "Humid"
//  ]
//}

See also