To manually read and write JSON Json.NET provides the JsonReader and JsonWriter classes.

JsonTextReader and JsonTextWriter

Note

JsonReader and JsonWriter are low level classes and used internally by Json.NET. To quickly work with JSON either the serializer - Serializing and Deserializing JSON or using LINQ to JSON is recommended.

JsonTextReader and JsonTextWriter are used to read and write JSON text. The JsonTextWriter has a number of settings on it to control how JSON is formatted when it is written. These options include formatting, indention character, indent count and quote character.

CopyWriting JSON with JsonTextWriter
 1StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
 2StringWriter sw = new StringWriter(sb);
 3
 4using (JsonWriter writer = new JsonTextWriter(sw))
 5{
 6  writer.Formatting = Formatting.Indented;
 7
 8  writer.WriteStartObject();
 9  writer.WritePropertyName("CPU");
10  writer.WriteValue("Intel");
11  writer.WritePropertyName("PSU");
12  writer.WriteValue("500W");
13  writer.WritePropertyName("Drives");
14  writer.WriteStartArray();
15  writer.WriteValue("DVD read/writer");
16  writer.WriteComment("(broken)");
17  writer.WriteValue("500 gigabyte hard drive");
18  writer.WriteValue("200 gigabype hard drive");
19  writer.WriteEnd();
20  writer.WriteEndObject();
21}
22
23// {
24//   "CPU": "Intel",
25//   "PSU": "500W",
26//   "Drives": [
27//     "DVD read/writer"
28//     /*(broken)*/,
29//     "500 gigabyte hard drive",
30//     "200 gigabype hard drive"
31//   ]
32// }

JsonTextReader has settings on it for reading different date formats and time zones, and the culture used when reading text values.

CopyReading JSON with JsonTextReader
 1string json = @"{
 2   'CPU': 'Intel',
 3   'PSU': '500W',
 4   'Drives': [
 5     'DVD read/writer'
 6     /*(broken)*/,
 7     '500 gigabyte hard drive',
 8     '200 gigabype hard drive'
 9   ]
10}";
11
12JsonTextReader reader = new JsonTextReader(new StringReader(json));
13while (reader.Read())
14{
15  if (reader.Value != null)
16    Console.WriteLine("Token: {0}, Value: {1}", reader.TokenType, reader.Value);
17  else
18    Console.WriteLine("Token: {0}", reader.TokenType);
19}
20
21// Token: StartObject
22// Token: PropertyName, Value: CPU
23// Token: String, Value: Intel
24// Token: PropertyName, Value: PSU
25// Token: String, Value: 500W
26// Token: PropertyName, Value: Drives
27// Token: StartArray
28// Token: String, Value: DVD read/writer
29// Token: Comment, Value: (broken)
30// Token: String, Value: 500 gigabyte hard drive
31// Token: String, Value: 200 gigabype hard drive
32// Token: EndArray
33// Token: EndObject

JTokenReader and JTokenWriter

JTokenReader and JTokenWriter read and write LINQ to JSON objects. They are located in the Newtonsoft.Json.Linq namespace. These objects allow you to use LINQ to JSON objects with objects that read and write JSON such as the JsonSerializer. For example you can deserialize from a LINQ to JSON object into a regular .NET object and vice versa.

CopyDeserializing with JTokenReader
 1JObject o = new JObject(
 2  new JProperty("Name", "John Smith"),
 3  new JProperty("BirthDate", new DateTime(1983, 3, 20))
 4  );
 5
 6JsonSerializer serializer = new JsonSerializer();
 7Person p = (Person)serializer.Deserialize(new JTokenReader(o), typeof(Person));
 8
 9Console.WriteLine(p.Name);
10// John Smith

See Also