Json.NET & VB.NET – How to Serialize an Collection?

Posted by AbundantCode

Do you want to serialize an collection in your VB.NET application?. Json.NET supports this functionality with ease.

The Collection can be an Array , Dictionary or List. You need to simply pass collection to the JsonConvert.SerializeObject static method which would serialize the collection and return you the Json string.

How to Serialize a Collection in VB.NET using Json.NET ?

For example , assume that you want to serialize the employee VB.NET class as shown below.

Public Class Employee
    Public Property Name() As String
        Get
            Return m_Name
        End Get
        Set
            m_Name = Value
        End Set
    End Property
    Private m_Name As String
    Public Property IsPermanent() As Boolean
        Get
            Return m_IsPermanent
        End Get
        Set
            m_IsPermanent = Value
        End Set
    End Property
    Private m_IsPermanent As Boolean
    ' Employee can belong to multiple departments
    Public Property Departments() As List(Of String)
        Get
            Return m_Departments
        End Get
        Set
            m_Departments = Value
        End Set
    End Property
    Private m_Departments As List(Of String)
End Class

You will create the List<Employee> and fill it with the values as shown below.

Dim employees As New List(Of Employee)()
'Employee 1 Data
Dim emp1 As New Employee()
emp1.Name = "Employee 1"
emp1.IsPermanent = True
emp1.Departments = New List(Of String)() From { _
"Technology", _
"Design" _
}
employees.Add(emp1)
' Employee 2 Data
Dim emp2 As New Employee()
emp2.Name = "Employee 2"
emp2.IsPermanent = False
emp2.Departments = New List(Of String)() From { _
"Technology" _
}
employees.Add(emp2)

Once the List<Employee> data is available , pass it to the JsonConvert.Serialize method as shown below.

' Convert the collection to Json string
Dim jsonData As String = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(employees)

Below is the complete code snippet that is used  in this blog post for serializing the collection in VB.NET.

Imports Newtonsoft.Json

Module Module1

    Sub Main()
        Dim jsonData = SerializeCollection()
        Console.WriteLine("Serialized Data : " & vbLf + jsonData)
        Console.ReadLine()
    End Sub
    Public Function SerializeCollection() As String
        Dim employees As New List(Of Employee)()
        'Employee 1 Data
        Dim emp1 As New Employee()
        emp1.Name = "Employee 1"
        emp1.IsPermanent = True
        emp1.Departments = New List(Of String)() From { _
            "Technology", _
            "Design" _
        }
        employees.Add(emp1)
        ' Employee 2 Data
        Dim emp2 As New Employee()
        emp2.Name = "Employee 2"
        emp2.IsPermanent = False
        emp2.Departments = New List(Of String)() From { _
            "Technology" _
        }
        employees.Add(emp2)
        ' Convert the collection to Json string
        Dim jsonData As String = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(employees)
        Return jsonData
    End Function



End Module
Public Class Employee
    Public Property Name() As String
        Get
            Return m_Name
        End Get
        Set
            m_Name = Value
        End Set
    End Property
    Private m_Name As String
    Public Property IsPermanent() As Boolean
        Get
            Return m_IsPermanent
        End Get
        Set
            m_IsPermanent = Value
        End Set
    End Property
    Private m_IsPermanent As Boolean
    ' Employee can belong to multiple departments
    Public Property Departments() As List(Of String)
        Get
            Return m_Departments
        End Get
        Set
            m_Departments = Value
        End Set
    End Property
    Private m_Departments As List(Of String)
End Class
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