README.md

JsonButler

JsonButler is now available as a Visual Studio extension. Check it out here!

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JsonButler lets you:

• Generate C# types (along with the cs files if needed) from JSON data. Also generates nested custom types if needed.
• Serialize a known C# type to JSON without having to instantiate an instance of said type. It drills down and uses default values as far as possible.

Code Generation

Example usage with Butler CLI (included in the cli directory in the nuget package):

# JsonButler can parse json text-snippets directly...
butler generate -j {"indices":[2,3,5,7]}

# ...or can instead parse the contents of a file.
butler generate -f response_payload.json

# By default, the generated C# code is copied directly to the clipboard.
# This can be overriden by setting an output file.
butler generate -f response_payload.json -o ResponseModel.cs

Example usage with C# library:

// JsonButler can parse json text-snippets directly...
string input = myJsonText;

// ...or can instead parse the contents of a file.
input = ButlerReader.ReadAllText (myJsonFilePath);

// Generates C# code (i.e. contents of potential C# file).
string generatedCsCode = ButlerCodeGenerator.GenerateCodeFile (input);

// JsonButler can either copy this text to the clipboard...
ButlerWriter.SetClipboardText (generatedCode);

// ...or write it to a file.
ButlerWriter.WriteAllText (outputFile, generatedCode);

Serialization

Example usage with C# library:

// Run JSONButler serialization with no customisation...
string serialized = ButlerSerializer.SerializeType<MyResponsePayload> ();

// ...or pass in specific serialization settings, such as limiting the scope of type generation, ...
ButlerSerializerSettings serializerSettings = new ButlerSerializerSettings (Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly ());

// ...setting constructor priorities for default object creation, ...
serializerSettings.PreferredAttributeTypesOnConstructor = new[] { typeof(MyConstructorAttribute), typeof(ClientsConstructorAttribute) };

// ... and customising the final JSON serialization.
serializerSettings.JsonSerializerSettings = myJsonSerializerSettings;

string serialized = ButlerSerializer.SerializeType<MyResponsePayload> (serializerSettings);

Installation and Usage

butler.exe for standalone CLI functionality.
JsonButler.dll for library usability with other projects.

Recommended: Install the package via NuGet console.

Install-Package Andeart.JsonButler

The CLI tool is included in the cli directory in the nuget package.

Optionally, you can instead download from the Github Releases page, which contains both files.

Feedback and Contribution

Please feel free to send in a Pull Request, or drop me an email. Cheers!

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Known issues with JsonButler

1. Code generation: JSON elements that are siblings and have the same property name currently create name-conflicting types.
2. Code generation: Array elements of a custom type are not correctly represented as an array in the owner type.