JSON Encode and Decode with objects in Visual Basic 2010 - json

Question

I have the following code:
Imports Newtonsoft.Json
Imports Newtonsoft.Json.Linq
Module Module1
Structure JSONList
Dim Name, Email As String
Dim Age As Integer
End Structure
Sub Main()
Dim Data(1) As JSONList
Data(0).Name = "Josh"
Data(0).Age = 17
Data(0).Email = "me#mail.co.uk"
Data(1).Name = "Greg"
Data(1).Age = 17
Data(1).Email = "greg#hotmail.co.uk"
Dim JSONEncode As String
JSONEncode = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(Data)
Console.WriteLine(JSONEncode)
Console.WriteLine()
Console.WriteLine()
Dim JSONDecode() As JSONList = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(JSONEncode)
Console.WriteLine(JSONDecode(0).Name)
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module
The first encoding part of the script is used to store the encoded string to a database, the output is:
[{"Name":"Josh","Email":"me#mail.co.uk","Age":17},{"Name":"Greg","Email":"greg#hotmail.co.uk","Age":17}]
Now when I try to decode this JSON string, I get an error Unable to cast object of type 'Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JArray' to type 'JSONList[]'.
I need the data to be encoded in the JSON format so that I can use it in my website that uses PHP to decode it. I am using Visual Basic 2010 along with JSON.NET.

Answer 1

The problem is that JsonConvert.DeserializeObject deserialises into an object of type Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JArray which .net cannot automatically convert to an array of JSONList. A little bit of conversion is required:
Dim jsonObject As Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JArray =
JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(JSONEncode)
Dim JSONDecode() As JSONList = (
From j In jsonObject
Select New JSONList() With {.Age = j("Age"),
.Email = j("Email"),
.Name = j("Name")}
).ToArray()

Answer 2

As #Adrian said, JsonConvert.DeserializeObject will deserialize to JArray, which .Net cannot automatically convert into an array of your JSONList structure. However, you don't need to do manual conversion; you simply need to use the overload of DeserializeObject which accepts a type parameter. This will allow Json.Net to deserialize directly to your type without needing any special conversion code.
Dim JSONDecode() As JSONList = _
JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(Of JSONList())(JSONEncode)