JSON.NET Populate Textboxes w/ Specific Values

Question

Hello all,

I am very new to json and after days of searching the internet and reading articles to no avail, I need use some real help.

I have a windows application that queries a json file via the web where I need to extract the following values and populate textboxes in my application based on a certain callsign (I am using CXA106 as an example):

textBoxDeparture.Text = "" Need to populate with "flight_plan": "departure": value for "callsign": "CXA106"
textBoxArrival.Text = "" Need to populate with "flight_plan": "arrival": value "callsign": "CXA106"
textBoxAlternate.Text = "" Need to populate with "flight_plan": "alternate": value "callsign": "CXA106"
textBoxAltitude.Text = "" Need to populate with "flight_plan": "altitude": value "callsign": "CXA106"
textBoxFlightPlan.Text = "" Need to populate with "flight_plan": "route": value "callsign": "CXA106"

Here is a sample of the json file that typically has over 1,000 pilots.

{
"general": {
"version": 3,
"reload": 1,
"update": "20210429173631",
"update_timestamp": "2021-04-29T17:36:31.7774251Z",
"connected_clients": 1087,
"unique_users": 1029
},
"pilots": [
{
"cid": 1223456,
"name": "Frank Smith",
"callsign": "ASA001",
"server": "UK-1",
"pilot_rating": 0,
"latitude": 45.59057,
"longitude": -122.5972,
"altitude": 31,
"groundspeed": 11,
"transponder": "1501",
"heading": 119,
"qnh_i_hg": 30.24,
"qnh_mb": 1024,
"flight_plan": {
"flight_rules": "I",
"aircraft": "A320/L",
"aircraft_faa": "A320/L",
"aircraft_short": "A320",
"departure": "KSAN",
"arrival": "KPDX",
"alternate": "KSEA",
"cruise_tas": "445",
"altitude": "36000",
"deptime": "1510",
"enroute_time": "0211",
"fuel_time": "0328",
"remarks": "PBN/A1B1C1D1O1S1 DOF/210429 REG/N625VA EET/KZOA0037 KZSE0120 OPR/ASA RMK/TCAS SIMBRIEF /V/",
"route": "PADRZ2 EHF J5 FMG J92 LMT GALLO TMBRS2",
"revision_id": 1
},
"logon_time": "2021-04-29T15:43:52.3955569Z",
"last_updated": "2021-04-29T17:36:31.1795763Z"
},
{
"cid": 2182955,
"name": "John Smith CYUL",
"callsign": "CXA106",
"server": "CANADA",
"pilot_rating": 0,
"latitude": 3.89123,
"longitude": 82.7544,
"altitude": 39879,
"groundspeed": 503,
"transponder": "2200",
"heading": 318,
"qnh_i_hg": 29.8,
"qnh_mb": 1009,
"flight_plan": {
"flight_rules": "I",
"aircraft": "H/B78X/L",
"aircraft_faa": "H/B78X/L",
"aircraft_short": "B78X",
"departure": "YPPH",
"arrival": "VIDP",
"alternate": "OPST",
"cruise_tas": "499",
"altitude": "34000",
"deptime": "1130",
"enroute_time": "0933",
"fuel_time": "1141",
"remarks": "PBN/A1B1C1D1L1O1S2 DOF/210429 REG/CCXCB EET/VCCF0518 VOMF0704 VABF0813 VIDF0854 SEL/CXCB OPR/CXA PER/D RALT/WIII VCBI RMK/TCAS SIMBRIEF /T/",
"route": "KEELS T12 MERIB M641 IKASA/N0500F360 M641 RUXER/N0495F380 M641 KAT/N0498F370 A465 MMV/N0495F380 Q24 BAVOX BAVOX5A",
"revision_id": 0
},
"logon_time": "2021-04-29T15:43:52.396407Z",
"last_updated": "2021-04-29T17:36:28.4532693Z"
},
{
"cid": 1205454,
"name": "Bill Miller CYOW",
"callsign": "SIA2015",
"server": "USA-EAST",
"pilot_rating": 1,
"latitude": 43.4906,
"longitude": 132.10117,
"altitude": 8248,
"groundspeed": 236,
"transponder": "2200",
"heading": 87,
"qnh_i_hg": 29.71,
"qnh_mb": 1006,
"flight_plan": {
"flight_rules": "I",
"aircraft": "H/B744/L",
"aircraft_faa": "H/B744/L",
"aircraft_short": "B744",
"departure": "UHWW",
"arrival": "RJAA",
"alternate": "RJGG",
"cruise_tas": "490",
"altitude": "35000",
"deptime": "0000",
"enroute_time": "0000",
"fuel_time": "0000",
"remarks": "PBN/A1B1D1O1S2 DOF/210429 REG/N487SB EET/RJJJ0033 OPR/SIA PER/D RMK/TCAS /V/",
"route": "PERAS5 PERAS A723 ARLAS B451 IGROD Y304 GUGBI Y30 SWAMP SWAMPT",
"revision_id": 1
},
"logon_time": "2021-04-29T15:43:52.4699149Z",
"last_updated": "2021-04-29T17:36:31.2559913Z"
},
],
"facilities": [
{
"id": 0,
"short": "OBS",
"long": "Observer"
},
{
"id": 1,
"short": "FSS",
"long": "Flight Service Station"
},
{
"id": 2,
"short": "DEL",
"long": "Clearance Delivery"
},
{
"id": 3,
"short": "GND",
"long": "Ground"
},
{
"id": 4,
"short": "TWR",
"long": "Tower"
},
{
"id": 5,
"short": "APP",
"long": "Approach/Departure"
},
{
"id": 6,
"short": "CTR",
"long": "Enroute"
}
],
"ratings": [
{
"id": -1,
"short": "INAC",
"long": "Inactive"
},
{
"id": 0,
"short": "SUS",
"long": "Suspended"
},
{
"id": 1,
"short": "OBS",
"long": "Observer"
},
{
"id": 2,
"short": "S1",
"long": "Tower Trainee"
},
{
"id": 3,
"short": "S2",
"long": "Tower Controller"
},
{
"id": 4,
"short": "S3",
"long": "Senior Student"
},
{
"id": 5,
"short": "C1",
"long": "Enroute Controller"
},
{
"id": 6,
"short": "C2",
"long": "Controller 2 (not in use)"
},
{
"id": 7,
"short": "C3",
"long": "Senior Controller"
},
{
"id": 8,
"short": "I1",
"long": "Instructor"
},
{
"id": 9,
"short": "I2",
"long": "Instructor 2 (not in use)"
},
{
"id": 10,
"short": "I3",
"long": "Senior Instructor"
},
{
"id": 11,
"short": "SUP",
"long": "Supervisor"
},
{
"id": 12,
"short": "ADM",
"long": "Administrator"
}
],
"pilot_ratings": [
{
"id": 0,
"short_name": "NEW",
"long_name": "Basic Member"
},
{
"id": 1,
"short_name": "PPL",
"long_name": "Private Pilot Licence"
},
{
"id": 3,
"short_name": "IR",
"long_name": "Instrument Rating"
},
{
"id": 7,
"short_name": "CMEL",
"long_name": "Commercial Multi-Engine License"
},
{
"id": 15,
"short_name": "ATPL",
"long_name": "Airline Transport Pilot License"
}
]
}

I have been able to extract all the json values for a CXA106, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to populate the textboxes.

Here is my test code:

using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Linq;
using System.Net; 
using System.IO; 
using System.Windows.Forms;
using Newtonsoft.Json; 
using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq; 

namespace JSONTest
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        string stringServers = "https://URLTODATASERVER"; //Variable to data server.

        private void ButtonImportFP_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            //Clear previous flight plan.
            textBoxDeparture.Text = "";
            textBoxArrival.Text = "";
            textBoxAlternate.Text = "";
            textBoxAltitude.Text = "";
            textBoxFlightPlan.Text = "";

            //Create a request for the data server.
            WebRequest webrequestDataServer = WebRequest.Create(stringServers);

            //Get the response.
            WebResponse webresponseDataServer = webrequestDataServer.GetResponse();

            //Get the stream containing flight data returned by the data server.
            Stream streamDataServer = webresponseDataServer.GetResponseStream();

            //Open the stream using a StreamReader
            StreamReader streamreaderDataServer = new StreamReader(streamDataServer);

            //Loop thru the file
            while (!streamreaderDataServer.EndOfStream)
            {
                //Read the flight data.
                string stringDataServer = streamreaderDataServer.ReadLine();

                //Search for pilot call-sign.
                string stringCallSign = "CXA106";

                JObject jasonObject = JObject.Parse(stringDataServer);

                JObject jsonObjectDataServer = jasonObject["pilots"].Values<JObject>()
                    .Where(m => m["callsign"].Value<string>() == stringCallSign)
                    .FirstOrDefault();

                //If flight plan exists.
                if (jsonObjectDataServer != null)
                {
                    //Populate textboxes with flight plan.
                    foreach (JProperty jsonProperty in jsonObjectDataServer.Properties())
                    {
                        textBoxDeparture.Text = "" //Need to populate with "flight_plan": "departure": value for "callsign": "CXA106"
            textBoxArrival.Text = "" //Need to populate with "flight_plan": "arrival": value "callsign": "CXA106"
            textBoxAlternate.Text = "" //Need to populate with "flight_plan": "alternate": value "callsign": "CXA106"
            textBoxAltitude.Text = "" //Need to populate with "flight_plan": "altitude": value "callsign": "CXA106"
                        textBoxFlightPlan.Text = "" //Need to populate with "flight_plan": "route": value "callsign": "CXA106"
                    }
                }
                else
                {
                    //Flight plan not found.
                    textBoxFlightPlan.Text = "match not found";
                }
            }

            //Close connections.
            streamDataServer.Close();
            streamreaderDataServer.Close();

        }

    }
}

Your assistance would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

If you are still struggling here is the solution.

Answer 2

You take a complete set of what constitutes the Json array, and I am not talking about 1,000 items in the Json array, but what constitutes an object in the array along with the Json array itself.

https://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/pranayamr/generate-class-from-json-xml-in-visual-studio/

You generate the class from the Json.

You can use Newtonsoft.Json to deserialize the Json response into the custom class/object that you created.

You can look at the Github solution example looking at the ServiceLayer classes in the folder that make calls to a Web service that sends back a Json response and how it deseralizes the Json response into a custom class/object, a class name prefixed with dto. There are methods like Find() that works with a single json object being created returned by the Json response, and there is a GetAll() that takes a response of a Json array, deseralizes each json object in the array and loads the custom object into a List<T>.

The Entities project holds the DTO(s).

https://github.com/darnold924/PubCompanyCore3.x

It's just another way of doing it by accessing the properties of the custom class/object.

HTH

Answer 3

Hello,

You need to have classes which represent your JSON data e.g.

public class Data  
{  
    public General general { get; set; }  
    public Pilot[] pilots { get; set; }  
    public Facility[] facilities { get; set; }  
    public Rating[] ratings { get; set; }  
    public Pilot_Ratings[] pilot_ratings { get; set; }  
}  
  
public class General  
{  
    public int version { get; set; }  
    public int reload { get; set; }  
    public string update { get; set; }  
    public DateTime update_timestamp { get; set; }  
    public int connected_clients { get; set; }  
    public int unique_users { get; set; }  
}  
  
public class Pilot  
{  
    public int cid { get; set; }  
    [JsonProperty("name")]  
    public string Name { get; set; }  
    public string callsign { get; set; }  
    public string server { get; set; }  
    public int pilot_rating { get; set; }  
    public float latitude { get; set; }  
    public float longitude { get; set; }  
    public int altitude { get; set; }  
    public int groundspeed { get; set; }  
    public string transponder { get; set; }  
    public int heading { get; set; }  
    public float qnh_i_hg { get; set; }  
    public int qnh_mb { get; set; }  
    public Flight_Plan flight_plan { get; set; }  
    public DateTime logon_time { get; set; }  
    public DateTime last_updated { get; set; }  
  
    public override string ToString() => Name;  
  
}  
  
public class Flight_Plan  
{  
    public string flight_rules { get; set; }  
    public string aircraft { get; set; }  
    public string aircraft_faa { get; set; }  
    public string aircraft_short { get; set; }  
    public string departure { get; set; }  
    public string arrival { get; set; }  
    public string alternate { get; set; }  
    public string cruise_tas { get; set; }  
    public string altitude { get; set; }  
    public string deptime { get; set; }  
    public string enroute_time { get; set; }  
    public string fuel_time { get; set; }  
    public string remarks { get; set; }  
    public string route { get; set; }  
    public int revision_id { get; set; }  
}  
  
public class Facility  
{  
    public int id { get; set; }  
    public string _short { get; set; }  
    public string _long { get; set; }  
}  
  
public class Rating  
{  
    public int id { get; set; }  
    [JsonProperty("_short")]  
    public string ShortValue { get; set; }  
    public string _long { get; set; }  
}  
  
public class Pilot_Ratings  
{  
    public int id { get; set; }  
    public string short_name { get; set; }  
    public string long_name { get; set; }  
}  

Then have a method to deserialize (there is an empty method below for you to implement). For me to provide a simple code sample I read from a file.

public class JsonHelpers  
{  
    public static TModel ReadJsonFromFile<TModel>(string fileName)  
    {  
        var model = default(TModel);  
  
        if (!File.Exists(fileName)) return model;  
          
        var json = File.ReadAllText(fileName);  
        model = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<TModel>(json);  
  
        return model;  
  
    }  
  
    public static TModel ReadJsonFromWeb<TModel>()  
    {  
        throw new NotImplementedException();  
    }  
}  

Simple test in a console project.

Data data = JsonHelpers.ReadJsonFromFile<Data>("data.json");  
  
foreach (var dataPilot in data.pilots)  
{  
    Console.WriteLine(  
        $"{dataPilot.Name,-20}Air craft: {dataPilot.flight_plan.aircraft, -10} call-sign {dataPilot.callsign,-10}");  
}  

Windows form project you would use a BindingSource to provide navigation then data bind to TextBox control e.g. SomeText.DataBinding.Add("Text", someBindingSource,"SomePropertyName"); and finally a BindingNavigator for moving between records.

One final thing, if there is a plan to update/save look at implementing INotifyPropertyChanged Interface, simple example

public class Contacts : INotifyPropertyChanged  
{  
    private string _firstName;  
    private string _lastName;  
    private int? _contactTypeIdentifier;  
  
    public int Id => ContactId;  
    public int ContactId { get; set; }  
  
    public string FirstName  
    {  
        get => _firstName;  
        set  
        {  
            _firstName = value;  
            OnPropertyChanged();  
        }  
    }  
    public string LastName  
    {  
        get => _lastName;  
        set  
        {  
            _lastName = value;  
            OnPropertyChanged();  
        }  
    }  
  
    public int? ContactTypeIdentifier  
    {  
        get => _contactTypeIdentifier;  
        set  
        {  
            _contactTypeIdentifier = value;  
            OnPropertyChanged();  
        }  
    }  
  
  
    public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;  
    protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = null)  
    {  
        PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));  
    }  
  
}  
  

Edit

I noticed facilities model had C# reserve words so the above definition must be aliased for short and long properties.

public class facility  
{  
    public int id { get; set; }  
    [JsonProperty("short")]  
    public string Short { get; set; }  
    [JsonProperty("long")]  
    public string Long { get; set; }  
}  

---

Answer 4

In regards to so much code, it's not really that much e.g.

Data data = JsonHelpers.ReadJsonFromFile<Data>("data.json");  
  
var callSign = "CXA106";  
Pilot pilot = data.pilots.FirstOrDefault(pilotInstance => pilotInstance.callsign == callSign);  
  
if (pilot is not null)  
{  
    Console.WriteLine($"Pilot: {pilot.Name}");  
      
    Console.WriteLine("Flight plan details");  
    var flightPlan = pilot.flight_plan;  
    Console.WriteLine($"   Arrival: {flightPlan.arrival}");  
    Console.WriteLine($"  Aircraft: {flightPlan.aircraft}");  
    Console.WriteLine($"  Altitude: {flightPlan.altitude}");  
    Console.WriteLine($"     Route: {flightPlan.route}");  
}  
else  
{  
    Console.WriteLine("No match");  
}  

Just adapt the console write lines to assign values to TextBox controls.

---

Answer 5

Target what you need, lose the rest.