reproduce a particular JSON format

[moraleslos]

I'm using WCF on my VB services to return JSON and am running into issues where I can not reproduce a particular format. The JSON I would like returned looks something like:

{

tuples: [​

[[north,1.8,2.5],[south,1.3,-1.4],[east,1.1,0]],
[[north,1.9,2.4],[west,10.34,4.76]]​

]​

}

If I used a class that contains a List(Of List(Of String)) or a multi-String array, to be returned by WCF the output always looks like:

{

tuples: [​

[0: north,1.8,2.5, 1: south,1.3,-1.4, 2: east,1.1,0],
[0: north,1.9,2.4, 1: west,10.34,4.76]​

]​

}

The JSON translation adds the step of the list/array into the JSON string.

Any ideas on how to produce the appropriate JSON output with WCF and VB?

 

[JohnH]

What you have there is a jagged array of object arrays, or a list(of object) nested three times. I have no problem producing that output and I don't see the indexes you mentioned using any kind of list or array.
Here's a repro, start with this basic Wcf Json service: Mikes Knowledge Base
Add to contract:

    <OperationContract()>
    <WebInvoke(Method:="GET", ResponseFormat:=WebMessageFormat.Json, BodyStyle:=WebMessageBodyStyle.Wrapped, UriTemplate:="getValues")>
    Function GetValues() As <MessageParameter(Name:="tuples")> Object()()

Add implementation:

    Public Function GetValues() As Object()() Implements IService1.GetValues
        Dim ar(1)() As Object
        ar(0) = {New Object() {0, "a1", False}, New Object() {0, "a2", False}}
        ar(1) = {New Object() {0, "b1", False}, New Object() {0, "b2", False}}
        Return ar
    End Function

Sample output:

{"tuples":[
[[0,"a1",false],[0,"a2",false]],
[[0,"b1",false],[0,"b2",false]]
]}

By the way, I do suspect it is just your test client that is outputting the item indexes, as well as the "pretty" formatting, of the Json data.

 

[moraleslos]

I need to return an instance of a class-- let's call this Clazz. Clazz looks like this:

<DataContract()> _
Public Class Clazz
 Private _tuples As Object()()
 Private _id As ClazzId


 <DataMember()> _
    Public Property tuples() As Object()()
        Get
            Return _tuples
        End Get
        Set(ByVal value As Object()())
            _tuples = value
        End Set
    End Property


    <DataMember()> _
    Public Property id() As ClazzId
        Get
            Return _id
        End Get
        Set(ByVal value As ClazzId)
            _id= value
        End Set
    End Property


Public Class ClazzId
        Private _realId As String

End Class

End Class

Now my WCF looks like this:

    <OperationContract()> _
    <WebGet(ResponseFormat:=WebMessageFormat.Json, _
            BodyStyle:=WebMessageBodyStyle.Wrapped, _
            UriTemplate:="/GetClazz/{name}")> _
    <JSONPBehavior(callback:="method")> _
    Function GetClazz(ByVal name As String) As Clazz

When I execute this is what it returns (using Firefox debugger on the response invoked via JS):

>response [object Object]
  > GetClazzResult [object Object]
    > tuples: [object Array]
       > 0: [object Array]
          0:  "a, b, c"
          1:  "d, e, f"
          2:  "g, h, i"
          ...
          ...
       > 1: null
...
...

Doing a write to console (console.log) of the above response gives me this:

[FONT=Verdana]GetClazzResult [/FONT]: {
          tuples: [
               0 : [
                    0 : a, b, c,
                    1 : d, e, f,
                               ....
                            ],
                        1 : NULL
                ],
                 id : {
                     realId : 31
                }
}

So it is indeed adding the steps in the arrays in the Json output. Any other ideas?

 

[JohnH]

using Firefox debugger on the response invoked via JS

What?

Entering the service url in a Firefox browser window returns the plain json data, and it looks nothing like that. As I said in last line of previous post, you're using some kind of client that adds lots of stuff (and removes some) to make it easier to read/debug for you, the actual returned json would look like this:

{"GetClazzResult":{"id":{"realId":"31"},"tuples":[["a, b, c","d, e, f","g, h, i"],null]}}

If you use Fiddler debugger you can select different views, the json view for example presents the data as a tree where you can expand/collapse the nodes. You can see the plain json in text/raw view, just like when using a browser.