How to get linq result as string array?

Question

I would like to convert a list of User's properties into strings array (for json receiver) like:

List<User> users = <..list of users from db...>

var jsonData = (
   from user in users
   select new { user.Id, user.Person.Lastname, user.Person.Firstname });

return Json(jsonData)

The result is an array named fields

[{"Id":1,"Lastname":"Doe","Firstname":"John"},{"Id":2,"Lastname":"Smith","Firstname":"Adam"},...]

but I would like it to be the array of arrays of plain strings like:

[["1","Doe","John"]
 ["2","Smith","Adam"], ...]

How to cast linq result to strings array?

Answer 1

var jsonData = from user in users
               select new[] { user.Id.ToString(),
                              user.Person.Lastname,
                              user.Person.Firstname };

Alternatively, you can use the lambda syntax:

var jsonData = users.Select(user => new[] { user.Id.ToString(),
                                            user.Person.Lastname,
                                            user.Person.Firstname });