How to Convert Object to JSON Without Escape Characters in C#.NET?

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In this tutorial, we’ll explore how to convert an object to JSON without escape characters in C#.NET. Escape characters are characters that are used to represent certain special characters in string literals.

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write, and easy for machines to parse and generate. It is often used for transmitting data between a web server and a client, as it is a text format that is language-independent.

By default, when you serialize an object to JSON in C#, it escapes characters that have special meaning in JSON syntax. For example:

string jsonString = JsonConvert.SerializeObject("He said, \"Hello World!\"");
Console.WriteLine(jsonString);

Output:

"He said, \\\"Hello World!\\\""

In the output above, you can see that the double quotes are escaped.

Removing Escape Characters

Sometimes, you may want to serialize an object without escape characters. To do this, you can use the StringEscapeHandling option provided by JsonConvert. Let’s walk through the steps to achieve this.

Step 1: Add the required using directive

using Newtonsoft.Json;

Note: To use JsonConvert, you need to have the Newtonsoft.Json package installed. You can install this through NuGet Package Manager with the command Install-Package Newtonsoft.Json.

Step 2: Define your object

Create an object that you want to serialize to JSON. In this example, we’ll use a simple class:

public class Person
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
    public string Bio { get; set; }
}

Step 3: Serialize the object without escape characters

To serialize the object without escape characters, you should set StringEscapeHandling to EscapeHtml.

Person person = new Person
{
    Name = "Tom Urtis",
    Age = 30,
    Bio = "Tom said, \"I love coding in C#\""
};

JsonSerializerSettings settings = new JsonSerializerSettings
{
    StringEscapeHandling = StringEscapeHandling.EscapeHtml
};

string jsonString = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(person, settings);
Console.WriteLine(jsonString);

Output:

{"Name":"Tom Urtis","Age":30,"Bio":"Tom said, "I love coding in C#""}

Here is the complete code:

using System;
using Newtonsoft.Json;

namespace JsonSerializationExample
{
    public class Person
    {
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public int Age { get; set; }
        public string Bio { get; set; }
    }

    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Define your object
            Person person = new Person
            {
                Name = "Tom Urtis",
                Age = 30,
                Bio = "Tom said, \"I love coding in C#\""
            };

            // Define serialization settings
            JsonSerializerSettings settings = new JsonSerializerSettings
            {
                StringEscapeHandling = StringEscapeHandling.EscapeHtml
            };

            // Serialize the object to JSON without escape characters
            string jsonString = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(person, settings);

            // Output the JSON string to the console
            Console.WriteLine(jsonString);
        }
    }
}

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have learned how to serialize an object to JSON without escape characters in C#. This can be particularly useful when you want to have a more human-readable output or when you need to process JSON strings without escape characters.

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