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Ploch.Common.Serialization.NewtonsoftJson

Newtonsoft.Json implementation of the Ploch serialisation abstractions.

Overview

Ploch.Common.Serialization.NewtonsoftJson provides NewtonsoftJsonObjectSerializer, a concrete implementation of ISerializer<JsonSerializerSettings> backed by the well-established Newtonsoft.Json library. It is the right choice when an application already depends on Newtonsoft.Json, requires its richer feature set (custom converters, JsonPath querying, reference handling, etc.), or needs compatibility with legacy code that produces Newtonsoft-formatted JSON.

The serialiser is constructed with a JsonSerializerSettings instance that serves as the default configuration. Per-call overrides can be supplied via the Action<JsonSerializerSettings>? overloads inherited from ISerializer<TSettings>.

Unlike the SystemTextJsonSerializer, NewtonsoftJsonObjectSerializer does not implement IAsyncSerializer — Newtonsoft.Json does not expose native stream-based async serialisation. If async stream support is required, use the System.Text.Json variant instead.

The library targets netstandard2.0.

Installation

dotnet add package Ploch.Common.Serialization.NewtonsoftJson

Note: versions before 4.0 were published under the misspelled package ID Ploch.Common.Serialiation.NewtonsoftJson (missing the z). From 4.0 onwards the package, assembly, and namespace all use the correct Ploch.Common.Serialization.NewtonsoftJson name — update your PackageReference and using directives when upgrading.

Key Types

Type Kind Description
NewtonsoftJsonObjectSerializer Class Concrete serialiser backed by Newtonsoft.Json. Implements ISerializer<JsonSerializerSettings> (and the base ISerializer). The intermediate object type used by Convert is JObject.

Usage Examples

Direct instantiation with default settings

var serializer = new NewtonsoftJsonObjectSerializer();

string json = serializer.Serialize(new { Name = "Alice", Age = 30 });
MyDto? dto = serializer.Deserialize<MyDto>(json);

Instantiation with custom settings

var settings = new JsonSerializerSettings
{
    Formatting = Formatting.Indented,
    NullValueHandling = NullValueHandling.Ignore,
    ContractResolver = new CamelCasePropertyNamesContractResolver()
};

var serializer = new NewtonsoftJsonObjectSerializer(settings);

Per-call settings override

The settings-aware overloads apply the configuration action on top of the instance's settings for that call:

ISerializer<JsonSerializerSettings> serializer = new NewtonsoftJsonObjectSerializer();

string compact = serializer.Serialize(report, s => s.Formatting = Formatting.None);
string indented = serializer.Serialize(report, s => s.Formatting = Formatting.Indented);

Deserialisation by runtime type

ISerializer serializer = new NewtonsoftJsonObjectSerializer();

Type targetType = typeof(MyDto);
object? result = serializer.Deserialize(json, targetType);

Converting embedded JObject values

When a property in a deserialised object is typed as object, Newtonsoft.Json returns a JObject. The Convert method re-maps it to a concrete type using JObject.ToObject:

ISerializer serializer = new NewtonsoftJsonObjectSerializer();

object? raw = serializer.Deserialize(json, typeof(object));
MyModel? typed = serializer.Convert<MyModel>(raw);
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