Convert string[] to string before serializing

Question

This is part of my code:

Dictionary<string, string[]> dict = new Dictionary<string, string[]>();

I have added my data in dictionary, and serializing it by:

JsonConvert.SerializeObject(dict)

I want to convert string[] to string, if there is only 1 item in string array.

So if the output is:

{
"Number": ["123"],
"Names": ["John", "Harry"]
}

I want it to be as:

{
"Number": "123",
"Names": ["John", "Harry"]
}

Since there is only 1 item in the array of "123". So, how to solve this?

Answer 1

One way to do this is:

var newDict = dict.ToDictionary(x => x.Key, 
    x => x.Value.Length == 1 ? (object)x.Value.Single() : (object)x.Value);

And then serialise newDict.

The majority of the logic lies in the second argument. I decide whether to use the single element of the value part of the KVP, or the whole string array, based on the length.