Deserialize JSON with C#

I'm trying to deserialize a Facebook friend's [Graph API][1] call into a list of objects. The JSON object looks like:

{"data":[{"id":"518523721","name":"ftyft"},
{"id":"527032438","name":"ftyftyf"},
{"id":"527572047","name":"ftgft"},
{"id":"531141884","name":"ftftft"},
{"id":"532652067","name"...

List<EFacebook> facebooks = new JavaScriptSerializer().Deserialize<List<EFacebook>>(result);

It's not working, because the primitive object is invalid. How can I deserialize this?

[1]:

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A great way to automatically generate these classes for you is to copy your JSON output and throw it in here:

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It will provide you with a starting point to touch up your classes for deserialization.

Sometimes I prefer dynamic objects:

```
public JsonResult GetJson()
{
string res;
WebClient client = new WebClient();

// Download string
string value = client.DownloadString("https://api.instagram.com/v1/users/000000000/media/recent/?client_id=clientId");

// Write values
res = value;
dynamic dyn = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(res);
var lstInstagramObjects = new List<InstagramModel>();

foreach(var obj in dyn.data)
{
lstInstagramObjects.Add(new InstagramModel()
{
Link = (obj.link != null) ? obj.link.ToString() : "",
VideoUrl = (obj.videos != null) ? obj.videos.standard_resolution.url.ToString() : "",
CommentsCount = int.Parse(obj.comments.count.ToString()),
LikesCount = int.Parse(obj.likes.count.ToString()),
CreatedTime = new System.DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0).AddSeconds((double.Parse(obj.created_time.ToString()))),
ImageUrl = (obj.images != null) ? obj.images.standard_resolution.url.ToString() : "",
User = new InstagramModel.UserAccount()
{
username = obj.user.username,
website = obj.user.website,
profile_picture = obj.user.profile_picture,
full_name = obj.user.full_name,
bio = obj.user.bio,
id = obj.user.id
}
});
}

return Json(lstInstagramObjects, JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);
}
```

Here is another site that will help you with all the code you need as long as you have a correctly formated JSON string available:

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You need to create a structure like this:

public class Friends
{

public List<FacebookFriend> data {get; set;}
}

public class FacebookFriend
{

public string id {get; set;}
public string name {get; set;}
}

Then you should be able to do:

Friends facebookFriends = new JavaScriptSerializer().Deserialize<Friends>(result);

The names of my classes are just an example. You should use proper names.

Adding a sample test:

string json =
@"{""data"":[{""id"":""518523721"",""name"":""ftyft""}, {""id"":""527032438"",""name"":""ftyftyf""}, {""id"":""527572047"",""name"":""ftgft""}, {""id"":""531141884"",""name"":""ftftft""}]}";

Friends facebookFriends = new System.Web.Script.Serialization.JavaScriptSerializer().Deserialize<Friends>(json);

foreach(var item in facebookFriends.data)
{
Console.WriteLine("id: {0}, name: {1}", item.id, item.name);
}

Produces:

id: 518523721, name: ftyft
id: 527032438, name: ftyftyf
id: 527572047, name: ftgft
id: 531141884, name: ftftft

I agree with Icarus (would have commented if I could),
but instead of using a **CustomObject** class,
I would use a **Dictionary** (in case Facebook adds something).

private class MyFacebookClass
{
public IList<IDictionary<string, string>> data { get; set; }
}

or

private class MyFacebookClass
{
public IList<IDictionary<string, object>> data { get; set; }
}