How can I parse a JSON string that would cause illegal C# identifiers?

Question

I have been using NewtonSoft JSON Convert library to parse and convert JSON string to C# objects. But now I have came across a really awkward JSON string and I am unable to convert it into C# object because I cant make a C# class out of this JSON string.

Here is the JSON string

{ "1": {     "fajr": "04:15",     "sunrise": "05:42",     "zuhr": "12:30",     "asr": "15:53",     "maghrib": "19:18",     "isha": "20:40" }, "2": {     "fajr": "04:15",     "sunrise": "05:42",     "zuhr": "12:30",     "asr": "15:53",     "maghrib": "19:18",     "isha": "20:41"  }  } 

The C# class required to parse this JSON string should be like this:

public class 1 {      public string fajr { get; set; }     public string sunrise { get; set; }     public string zuhr { get; set; }     public string asr { get; set; }     public string maghrib { get; set; }     public string isha { get; set; } }  public class 2 {      public string fajr { get; set; }     public string sunrise { get; set; }     public string zuhr { get; set; }     public string asr { get; set; }     public string maghrib { get; set; }     public string isha { get; set; } } 

But it cant be a true C# class because we know that Class names cannot start with a number.

It will be really great if anyone can suggest how to parse such type of json string.

Answer 1

You can deserialize to a dictionary.

public class Item {     public string fajr { get; set; }     public string sunrise { get; set; }     public string zuhr { get; set; }     public string asr { get; set; }     public string maghrib { get; set; }     public string isha { get; set; } } 

---

var dict = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Dictionary<string, Item>>(json); 

Answer 2

While the dictionary is the best solution for the specific case you had, the question you asked could also be interpreted as:

how do I deserialize objects with property names that cannot be used in C#?

For example what if you had

{     "0": "04:15",     "zzz": "foo" } 

Solution: use annotations:

public class Item {    [JsonProperty("0")]    public string AnyName { get; set; }     [JsonProperty("zzz")]    public string AnotherName { get; set; } }