Is there a way to alias response model properties in ASP.Net Web API

Question

If you want to return objects from action methods in Web Api with JSON style lowercase names, is there a way to alias the property names so that the C# object below looks like the JSON object that follows.

C# Response Model

    public class Account     {         public int Id { get; set; }         public string AccountName { get; set; }         public decimal AccountBalance { get; set; }      } 

JSON that I'd like to be returned

    {         "id" : 12,         "account-name" : "Primary Checking",         "account-balance" : 1000     } 

Answer 1

You can use JSON.NET's JsonProperty

 public class Account     {         [JsonProperty(PropertyName="id")]         public int Id { get; set; }         [JsonProperty(PropertyName="account-name")]         public string AccountName { get; set; }         [JsonProperty(PropertyName="account-balance")]         public decimal AccountBalance { get; set; }        } 

This will only work with JSON.NET - obviously. If you want to be more agnostic, and have this type of naming to be able to other potential formatters (i.e. you'd change JSON.NET to something else, or for XML serialization), reference System.Runtime.Serialization and use:

 [DataContract]  public class Account     {         [DataMember(Name="id")]         public int Id { get; set; }         [DataMember(Name="account-name")]         public string AccountName { get; set; }         [DataMember(Name="account-balance")]         public decimal AccountBalance { get; set; }        } 

Answer 2

Filip's answer above is great if you need granular control over serialization but if you want to make a global change you can do it with a one liner like shown below.

public static class WebApiConfig {     public static void Register(HttpConfiguration config)     {         config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(             name: "DefaultApi",             routeTemplate: "api/{controller}/{id}",             defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }         );          config.Formatters.JsonFormatter.SerializerSettings.Converters.Add(new StringEnumConverter());         config.Formatters.JsonFormatter.SerializerSettings.ContractResolver =             new CamelCasePropertyNamesContractResolver();  // This line will cause camel casing to happen by default.     } } 

http://www.asp.net/web-api/overview/formats-and-model-binding/json-and-xml-serialization#json_camelcasing

Edit Based on the comments below I went ahead and added a blog post with the complete solution here: http://www.ryanvice.net/uncategorized/extending-json-net-to-serialize-json-properties-using-a-format-that-is-delimited-by-dashes-and-all-lower-case/