How can I deserialize using JSON.NET and preserve the parent object

Question

I have some JSON like:

{
  "companyName": "Software Inc.",
  "employees": [
    {
      "employeeName": "Sally"
    },
    {
      "employeeName": "Jimmy"
    }
  ]
}

I want to deserialize it into:

public class Company
{
  public string companyName { get; set; }
  public IList<Employee> employees { get; set; }
}

public class Employee
{
  public string employeeName { get; set; }
  public Company employer { get; set; }
}

How can I have JSON.NET set the "employer" reference? I tried using a CustomCreationConverter, but the public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer) method doesn't contain a any reference to the current parent object.

Answer 1

That's only going to cause you headaches if you're trying to do that as part of the deserialization. It'd be much easier to perform that task after deserialization. Do something like:

var company = //deserialized value

foreach (var employee in company.employees)
{
    employee.employer = company;
}

Or a one-liner, if you prefer the syntax:

company.employees.ForEach(e => e.employer = company);