VB.NET Json request - vb.net

Question

Having some trouble trying to convert my json data to something usable
my json data
{
"4": {
"name": "Warehouse",
"tenantcode": "242",
"package_id": 1,
"package": "package10",
"ext_length": 4,
"country_id": 91,
"country_code": 61
},
"5": {
"name": "Partners",
"tenantcode": "240",
"package_id": 1,
"package": "package10",
"ext_length": 4,
"country_id": 91,
"country_code": 61
},
"8": {
"name": "Systems",
"tenantcode": "241",
"package_id": 20,
"package": "Systems",
"ext_length": 4,
"country_id": 91,
"country_code": 61
},
VB code
Imports System.Net
Imports Newtonsoft.Json
Imports Newtonsoft.Json.Linq
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
Dim json2 As String = (New WebClient).DownloadString("https://myapi")
Dim json As String = json2
Dim ser As JObject = JObject.Parse(json)
Dim data As List(Of JToken) = ser.Children().ToList
For Each item As JProperty In data
item.CreateReader()
Select Case item.Name
Case "Name"
this is a far as i got.
i need to know whats the best was to try and use my json data.
build a new class?

Answer 1

Yes, you should build a new class. The data you provided can be deserialized as a Dictionary, so you'd just have to make a class for the details.
Public Class Details
Public Property Name As String
Public Property Tenantcode As String
Public Property Package_id As Integer
Public Property Package As String
Public Property Ext_length As Integer
Public Property Country_id As Integer
Public Property Country_code As Integer
End Class
Then simply deserialize your data into a Dictionary(String, Details)
Dim data = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(Of Dictionary(Of String, Details))

Answer 2

Visual Studio has a cool feature called Paste JSON as Classes that can be found under Edit > Paste Special > Paste JSON as Classes. If you were to do this, then you would get something that looks like the following:
Public Class Rootobject
Public Property _4 As _4
Public Property _5 As _5
End Class
Public Class _4
Public Property name As String
Public Property tenantcode As String
Public Property package_id As Integer
Public Property package As String
Public Property ext_length As Integer
Public Property country_id As Integer
Public Property country_code As Integer
End Class
Public Class _5
Public Property name As String
Public Property tenantcode As String
Public Property package_id As Integer
Public Property package As String
Public Property ext_length As Integer
Public Property country_id As Integer
Public Property country_code As Integer
End Class
Since the Rootobject is basically acting like an associative array (in PHP) or dictionary (in .NET), then what I would do is get rid of Rootobject and _4, and rename _5 to be something a little more generic. Also, you can use decorators to make the property names conform to a more .NET style if you wanted:
Public Class Record
<JsonProperty("name")>
Public Property Name As String
<JsonProperty("tenantcode")>
Public Property TenantCode As String
<JsonProperty("package_id")>
Public Property PackageId As Integer
<JsonProperty("package")>
Public Property Package As String
<JsonProperty("ext_length")>
Public Property ExtLength As Integer
<JsonProperty("country_id")>
Public Property CountryId As Integer
<JsonProperty("country_code")>
Public Property CountryCode As Integer
End Class
Now what you'd do is create your webclient, download the string, and use DeserializeObject to convert the associative array to a dictionary:
Dim records As Dictionary(Of Integer, Record)
Using client As New WebClient()
Dim payload As String = client.DownloadString("https://myapi")
records = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(Of Dictionary(Of Integer, Record))(payload)
End Using
Now you can get the object by it's key and access it's properties. E.g.:
If (records.ContainsKey(4)) Then
Console.WriteLine(records(4).Name)
End If