Asp.Net Web Api & JSON.Net - Deserialize body into .Net generic objects - json

Question

I want to deserialize the body into .net classes (dictionary and list).
(so my code is transparent for xml and json)
public HttpResponseMessage Post([FromBody]IDictionary<string, object> body)
{
}
Currently I use a converter to handle nested dictionary deserialization.
class IDictionaryConverter : CustomCreationConverter<IDictionary<string, object>>
{
public override IDictionary<string, object> Create(Type objectType)
{
return new Dictionary<string, object>();
}
public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
{
// in addition to handling IDictionary<string, object>
// we want to handle the deserialization of dict value
// which is of type object
return objectType == typeof(object) || base.CanConvert(objectType);
}
public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
if (reader.TokenType == JsonToken.StartObject || reader.TokenType == JsonToken.Null)
return base.ReadJson(reader, objectType, existingValue, serializer);
// if the next token is not an object
// then fall back on standard deserializer (strings, numbers etc.)
return serializer.Deserialize(reader);
}
}
But nested JLists are not converted to List.
Maybe I can create a IListConverter, but is there an better way to do this?
I want in my web api only one code. not: if json do that, if xml do that...

Answer 1

This solves my problem:
class IDictionaryConverter : CustomCreationConverter<IDictionary<string, object>>
{
public override IDictionary<string, object> Create(Type objectType)
{
return new Dictionary<string, object>();
}
public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
{
// in addition to handling IDictionary<string, object>
// we want to handle the deserialization of dict value
// which is of type object
return objectType == typeof(object) || base.CanConvert(objectType);
}
public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
if (reader.TokenType == JsonToken.StartObject || reader.TokenType == JsonToken.Null)
return base.ReadJson(reader, objectType, existingValue, serializer);
if (reader.TokenType == JsonToken.StartArray)
return serializer.Deserialize<IList<object>>(reader);
// if the next token is not an object
// then fall back on standard deserializer (strings, numbers etc.)
return serializer.Deserialize(reader);
}
}